SOUTH WALES 11TH - 15TH FEBRUARY 2008

OUR final SOUTH WALES WINTER tour of the winter from 11th – 15th February 2008 was blessed with some exceptional weather that made it feel more like April than February! With limited time on Day One, we opted to get Dartford Warbler on the list, and we succeeded with a brief, but showy, male. Six Yellowhammers were also noted at Norton Farm, while other highlights today included a few displaying Common Ravens, a European Sparrowhawk and Common Kestrel. Day Two brought weather and temperatures more reminiscent of May than February, so perhaps it was no surprise to see three Red Kites, a male Northern Goshawk and ten Common Buzzards displaying at Hafod Farm, where there was also a pair of Common Crossbill and a male Bullfinch. A Red Deer hind and a Red Admiral butterfly were also seen there. Ogmore Estuary and environs produced three Little Egrets, five Purple Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper, two European Shag, three Red-billed Chough, a drake Goosander, a Little Owl and 26 Common Goldeneye and Kenfig Pool added Fieldfare, Northern Shoveler, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck and Common Pochard to the trip list. A first winter Glaucous Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull were in Port Talbot Harbour to round off a fantastic days birding. Day Three brought more exceptional birding, and if possible, even better weather for our day on North Gower! Penclawdd Pill produced wintering Common Greenshank and Common Sandpiper, as well as good numbers of Little Egrets and Common Teal. As ever Whiteford NNR was the place to be with vast flocks of Red Knot, Eurasian Curlew, Common Shelduck and European Oystercatcher, along with a supporting cast of five Red-breasted Merganser, thirty Common Eider, ten Slavonian Grebes, two hundred Dark-bellied Brent Geese and good numbers of Northern Pintail, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit and Dunlin. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Red Fox were other highlights here. Our final stop of the day at Llanrhidian Marsh produced the much hoped for hunting male Hen Harrier at close range, as well as approximately 1000 European Golden Plover, 500 Northern Lapwings and more views of the huge flocks of Red Knot to end another exhilarating day. A return to winter on Day Four, but some more exceptionally good birds were seen at various sites around Cardiff. Four Hawfinch showed superbly at Tair Onnen, a Firecrest was in Bute Park, small numbers of Brambling were at a couple of locations and the Spotted Sandpiper showed down to five metres at Lisvane Reservoir. Cardiff Heliport provided us with the opportunity to catch up with more Northern Pintail and Common Nuthatch, Redwing and Eurasian Jay were also added to the tour list today. Day Five was quiet by comparison as we were unable to locate any Great Bitterns at Kenfig Pool in the hour we had available. There was a mini influx of wildfowl on a cold morning with four Eurasian Wigeon, seventeen Northern Shoveler and seven Common Teal new in, along with four Northern Lapwing. We finished on a very respectable 104 species in three and a half days birding. We hope that you will consider joining us in under watched South Wales for some exceptional winter birding later in the year or 2009.