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Recent sightings

• 27 March 2012

  Warm weather and new arrivals

  Astonishingly warm weather for March here at Ynys-hir. The winds have been ideal for migration with a trickle of migrants arriving daily. First here, as always, were sand martins, closely followed by wheatear and chiffchaff. Yesterday, the first blackcaps were singing and this morning a few willow warblers have arrived, the latter's song a lovely descending trill. Any day now, if the weather remains as it is, I expect redstart or an early pied flycatcher; definate harbingers of Spring. Celandines, marsh marigolds and wood sorrel are all in bloom but my favourite, the wood anemone has still to appear in splender. Reptiles are waking from hibernation with a few grass snakes seen in the wetter areas and on the lowland wet grassland, lapwings are displaying in good numbers with some already incubating a full clutch of eggs, the earliest I can recall. The grey herons are back in the heronry and, to my suprise, 12 little egrets were lined up on the salt marsh just below appearing eager to join their larger cousins. Reserve staff are arriving earlier and earlier too, eager to be the one to see the first pied flycatcher or redstart of the year. It is rather unfair, though, that the Area Manager lives on-site and invariably gets most of the year ticks. I will have to set my alarm clock earlier and earlier I think, to beat him to a redstart or pied flycatcher tomorrow.

  Posted by Russell Jones

• 31 October 2011

  The first day of winter

  Now the clocks have changed the dark, gloomy late afternoons and evenings of winter are upon us. Wader numbers on the lowland wet grassland are increasing with over 1400 golden plover and 1500 lapwing daily with smaller numbers of curlew and redshank feeding in the wetter areas. Birds of prey are now a regular feature with up to four hen harriers (three ringtails and one adult male) hunting over rougher areas of pasture with peregrine, merlin, kestrel, buzzard, red kite and sparrowhawk seen daily. A pleasant surprise yesterday was a very late osprey over the Dyfi near the Domen las hide; it should have been in it's winter quarters by now. Interesting waders include a spotted redshank and a common sandpiper, presumably the same individuals that have wintered on the reserve for the last few years. Redwing and fieldfares are goprging on the abundant hawthorn berries with an occasional brambling and crossbill putting in an appearance. Wigeon numbers have reached 1500 so far and the barnacle goose flock has built up to 336 individuals with 37 Greenland white-fronted geese also in. It is now too dark to spend a pleasant hour after work to birdwatch on the reserve so I will have to set the alarm clock a bit earlier to enjoy the reserve before settling down in front of the computer.

  Posted by Russell Jones

• 29 September 2011

  Late summer and early winter migrants

  A very high tide this morning and waders were pushed up the estuary from their usual high-tide roosts further downstream. At the Breakwater hide a steady stream of oystercatchers and curlew flew past with smaller numbers of dunlin, redshank, bar-tailed godwit, grey plover and ringed plover looking for an uncovered area to roost. A sanderling was unusual for so far up-river as were two sandwich tern amongst the black-headed gulls. Also seen was a juvenile Mediterranean gull, a ring-tail hen harrier, a yellow wagtail and a latw willow warbler. Winter visitors are increasing in numbers with almost 300 barnacle geese, 800 wigeon and a few pintail. The Indian summer (or haf bach Mihangel for the welsh among us) is very welcome at the moment with higher temperatures than we have had all year. From now on, I shall be scanning the skies to the north west, hoping to hear and see the arrival of our Greenland white-fronted geese; to me a sign that winter will soon be upon us, despite these rather unusual temperatures.

  Posted by Russell Jones

• 9 September 2011

  Waders

  On a falling tide this morning, good numbers of waders were feeding on the exposed mud and sand opposite the Breakwater hide. There were around 550 dunlin with a few ringed plovers, 3 little stints and 4 curlew sandpipers. Further out was a group of 17 knot and 5 bar-tailed godwit. Other odds and ends included a few wigeon, a wheatear, whitethroat and small flocks of linnets and meadow pipits. 

  Posted by Russell Jones

• 31 August 2011

  Ynys-hir BioBlitz

  From 4pm on Saturday 6^th August to 4pm on Sunday 7^th August 2011 we had a BioBlitz at RSPB Ynys-hir.  Experts and novices joined forces to count as many different species as they could on the reserve. It was an exciting 24 hours of events looking for birds, mammals, fungi, moths, insects, plants and more.  The weather wasn’t as kind as it could have been, the cool, windy and rainy conditions meant the animals were taking cover and more difficult to find.  However, we still counted 391 different species!  Here is a synopsis of the results: 

  Eighty species of birds were counted including: black tailed godwit, common sandpiper, garden warbler, goldcrest, goosander, kingfisher, kestrel, little egret, meadow pipit, osprey, pied flycatcher, raven, red breasted merganser, red kite, sand martin, shelduck, snipe, spotted flycatcher, stonechat, whitethroat, whinchat and yellowhammer. 

  Of the 11 species of bat we know are present on the reserve, only three were recorded during the bioblitz, the common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle and lesser horseshoe.  

  Ninety one species of moths were found in the moth traps.  Four had not been recorded at the reserve before, these were three micro moth species mompha raschkiella, rhopobota naevana and zeiraphera isertana and the larger moth epirrhoe galiata (Galium carpet).   

  Eighteen species of fungi were present including dog vomit fungi and fly agaric. 

