Until today I had never seen the North American race of Iceland Gull so we headed for Newgale to catch up with a Kumlien's Gull. The weather was amazing - bright sunshine and no clouds at all. It brought out crowds walking on the beach, kyaking and just a few birders. Richard Stonier kindly pointed out the Kumlien's as we pitched up beside him. Looking through the telescope one could clearly see the dark smudge and the greyish spots on the primaries.
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| Adult Kumlien's Gull in centre |
We also noted an adult Glaucous Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull. It was also difficult to ignore the hordes of Kittiwakes feeding in the surf and at times dropping to the beach really close up.
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| Adult Glaucous Gull - lowest bird |
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| Juvenile Kittiwake landed on the beach |
We stepped across the road to check out more gulls on the pools behind the pub and enjoyed excellent views of a juvenile Glaucous Gull. We then moved on to Broad Haven where scanning the bay there we c50 Common Scoters, 7 Red-throated Divers, Great Northern Diver, 5 Fulmars, Shag, Guillemot and on the cliffs a fine male Stonechat.
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| Whooper Swans |
Before returning home we stopped at Cilsan Bridge in the Tywi Valley and counted 40 Whooper Swans the largest number I have seen at this site in 12 years of watching.
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