A lot more terns in the Burry

Fantastic numbers of terns entered the Burry Inlet to roost on the evening tide today. Positioned on the mound at Wernffrwd I counted 1,707 Common Terns coming into roost along the route shown by the solid blue line. Several hundred more also arrived by the dashed blue line, but as I could not discount these being recycled birds  they are not included in the total. However, a group of 6 Little Terns arrived via this route, so undoubtedly many additional Commons will also have used this route too. A few Arctics and around 30 Sandwich were also seen today, but no Black or Roseate.

The red line shows the more typical pattern of tern movements on the high tide in recent times: Birds frequently gather off Pembrey/Burry Port then as the tides pushes up, they fly up the estuary, generally following the north shore, some then cut across from Llanelli to Salthouse Point and join the gull roosts anywhere between the point and Weobley. Not infrequently birds head right up to Loughor Bridge and may join the gull roost there, or more typically feed for a while before eventually heading back down the estuary mid-channel. They may then inspect or join the south shore roosts, but sometimes ignore them altogether and head straight out towards the lighthouse.

a dread of terns and gulls

Whilst the choice of roost site is highly unpredictable, the routes are predictable and it’s helped me connect with both Roseate and Gull-billed Terns that were initially found at Pembrey and Penclacwydd respectively. The best viewpoints that I know of to see terns in the Burry are shown by the black dots. Definitely worth chancing your arm this weekend as this is by far the highest number of terns I have seen since I started watching the estuary in 1989. The best time to witness all this activity is the hour or two before and after high water. At other times the birds appear to feed out in Carmarthen Bay. The weather of course also strongly influences these unpredictable birds, but following the guidelines above should improve your chances of success.

The end of a memorable tide.

This video is a strong candidate for the worst Common Tern video ever, but gives an impression of the way in which terns were constantly arriving all along the shore between Wernffrwd and Weobley. Click Here

Brent Geese in the Burry Inlet

Part of a flock of 145 Dark-bellied Brent Geese at Crofy on 9th January 2010
Although I have not made any complete counts on the Burry this winter (this task is carried out relgiously by Bob Howells), my own observations suggest that numbers of Brent Geese seem lower than in previous winters. Figures extracted for Gower Birds for the period 1968-2008, show that the population on the Burry has in fact fluctuated quite markedly in recent years. The reasons are likely to be complex but breeding success and an increase in movements between winter sites are probable key factors. The peak count on the Burry was fairly recently in December 2005 when 1680 were in the estuary.

Data from Gower Birds (Grenfell et al, 1969-2009)
[NB. Last two years data incomplete so figures may be higher than shown]

Good skies for Santa

The eve before Christmas on the Burry Inlet. The birding fraternity have already received their Christmas present, but there's always a chance of the odd stocking filler before the year's end. Happy Christmas!

Pipits and Thrushes at Wernffrwd

Meadow Pipit

The spring line along the upper edge of the saltmarsh was one of the few areas where freshwater was available this morning and subsequently attracted a good number of smaller birds, in addition to the usual Snipes and Egrets, etc. An increase in Song Thrushes and Meadow Pipits was obvious, and a Water Pipit was only feet from the car, but flew before I could get my camera! Two Kingfishers were also seen feeding along the narrow pills.

Little Gull & Water Pipit at Penclawdd

Water Pipit showed very well on the slipway at Penclawdd car park (SS544958) this morning. This is not an easy species to get good views of as they tend to fly off high when approached, but today the car provided an effective hide allowing very good views for Neil Edwards and myself. When looking for this species, note that it is rarely seen at anytime other than high tide as they tend to remain concealed in the tidal creeks at other times. The winter distribution below (lime = Pre 2000, Green >= 2000, centred black = 2009) shows the species prefers the upper estuary, but note Rock Pipit also uses these same habitats when non-breeding.

Water Pipit

Rock Pipit

The first-winter Little Gull was highly mobile, moving between the northern and southern shores of the estuary and was last seen flying east towards Loughor Bridge.