  Four species of dragonfly; black darter, black tailed skimmer, common darter and southern hawker, and four species of damselfly; common blue, emerald, large red and small red were seen. 

  Ninety nine species of plant were counted by an enthusiastic plant walk.  Also thirteen species of lichen and twenty one tree species.

  Seventeen species were found by the pond dippers including stickleback, palmate newt and water scorpion.  The bug hunters discovered twenty five species of insect. 

  Although this is not a conclusive survey of the species on the reserve, it offers an interesting snapshot into the 24 hours.  We aim to hold one BioBlitz a year for the next three years to survey during the other three seasons. 

  We would like to thank everyone who was involved, we hope you had as much fun as we did!  Particular thanks go to:
  Tony Allenby for gathering as many knowledgeable people as possible and for guiding the dragonfly, damselfly and butterfly walk.
  Bob Relph and John Davis for their knowledge of birds and guiding the two bird walks.
  Ceredigion Moth group, for spending the time putting out all the moth traps on the Saturday evening and checking them the following morning. A special thank you goes to Carol and Evan Lynn for writing up the list of moths for our results.
  Arthur Chater for his encyclopaedic knowledge of plants.
  Dave Purdon for finding as many lichens as he possibly could.
  Jack Grasse for his time in putting out mammal hair traps out and checking them.
  Russel Hobsen from butterfly conservation.
  Bob Chilton and Penny David for hunting out the fungi of Ynys-hir.

  Posted by Cathy Taylor

• 25 August 2011

  Summer leaves and autumn slowly comes

  Summer migrants are slowly departing with no pied flycatchers seen for over ten days now with redstart numbers decreasing fast. Chiffchaff, willow warblers and blackcaps are still here but swifts have long gone and soon flocks of hirundines will be readying for departure too. At the same time, a trickle of autumn migrants are moving through with two green sandpipers and a greenshank on the Breakwater field ditches today. The ospreys which bred on the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust reserve further up the Dyfi are still around, though the female has departed, and the male can often be seen fishing on the Dyfi near the reserve. Goosander numbers have increased to 26 today; it looks as if it has been a good breeding season for them locally. In the sunshine, black darter dragonflies and small red damselflies were flying along the boardwalk with common lizards sunning themselves on the wooden treads.

  Posted by Russell Jones

• 28 April 2011

  Warm weather arrivals.

  Excellent spring weather has brought us a wealth of migrants this year with redstarts and pied flycatchers singing (and occasionally showing well) from most wooded areas. A pair of garganey have found the pools and ditches near the Breakwater hide to their liking and have been around for a few days now. On the Dyfi near the Marian Mawr hide the female scaup has been joined by both goosander and red-breasted merganser and a superb summer-plumaged black-tailed godwit and a greenshank were feeding on the edge of the river. A bit of a suprise was a grey seal which caught a rather large mullet and seemed to enjoy its meal. From the car-park a female gadwall (very scarce here) and both teal and shoveler are easily seen on Cae'r Berllan pool and little grebe and coot are nest-building.

  Posted by Russell Jones

• 18 April 2011

  High tides and migrants

  A good high tide this morning pushed a lot of waders, usually a bit distant, much closer to the estuary hides. From the Saltings hide this morning oystercatchers, curlews, dunlin, ringed plover, knot, redshank, both bar and black-tailed godwit and a few whimbrel jostled for space on a patch of higher ground that was not covered by the rising tide. All of a sudden all the waders shot up into the air and scattered in all directions as an osprey flew overhead, the waders not realising that the prey of this bird is fish and not birds. A female hen harrier was next, slowly quartering the raised banks on both sides of the path. A late female scaup was diving occasionally and drifting up with the tide. Sedge and reed warblers have returned and an occasional trill came from a reeling grasshopper warbler hidden amongst thick bramble.On the way back to the Visitor Centre redstarts and pied flycatchers were easy to see as the oak leaves have yet to unfurl; blackcap, wood warblers and garden warblers singing well, although not as visible as the other two species.  A mild and dry spring has meant that many things are earlier than usual; bluebells starting to flower, grass snakes enjoying the basking sun, large red damselflies emerging and the slow flight of a speckled wood, orange tips on lady's smock and the flashing green of a brimstone. Spring is most definately my favourite time of the year and there are still many more new things to arrive and marvel at; whinchats and spotted flycatchers, the smell of honeysuckle flower and the first chicks of yet another year. 

   

  Posted by Russell Jones

• 30 March 2011

  More migrants

  A few more summer migrants have started to arrive with over 200 sand martins and a few swallows feeding this morning over the Breakwater fields. The weather has turned slightly colder following a few days of very warm winds and a bit of rain overnight seems to have grounded a few migrants. A redstart and some 30 willow warblers were feeding in the shelter of a bramble patch near the Marian Mawr hide. The Greenland white-fronted geese (63 of them) were again on the salt marsh but this time right in front of the Breakwater hide giving excellent views. A few pied flycatchers have also arrived, the grey herons seem to be sitting on eggs in the heronry with little egrets starting to build nests there too. A walk yesterday on Foel Fawr, part of the reserve with some excellent footpaths (and views), produced a female stonechat; the first I have seen on the reserve since the arctic-like freeze in December and at least seven male wheatears along with yellowhammers and a soaring sparrowhawk. No ring ousels though which are occasionally seen here on spring passage.

  Posted by Russell Jones