Llanelli Naturalists Newsletter - March 2003 - No 69
Ian Morgan
Although there has been a small heronry at Stradey Woods (in a copse of tall pines SSE of Stradey Castle) for many years, and the site and adjacent fields are often used as a high tide roost, the 42 birds counted there on 23 February 2002 was quite exceptional. A couple of weeks later, a singing chiffchaff on the scrub-covered island on Machynys Pond provided the first spring record; three days later more singing birds, plus a singing blackcap, were in Stradey Woods. Other migrants followed, including the summer-visiting influx of goldfinches on 17-18 April – this species is overwhelmingly a summer visitor to Carmarthenshire, but also with passage and (a few) wintering birds.
Maesdulais Quarry near Drefach (an old limestone quarry) had a ravens’ nest with young and a pair of stock doves nesting in a crevice on 24 April. Cynheidre (the next day) had a ‘yaffling’ green woodpecker, a surprisingly scarce bird in the county away from its coalfield stronghold, and the partially tree covered, stony expanses of the former Cynheidre Colliery also supported singing male tree pipits and whitethroats. Later that day a nice linear stretch of habitat, south of the bridge at Pontnewydd yielded a new site for Cetti’s warbler – not to be confused with the territory near the golf course upstream – as well as singing reed, sedge and grasshopper warblers and a willow tit; very nice indeed and a recommended natural history site.
The brackish water body known as ‘Penrhyngwyn Pond’ near the tip of the Machynys Peninsula is also always worth checking – on the same date (25/4) there was a great crested grebe in full breeding plumage there together with a pair of gadwall lurking in the marginal vegetation. The spit at Penrhyngwyn had a passage pair of wheatears. On 1 May, there was a pair of great crested grebes at Sandy Water Park whilst swifts were overhead at Llanelli.
Stradey Woods a few days later had 3 singing male stock doves – a bird which has an obvious (and necessary, because of old trees with nesting holes) affinity with estate woodland; there were also 3+ pairs of grey wagtails and 1 pair of dippers on the Afon Dulais and the Afon Cwm Mawr tributary in these woods. Lesser whitethroats were recorded at Ffrwd Fen, Kidwelly Quay and near Llansteffan in early May, as always, associated with thick hedgerows.
An immaculate male Montagu’s harrier at the Three Lords, Pendine on 8 May was a fantastic find by Julian Friese and John Lloyd. Later in the month, hobbies were reported from the Tywi Valley around Cilsan – Llandeilo – do they breed? A survey of little ringed plovers on the Tywi, between Rhosmaen and Dryslwyn suggested about 12-14 pairs on that stretch of river.
The late May / early June period produced two birds of note aided, like the influx of scarce dragonflies (see elsewhere in this newsletter) by the southerly winds. The first of these birds was the immature purple heron (the 4th county record) which I was lucky to flush from a waterlogged ditch at Machynys on 24 May. For a second or two I thought it was a short-eared owl (!) which I had earlier spotted. The purple heron was subsequently seen by Rob Hunt and others. The second ‘Mediterranean’ bird was the woodchat shrike, that was discovered at Gweunydd Cochion (below Mynydd Mawr hospital), Tumble, which afforded good views to the many who made the pilgrimage to see it (see photo). This is the third species of shrike to be recorded at this locality (the others being red-backed and great grey).
The maturing water bodies of the Llanelli coast continue to provide nesting habitat for wetland species. In early June at Machynys Pond, there were two pairs of greylag geese with a total of 18 young; the nearby ‘main golf course pond’ had 3 pairs of tufted duck, 2 pairs of pochard and 1 pair of gadwall the ‘north golf course pond’ had 2 pairs of shelduck, 1 pair of coot and 1 pair of pochard, while there were 2 pairs of coots and 1 pair of dabchicks on Machynys Pond itself. There were 3 pairs of lapwings around the golf course pond complex and 3 pairs again to the south of Machynys Pond where stony ground also held a pair of ringed plovers.
Westwards, at Ashpits Pond, a single great crested grebe (was another bird on the nest?), a pair of pochard and young, 3 pairs of tufted ducks, 3 pairs of coots and young, and a pair of mute swans and 7 cygnets added to the wetland bird tally. Nevill’s Dock pond (‘Delta Lakes’) had a pair of mute swans and 5 young, with a pair of stonechats nearby. Two golden orioles at Dinefwr Castle Woods, Llandeilo (JF et al) proved elusive in the tree tops of this woodland reserve in late June / early July.
Often when early summer surveys of water bodies are carried out, it can be incorrectly presumed that the tufted ducks are non-breeding as the pairs, unlike the other duck species, are devoid of ducklings. Be aware that they are rather late nesters, and as was demonstrated by the two pairs of tufted duck (and 7 and 6 ducklings respectively) at the small pond to the SW of Ashpits Pond on 5 July. A visit to Sandy Water Park on the same date yielded a pair of pochard (with just 1 duckling) and a pair of mute swans with 4 offspring; there was also a post-breeding aggregation of 87 coots. On 9 July, there were 2 pairs of pochard at Machynys Pond (with 1 and 4 young) and a female tufted duck and 3 ducklings. There were 2 pairs of ringed plovers, believed to be breeding, at the end of North Dock dune spit on the same date, whilst on 21 July, 11 greenshanks were feeding in the shallows of the main golf course pond at Machynys. A great white egret was reported at the Dinefwr oxbows on 31 July (and other dates).
There were late summer sightings of single red kites at Tumble, Hendy and Cencoed-uchaf farm (north of Cwmbach), whilst kestrels – a very scarce Carmarthenshire bird – were noted at the Machynys-Morfa area. Another raptor record was the osprey, which hunted over the drainage ditch south of Trostre Works on 1 September – a nice find. A survey of tree sparows in the mid-Tywi Valley totalled 44 pairs, 40 of which were in nest boxes (JF et al).
