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Ceredigion Birding (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter mcmerlin
- Start date
Dawn Balmer
Well-known member
Hi
I just want to give a plug to the Bird Atlas if I can. We are desperately short of birders for the Atlas fieldwork in Ceredigion and still have many 10-km squares in the area that need help especially around Aberaeron, Llanarth, Llanrhystyd, Llanddeiniol, Pontrhydfendigaid, Abercych and Newcastle Emlyn. We need help with timed counts in tetrads (2 x 2 km squares) and just two one hour counts are required in the breeding season to a tetrad to visit the key habitats and record and count all species.
We are now in the third (of four) breeding season and only have one winter of fieldwork left and there is still a heck of a lot to do in this area and further east in Powys.
If you can help take a look at www.birdatlas.net and look at the regional results pages http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/mapscard.html to get a feel for what has been done so far.
To look at what tetrads need covering then register for the Atlas and go to Data Home and click on 'Request TTV' and select a tetrad to cover.
Any help very much appreciated.
Dawn Balmer
Atlas Coordinator
I just want to give a plug to the Bird Atlas if I can. We are desperately short of birders for the Atlas fieldwork in Ceredigion and still have many 10-km squares in the area that need help especially around Aberaeron, Llanarth, Llanrhystyd, Llanddeiniol, Pontrhydfendigaid, Abercych and Newcastle Emlyn. We need help with timed counts in tetrads (2 x 2 km squares) and just two one hour counts are required in the breeding season to a tetrad to visit the key habitats and record and count all species.
We are now in the third (of four) breeding season and only have one winter of fieldwork left and there is still a heck of a lot to do in this area and further east in Powys.
If you can help take a look at www.birdatlas.net and look at the regional results pages http://blx1.bto.org/atlas-results/mapscard.html to get a feel for what has been done so far.
To look at what tetrads need covering then register for the Atlas and go to Data Home and click on 'Request TTV' and select a tetrad to cover.
Any help very much appreciated.
Dawn Balmer
Atlas Coordinator
2520years
Lurking in the bushes is wrong.
Hi everyone!
I was hoping for a tip of where to go birding. I'm taking my family to the Quay West Holiday Park (New Quay) soon and will be trying to get out for half a day for a well-deserved twitch. o
My time will be limited and it may be easier to go early in the morning. I'm not particularly well, so somewhere that isn't too physically demanding would be best. I'll have the car but I don't want to drive too far either.
I hope I haven't been too fussy, but any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I was hoping for a tip of where to go birding. I'm taking my family to the Quay West Holiday Park (New Quay) soon and will be trying to get out for half a day for a well-deserved twitch. o
My time will be limited and it may be easier to go early in the morning. I'm not particularly well, so somewhere that isn't too physically demanding would be best. I'll have the car but I don't want to drive too far either.
I hope I haven't been too fussy, but any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Stevie babe
Well-known member
Hi 2520
If weather good and funds not too limited you might consider a dolphin boat trip from New Quay. 2 - 4 hour trips organised from there. Although primarily looking for dolphins, porpoises & seals there should be a fair bit of birding as well as you get good views of the cliffs (not accessible by land).
Check the tide and perhaps walk along the beach until you reach a stone jetty at Cei Bach (a little less than a mile). At the jetty there is a footpath that tracks inland by the side of a stream through woods and reaches a road. Cross the road and the woods continue a bit further. (No steep hills so far) Either retrace your steps or go back to that road, turn left and follow the road until you reach a T junction where you can walk back to New Quay - or there may be a bus. Be aware it is quite hilly in that area and most footpaths and roads involve some steep inclines or drops
Further afield 20 - 25 miles. Drive to Tregaron (B4342) then a bit further north on B4343 for CORS CARON reserve. Some good birding there plus a newly built hide / resting point. You can walk for as far as you like almost here. Red Kites almost guaranteed, Merlin & Hobby , groppers * other warblers. The Talbot (I think) in Tregaron does a nice pint with food.
