23RD - 30TH APRIL 2007

Rain on the 23rd brought good numbers of birds to Kenfig with 150 Sand Martins, sixty Barn Swallows, 25 House Martins and four Common Swifts over the pool. At least 25 Sedge and five Reed Warblers were present, a late Common Snipe and a drake Northern Shoveler and eight Common Teal were at the river mouth. On the beach, fifty Dunlin and twenty Ringed Plovers were present along with a flock of six Little Terns. More rain on the 24th produced a Garden Warbler, Common Redstart and Tree Pipit at Darren Woods, Maesteg and a second winter Mediterranean Gull was in Cardiff Bay. A Whinchat was at Sker Farm on 25th, a Northern Fulmar was off Porthcawl and a dark morph Artic Skua was off Cardiff Bay, along with a Little Egret. On the 26th, a Eurasian Hobby was at Llanilid, along with three Little Egrets, while forty House Martins, a Common Sandpiper, three Lesser Whitethroats and seven Common Swifts were at Kenfig Pool and sixty Whimbrel were at Sker. Three Reed Warblers were in Cardiff Bay and a Great Skua, four Manx Shearwaters, two Red-throated Divers and five Northern Gannets were at Rhossilli. A Siberian Chiffchaff and eight Sandwich Terns were at Oxwich Bay and a Whinchat was at Ogmore Estuary. A Marsh Tit, two Kingfishers, three Grey Wagtails and a pair of Dippers including one amazingly perched high in a willow tree [!] were at Miskin Cricket Club on 27th. A pair of Red Kites were on territory near Bridgend, three Wood Warblers were in the Ogmore Valley and a Common Redstart was in Maesteg. On the 28th, a Long-eared Owl was an excellent find at Kenfig Pool, a Northern Goshawk was over the western end of the reserve and a flock of 22 Bar-tailed Godwits were at the river mouth. A Whinchat and several Tree Pipits were in the Garw Valley. Sixty five Bar-tailed Godwits at Ogmore Estuary and forty at Porthcawl continued the influx of this species today with 140 seen in total. Three Sandwich Terns were at Caswell Bay, Gower and a Common Redstart and Common Cuckoo were at Coed-y-Bedw, Cardiff. On the 29th, ten Common Redstarts, two Wood Warblers, three Grasshopper Warblers, two Tree Pipits, a Red Kite, a Eurasian Woodcock and a Pied Flycatcher were all in the Maesteg area and a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was in Bute Park, Cardiff. The 30th produced six Grasshopper Warblers and five Tree Pipits in Maesteg and 104 Whimbrel and 71 Bar-tailed Godwits at Sker.