Llanelli Naturalists Newsletter - June 1998 - No 63
DM Powell

The first early winter divers were 9 Red-throated off Pendine on 18th November, with a single off Ferryside on 21st December. A total of 23 were counted between Pendine and Telpyn Point in December where there was also a lone Black-throated Diver. A single Great Northern Diver was off Salmon Scar on 21st December and there were two off Burry Port throughout January 1998. Single Slavonian Grebes were recorded at Penclacwydd on 14th December and also off Burry Port in January 1998.

Apart from a few Fulmars in the extreme west and the regular summer visitations of Manx Shearwaters (there were c.1500 off Cefn Sidan on 20th July), tubenoses are something of a rarity in the county so the Cory's Shearwater off Cefn Sidan in August was particularly welcome. This was only the third county record for this species which breeds on islands in the Mediterranean.

Little Egrets remained present in the North Burry throughout the year with the regular late summer influx reaching 23 at Penclacwydd on the 19th August. On the same day, 45 Grey Herons were counted whilst there was a Spoonbill in summer plumage present from 16th - 20th April.

Small numbers of Bewick's Swans were recorded on the Tywi, with three at Llanegwad on 30th November and four at Rhosmaen on 30th December. The only report of Whooper Swans was of four at Penclacwydd in January 1998. Both races of White-fronted Goose turned up at Penclacwydd, a single "Greenland" bird was seen on several occasions during October and four "European" birds made an appearance on 17th December. There were 145 Brent Geese off Pembrey Harbour on 30th November.

There was a good spring passage of Garganey, with up to three each at Machynys on 22nd - 23rd March and at Penclacwydd in April. A single female Smew was at Talley on 16th March, a Mandarin was on the Tywi at Llandeilo on 11th April, a Velvet Scoter was off Telpyn Point on 16th March and a Scaup showed up at Penclacwydd in January 1998. Amongst the commoner ducks, a record 630 Shoveler were counted at Penclacwydd on 7th December whilst there were also above average numbers of Teal (386 on 20th September) and Wigeon (405 on 27th September). Coastal Goldeneyes totalled seven, with five at Penrhyngwyn and two on the old Power Station site at Burry Port. Some 2064 Common Scoter were counted in Carmarthen Bay on the 1st November. The sad decline of the splendid Eider in the county seems to be continuing with only a single record of three off Cefn Sidan on 23rd November.

Raptor highlights were the Osprey at Llandovery on 27th April, Hobbies at Penclacwydd on 8th April, at Ffairfach in June and on 13th and 16th July, and two at Llangadog on the 11th September. Two Peregrines were seen regularly at Penclacwydd and wintering Merlins were recorded at Pembrey and Machynys during December with two at Penclacwydd in January 1998. Harrier records were rather sparse, single Hen Harriers being reported at Cydweli Marsh on 21st December and Penclacwydd in January 1998. A Marsh Harrier was seen briefly at the latter site on 4th August. There was also a first Red Kite record for Penclacwydd when one flew over the Centre on 21st September.

Partridge records were confined to single birds - a Grey on Tair Carn Ridge on 30th April and a Red-legged at Broad Oak on 2nd November. Quail were reported from Ffairfach on 30th May and Trelech on 6th June. A Spotted Crake was at Tygwyn Pond, Ffairfach on 25th August and up to six Water Rails were counted at Penclacwydd during December. Sadly, the county's first Corncrake for over a decade - at Gorslas on 22nd September - was caught by a cat and had to be put down. The year's 'star wader' was, without doubt, the Long-billed Dowitcher, first seen at Penclacwydd on 30th November.    This was only the second record for the county,  the first being on the Gwendraeth in 1978.    Another good "tick" was the Avocet at Loughor Bridge in January 1998. The first Little Ringed Plovers arrived in the Tywi at Llandeilo on 26th March and by June, 45 pairs were reported from the Tywi/Cothi area. Dotterel passage was rather light in Spring with three on Tair Carn on 27th April, one at Garreglwyd on the 30th, and a further four there on 3rd May. A better autumn movement saw 13 at Garreglwyd on 4th September, six there on 6th September and three at Penrhiwddu on the same day. The build-up of waders at Penclacwydd resulted in a total of 19 species being recorded during August. By September, both Black-tailed Godwit (327) and Greenshank (59) had reached record numbers.

 "White-winged" gulls featured prominently during the year with two 1st winter and one 2nd winter Iceland Gulls and a 1st winter Glaucous Gull at Nantycaws, Iceland Gulls at Cydweli Quay on 27th May and Cefn Sidan on 10th July, four Mediterranean Gulls at Machynys during July and another at Penclacwydd on 5th December. However, the most unusual record was surely that of a 1st winter Iceland Gull picked up exhausted near Murray Street, Llanelli, in early January 1998 (Ian Morgan thought it was a cat at first!!) - unfortunately it died later. Up to four Yellow-legged Herring Gulls were reported from Penclacwydd. A total of five tern species were recorded during the year with maximum counts of 11 Little Terns and 4 Black Terns at Cefn Sidan during August, 158 Sandwich Terns and ten Arctic Terns at Burry Port on 29th August and 64 Common Terns at Pembrey Harbour also in August. All the year's Skua records were of Arctics with a dark phase bird off Cefn Sidan on 19th April, another there in August and one at Penclacwydd on 20th August. Most of the small number of auk records were of Razorbells and Guillemots in the extreme west of the county, but there were three Puffins off Cefn Sidan on 18th October.

The year turned out to be quite a good one for Turtle Doves records with sightings at Carmarthen on 4th and 6th May, Llangynog on 3rd and 7th May, Llanelli on 16th May and Pembrey Airfield (two) on 20th May. Little, Short-eared and Barn Owls were all recorded at Penclacwydd whilst there were at least two Nightjars in Brechfa Forest in June.

The first Woodlark record for 11 years was of five birds at Broad Oak on 21st October. A White  Wagtail joined the Pied Wagtail flock at Penclacwydd on the 2nd April and there was a Yellow Wagtail on the Cothi at Glanrannell Park on 18th May. The bird of the year turned up at Pembrey Country Park on 4th and 5th October when a long overdue Yellow-browed Warbler was identified thus providing a county "first". Winter thrushes started to arrive in October with a big influx of Redwings on the 13th. A pair of Tree Sparrows bred at Carmarthen and there were records of flocks of five at Pendine and 12 at Ffairfach in October and December respectively.

Four Twite were at Machynys in January. A flock of 25 Crossbills was near Cynghordy in July and there were regular reports of up to 20 birds at Pembrey County Park. Brambling sightings were generally disappointing with only single birds being reported, from Penclacwydd on the 19th and 20th October, Pendine on the 26th October, and Pembrey Forest on 1st November.