3rd Option is Cardigan with walks along the side of the river Teifi at St Dogmaels to Poppit Sands or (where I;ve yet to explore) the inland side of the A487 but still along the banks of the Teifi.
There are plenty of other places to visit but they may require exercise or longer distance driving. If you can do it, a useful drive to the RSPB reserve at Lynn Brianne coupled with a stop over at the Llyn Brianne dam. Buzzard, Red Kite, Peregrine & Pied flycatchers are possible. A very beautiful spot this but something like 40 miles each way.
Finally. bearing in mind steep hills and cliffs. Visit Llangrannog and Cwmtydu, go early as poss. to get decent parking as they are both nice beaches. You may see choughs high in the cliffs from the beaches but if you are able to venture to the top of the cliffs you may be luckier. (And the car park on the cliff top at Mwynt, near Cardigan might also produce choughs - as well as dolphin & porpoises out at sea).
Hope that helps you and these ideas are within your range. I personally don't live there but have been holidaying in the area for the last 3 - 4 years in September / October time.
If weather good and funds not too limited you might consider a dolphin boat trip from New Quay. 2 - 4 hour trips organised from there. Although primarily looking for dolphins, porpoises & seals there should be a fair bit of birding as well as you get good views of the cliffs (not accessible by land).
Check the tide and perhaps walk along the beach until you reach a stone jetty at Cei Bach (a little less than a mile). At the jetty there is a footpath that tracks inland by the side of a stream through woods and reaches a road. Cross the road and the woods continue a bit further. (No steep hills so far) Either retrace your steps or go back to that road, turn left and follow the road until you reach a T junction where you can walk back to New Quay - or there may be a bus. Be aware it is quite hilly in that area and most footpaths and roads involve some steep inclines or drops
Further afield 20 - 25 miles. Drive to Tregaron (B4342) then a bit further north on B4343 for CORS CARON reserve. Some good birding there plus a newly built hide / resting point. You can walk for as far as you like almost here. Red Kites almost guaranteed, Merlin & Hobby , groppers * other warblers. The Talbot (I think) in Tregaron does a nice pint with food.
3rd Option is Cardigan with walks along the side of the river Teifi at St Dogmaels to Poppit Sands or (where I;ve yet to explore) the inland side of the A487 but still along the banks of the Teifi.
There are plenty of other places to visit but they may require exercise or longer distance driving. If you can do it, a useful drive to the RSPB reserve at Lynn Brianne coupled with a stop over at the Llyn Brianne dam. Buzzard, Red Kite, Peregrine & Pied flycatchers are possible. A very beautiful spot this but something like 40 miles each way.
Finally. bearing in mind steep hills and cliffs. Visit Llangrannog and Cwmtydu, go early as poss. to get decent parking as they are both nice beaches. You may see choughs high in the cliffs from the beaches but if you are able to venture to the top of the cliffs you may be luckier. (And the car park on the cliff top at Mwynt, near Cardigan might also produce choughs - as well as dolphin & porpoises out at sea).
Hope that helps you and these ideas are within your range. I personally don't live there but have been holidaying in the area for the last 3 - 4 years in September / October time.
Stevie babe
Well-known member
No worries
we're going back there again this September - to St Dogmaels, nr Cardigan, We'll probably end up retiring there or nearby.
we're going back there again this September - to St Dogmaels, nr Cardigan, We'll probably end up retiring there or nearby.
2520years
Lurking in the bushes is wrong.
Hi Stevie babe
I took your advice and did the walk along the beach and up the jetty.
I wasn't well enough to do much, so when I'd gone through the first part of the woods and reached the road I headed home.
There were loads of chiff-chaffs and I might have seen a grasshopper warbler.
On the journey there and back through Wales I was really pleased to see six Red Kites - we don't get them in the North West of England.
It looks like a good area for birds, so I hope I'll get back another time.
Cheers.
