Day 4 of my trip to West Wales began at Ynys-hyr RSPB reserve where we were looking for Wood Warbler. In an area which earlier in the summer had held 5 singing males, we drew a blank. Near the visitors centre, we located a Pied Flycatcher nest and watched as the male and the female brought food back to the nest.
Moving onto Cwm Clettwr, another woodland reserve we finally located a Wood Warbler, which gave a magnificent display of singing and of the fluttering butterfly-like flight as it returned to its nest in the undergrowth – something none of us had seen before.
Our next stop was Nant Yrarian, where the local Red Kites are fed. This has two purposes – one to supplement the natural food available in times of shortage and thus maintain a healthy population and secondly as a way of introducing the public to the wildlife around then. It is quite a spectacle and we estimated that at feeding time there were about 150-200 present.
Our final stop of the day was the area around the Rheidol Power Station. Here we found Dipper, Grey Wagtail and Common Sandpiper – all birds associated with upland river and streams.
Common Pheasant [sp] (Phasianus colchicus)
Canada Goose [sp] (Branta canadensis)
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
Mallard [sp] (Anas platyrhynchos)
Little Grebe [sp] (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
Little Egret [sp] (Egretta garzetta)
Red Kite [sp] (Milvus milvus)
Common Buzzard [sp] (Buteo buteo)
Common Moorhen [sp] (Gallinula chloropus)
Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus)
Common Cuckoo [sp] (Cuculus canorus)
Western Jackdaw [sp] (Coloeus monedula)
Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone)
Great Tit [sp] (Parus major)
Eurasian Blue Tit [sp] (Cyanistes caeruleus)
Barn Swallow [sp] (Hirundo rustica)
Willow Warbler [sp] (Phylloscopus trochilus)
Common Chiffchaff [sp] (Phylloscopus collybita)
Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix)
Eurasian Blackcap [sp] (Sylvia atricapilla)
Eurasian Wren [sp] (Troglodytes troglodytes)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
Song Thrush [sp] (Turdus philomelos)
European Robin [sp] (Erithacus rubecula)
European Pied Flycatcher [sp] (Ficedula hypoleuca)
White-throated Dipper [sp] (Cinclus cinclus)
Dunnock [sp] (Prunella modularis)
Grey Wagtail [sp] (Motacilla cinerea)
Pied Wagtail [sp] (Motacilla alba)
Common Chaffinch [sp] (Fringilla coelebs)
Eurasian Siskin (Carduelis spinus)
Common Redpoll [sp] (Carduelis flammea)
Common Reed Bunting [sp] (Emberiza schoeniclus)
Pete's Favourite Things 