A Few Year Ticks

Dark-bellied Brent Geese

The day never reached the dizzy heights of being "fine" as forecast but was good enough to get out. I started at WWT Penclacwydd in the hope that I might catch a glimpse of a Great White Egret but I was too late.  Thanks to Wendell Thomas I did see 8 distant Brent Geese my first of the year and  a Peregrine perched on a post also my first in 2012.




Adult Mediterranean Gull at Burry Port

I moved on to Burry Port and walked out along the pier on the western side of the harbour beyond the old lighthouse.  Using the scope I first concentrated on the main channel where I immediately discovered 4 Red-breasted Mergansers.  There was  a raft of about 20 Great Crested Grebes and as I put the scope on them I was delighted to find yet another 2012 tick in the form of a Slavonian Grebe swimming just to the rear of its larger cousins.  More scoping meant I could count at least 50 Dark-breasted Brent Geese and exactly 32 Eider Ducks were added to my list.  Walking back to the car a man was feeding gulls which added yet another species when an adult Mediterranean Gull joined the Black-headeds for the feast.




Male Goldeneye at Kidwelly Quay

Kidwelly Quay was my next port of call.  There were 4 Goldeneye on the river and as usual Lapwings and Golden Plovers were doing some great aerial stuff.  A Water Rail lurked in the canal and 30 Redwings were in the hedges.




Redwing


I finished up at Cilsan Bridge in the Tywi Valley where the Whooper Swan flock had grown to 25.