I took your advice and did the walk along the beach and up the jetty.
I wasn't well enough to do much, so when I'd gone through the first part of the woods and reached the road I headed home.
There were loads of chiff-chaffs and I might have seen a grasshopper warbler.
On the journey there and back through Wales I was really pleased to see six Red Kites - we don't get them in the North West of England.
It looks like a good area for birds, so I hope I'll get back another time.
Cheers.
GiG
Well-known member
Had a great time recently on the Welsh coast at New Quay. It was my first visit to this area. It was a family holiday, but with close access to the coastal path I could do some early morning walks along with a boat trip out to see dolphins and seals.
Some of the highlights included seeing a red kite on the approach road to New Quay coming from Llanarth on the first day. Around the town a lot of species including nuthatch in a small wooded garden, nesting swift in the house we were staying in along with nesting house martin nearby and quite a few house sparrows about.
Going to explore the coast path was exciting, as climbing the steep ascent at the start (going to Cwmtudu) I could hear a call that I thought I recognised. Got to where it flattens out and looking over some gorse bushes in the cattle field behind a pair of chough. Quite a nice surprise to get them so close to where I was staying as I had read they could be seen around Llangrannog which I was contemplating walking to one day! One day I encountered four to five of them including one that was colour-ringed.
I did this walk on a few occasions. Out to sea gannet, several kittiwake especially at Bird Rock, fulmar, several manx shearwater further out, cormorant and shag on the rocks below. Other species noted included oystercatcher, a flock of common scoter flying south, herring. black-headed and great black-backed gulls. Linnets were encountered regularly along the track with a flock of up to thirty seen and other small birds included stonechat, two juvenile wheatear, whitethroat and chiffchaff. I saw a kestrel once and buzzard a couple of times, most spectacularly when I picked one up sitting on the rocks below then a second bird flew past so that I could watch it from above with the sea in the background! Another treat was to see ravens often, including one time when eight were in the air together! I managed to see bottlenose dolphins most days, sometimes close in and was fascinating to watch when through the beautiful clear green/blue water I could see a couple swimming just below the surface, then one came up and slapped its tail, presumably to disorientate the fish. Finally saw atlantic grey seal on the penultimate day. Numerous rabbits about and a fox crossed the path.
On the boat trip the birding was good but unfortunately no dolphins or seals, except one dead seal floating that had a lesser black-backed gull on it feeding. On the outward journey we were close to the shore so could see the kittiwake colony, then we headed a mile out to sea – I didn’t know this was going to happen at the time, so was a nice surprise - and as I expected a better chance to see some more bird species. Futher out we came across guillemots, often an adult and juvenile, several manx shearwater some of which were on the sea and others a great sight to watch them shear past. I also saw a great skua and several gannet.
Visited The Honey Farm and en route a red kite was gliding close to the road at Plwmp, which on the way back was in a field. Also visited the beautiful Penbryn where I heard Nuthatch and enjoyed the walk along the trail through the woods by the stream.
A lovely area to visit with very friendly, helpful locals and a nice base as a family holiday with wildlife close by. We are already looking in to return next year!
Gi
Some of the highlights included seeing a red kite on the approach road to New Quay coming from Llanarth on the first day. Around the town a lot of species including nuthatch in a small wooded garden, nesting swift in the house we were staying in along with nesting house martin nearby and quite a few house sparrows about.
Going to explore the coast path was exciting, as climbing the steep ascent at the start (going to Cwmtudu) I could hear a call that I thought I recognised. Got to where it flattens out and looking over some gorse bushes in the cattle field behind a pair of chough. Quite a nice surprise to get them so close to where I was staying as I had read they could be seen around Llangrannog which I was contemplating walking to one day! One day I encountered four to five of them including one that was colour-ringed.