Three ring ouzels, presumably passage birds, were at Brest y Fedw (near Llyn y Fan Fach) on 22 October, with an incongruous kingfisher on the nearby upland stream. A wintering male blackcap feeding on the profuse crop of white berries on a cabbage palm Cordyline australis, at Denham Avenue, Llanelli on 11 November shared this feast with starlings and blackbirds. I cannot find reference to this species as a food source for these birds in the literature. A female blackcap was in the garden of Trevethin, Pwll on 25 November (RDP & KAC).
HIGHLIGHTS FROM WWT PENCLACWYDD, 2002
The following notes are made from data kindly provided by Nigel Williams and Wendell Thomas. For those of us who remember the site where Penclacwydd now stands, the transformation into areas of bird habitat and its ‘production line’ of breeding birds has been astounding. Whilst the grazing levels type farmland which occupied the area previously had a distinctiveness and charm of its own, very few of the ‘old band’ of birdwatchers harking back to the days of the early 1970’s could have predicted that the Penclacwydd area, and the significant total of other water bodies within the Millennium Coastal Park would have become the wetland resource that it now is.
The breeding highlights are listed below, and it is noted that teal, buzzard and willow tit all bred for the first time. The teal is a very scarce/rare breeder in Carmarthenshire, whilst the buzzard, although common over much of Wales, has only colonized the low-lying coastal belt SE of Llanelli (as a breeder) since the late 1980’s; the willow tit favours wet woodland and the willow/alder etc plantings have been beneficial.
BREEDING HIGHLIGHTS
2 pairs mute swans (one pair unsuccessful, other pair fledged 7)
2 pairs greylag (maximum 7 goslings seen, ? fledged)
5 pairs little grebe (circa 11 fledged)
7 pairs shelduck (? fledged)
8 pairs gadwall (at least 30 fledged)
c. 40 pairs mallard (? fledged)
14 pairs pochard (? fledged)
19 pairs tufted duck (? fledged)
c. 17 pairs coot (? fledged)
1 pair kestrel (3 fledged)
Few can fail to be impressed with the above list – 8 pairs of gadwall, 14 pairs of pochard, 16 pairs of lapwing and successful pairs of barn owl and kestrel!! Surveys were also undertaken of the number of territories of certain species – 13 singing reed buntings, 36 reed warblers, 49 sedge warblers, 11 whitethroat and 5 lesser whitethroat males are all noteworthy.
March 2002 Highlights – An immature male smew (and subsequent months), a drake scaup on the estuary and a male garganey on 12-26 March, as well as the arrival of spring migrants. A juvenile spoonbill appeared late in the month and a red kite on the 24th. There were no less than 4 short-eared owls around and the little egrets (see cover photo) peaked at 25. Three of the whooper swans departed for their northern breeding grounds on 15 March.
April 2002 – A marsh harrier provided excitement from 18 to 22 April and more of the spring migrants arrived; there were two passage ruffs, and 37 whimbrels.
May 2002 – The highlight of May was undoubtably the lesser yellowlegs (a North American wader) which turned up on 23rd and 24th of the month; both a male and a female garganey were present mid to late month.
June 2002 – Mediterranean gulls started making their appearance in the latter half of the month, as they dispersed from their breeding grounds and 2 juvenile spoonbills also turned up. A jay (from 5th) confirmed by its presence, the increasing maturity of the woodland plantings.
July 2002 – A brief visit by a lesser yellowlegs on 15th was probably the same bird which appeared in May and little egrets peaked at 78 and Mediterranean gulls at 8.
August 2002 – An aquatic warbler was seen briefly in the ‘Millennium Wetland’ on 24th, which was the Centre’s third record for this secretive warbler which breeds in Eastern Europe, but which regularly occurs on passage in southern British reedbeds. The two long-staying spoonbills were joined by another two birds and an osprey appeared at the end of the month (this was undoubtedly the same individual that other observers saw near Trostre on 1 September). Wader numbers built up including 57 greenshanks, 52 black-tailed godwits and 14 curlew sandpipers.
September 2002 – Little egret numbers reached an amazing 167 at roost, whilst other noteworthy records included a black tern (9th), a little stint (28th) and a jack snipe (24th). No less than 6 garganey were present mid-month and a goshawk appeared on 10th, and subsequently. Wildfowl and wader numbers continued to grow, including 7 spotted redshanks.
October 2002 – A long-billed dowitcher on 16th was the 2nd North American wader rarity of the year and little egrets still numbered 125 birds at the roosting site. A female merlin and more than one goshawk hunted over the reserve. Whooper swans (6) arrived on 10th.
November 2002 – The long-billed dowitcher was seen almost daily, together with the overwintering juvenile spooonbills. A great northern diver was on the estuary, together with two red-breasted mergansers and 6 great crested grebes. Lapwing numbers built up to 524 on the main scrapes, the female goshawk continued to hunt over the reserve and a female hen harrier appeared. Little egrets ‘re-peaked’ at 167 at their roost in the ‘European Pen’.
December 2002 – The long-billed dowitcher remained on the marsh scrapes to the 16th at least, with two spoonbills, a smew and a brief visit by a bittern on 23rd. Sixteen water rails were recorded on the reserve and lapwing numbers increased to 1248.
Thanks to all who contributed records
Carmarthenshire Birds No 10 – 2001 – is now available (copies on sale at WWT Penclacwydd). Congratulations to the new editor, Tony Forster, for a well compiled report.