I did this walk on a few occasions. Out to sea gannet, several kittiwake especially at Bird Rock, fulmar, several manx shearwater further out, cormorant and shag on the rocks below. Other species noted included oystercatcher, a flock of common scoter flying south, herring. black-headed and great black-backed gulls. Linnets were encountered regularly along the track with a flock of up to thirty seen and other small birds included stonechat, two juvenile wheatear, whitethroat and chiffchaff. I saw a kestrel once and buzzard a couple of times, most spectacularly when I picked one up sitting on the rocks below then a second bird flew past so that I could watch it from above with the sea in the background! Another treat was to see ravens often, including one time when eight were in the air together! I managed to see bottlenose dolphins most days, sometimes close in and was fascinating to watch when through the beautiful clear green/blue water I could see a couple swimming just below the surface, then one came up and slapped its tail, presumably to disorientate the fish. Finally saw atlantic grey seal on the penultimate day. Numerous rabbits about and a fox crossed the path.
On the boat trip the birding was good but unfortunately no dolphins or seals, except one dead seal floating that had a lesser black-backed gull on it feeding. On the outward journey we were close to the shore so could see the kittiwake colony, then we headed a mile out to sea – I didn’t know this was going to happen at the time, so was a nice surprise - and as I expected a better chance to see some more bird species. Futher out we came across guillemots, often an adult and juvenile, several manx shearwater some of which were on the sea and others a great sight to watch them shear past. I also saw a great skua and several gannet.
Visited The Honey Farm and en route a red kite was gliding close to the road at Plwmp, which on the way back was in a field. Also visited the beautiful Penbryn where I heard Nuthatch and enjoyed the walk along the trail through the woods by the stream.
A lovely area to visit with very friendly, helpful locals and a nice base as a family holiday with wildlife close by. We are already looking in to return next year!
Gi
JustinG
Justin
Aberaeron is a lovely seaside town to visit. This is a good central base to walk either north or south along the coastal path. Choughs can be seen anywhere along the coast here. Another place is Llangrannog. There are many Choughs around this area along the coastal path. Although extremely rare, there may even be a pair or two of Dartford Warblers along the Ceredigion coast, but you'll do very well to see them. If you're coming to this neck of the woods, further north, between Aberystwyth and Machynlleth is the 'Dyfi Osprey Project' - one of only 3 Osprey pairs in Wales. (www.dyfiospreyproject.com)
will@bill
FATHER AND SON TEAM
thanks justin For the heads up on the chough. Would love to go in search of the Dartford’s but its going to be a family holiday so birding will be limited to what I can get away with…
may call in to see the fish eagles thanks
JustinG
Justin
No problem. Yes, there are more Dartford's in Pembrokeshire and on the Gower peninsula than in Ceredigion. It is a very rare bird in Ceredigion and would take a lot of time searching for. It's well worth popping in to see them if you can, it's a fantastic place to see Ospreys, and the team there are excellent - lots of good info. and very friendly.
Barryeamon
Member
i, I live in Caerdigion Wales and we have very, very common sitings of Red Kites, Buzzards, Goshawks,Sparrow hawks and herons. This morning I watched a huge (twice the size of a red kite) brown bird with up curled fingers on its wings land in the trees at the bottom of my paddock. When I say huge it looked like a hang glider coming in. I was not alone as my wife saw it to. Could it be a White Tailed eagle as, as the crow flies we are not that far from southern Ireland. If not are there any suggestions
Hi Barry and welcome to BirdForum. It could be a White Tailed Eagle. One of the IOW birds was over Wales last year. Didn’t come as far West as where I live though unfortunately.
Rich
Photonomist
New member
I know this was a while ago, but I found this interesting. I am more a photographer than a birder, but like to identify species new to me and also to enjoy photographing any birds, in flight or not. I hoped this forum would give some hints as to which places to go for particular species, and when also. I used to enjoy visiting the Teifi Pools also as it is magnificent landscape - "The Green Desert of Wales".
Always interested in getting heads-ups on any sightings or such of interest!
Thank you.
Photonomist
New member
Did you find out what it was?
