Very saddened to hear that Phil Baber died on Sunday.  Phil and his partner Pam Buckle moved to Pembroke in December 2021, arriving from Bristol via a short stint in Lampeter.  I first met them both at the Gann and we hit it off instantly.  They became firm fixtures in Pembrokeshire birding circles, including regular contributions to Pembrokeshire Birds.  Phil was a keen birder from the tender age of 13, and an accomplished artist and cartoonist (visit https://philbaberwildlifeart.weebly.com/). I last saw Phil at the Magnolia Warbler at St Govan's Head last September: he wa ..read more

Hi,  I'm a regular visitor to Pembrokeshire and keen follower of the blog. Wondered if you were interested in this:   4.40pm today, Newport, one Barnacle Goose landed on the land-side of the metal bridge, next to two Canada Geese, and within about a minute the three flew off down the estuary towards the sea. Went to look but could not relocate it. Also two Whimbrel.  (Pics attached of the Barnacle Goose) Keep up the good work! Julie Chamberlain ..read more

Honey buzzard flew low over the coast path west towards Dinas at 5pm yesterday 6th May ..read more

Couple of hours around the mere (in the hope Skomers Ibis might have relocated). Lots of St Marks flies around the hawthorn and clouds of midges (though very few hirundines). 2 Lesser whitethroat, or one very mobile bird, were juddering away on opposite sides of the mere. The paler of the Short eared owls hunted around between 5:30-6:00pm flushing a Dunlin and a Black-tailed godwit. Drizzle arrived which coincided with the appearance of 30 Black-tailed godwits that did a few circuits but didn't see them drop down. A fly over Ringed plover added to the waders. Couple of Blackcaps and chiff ..read more

 5 whimbrel at Newport Bridge this morning , following up from a quick visit yesterday lunch time which had revealed 1 male goosander , 2 common sandpipers and 3 whimbrel.  ..read more

After a sunny morning, the rain came just after lunch. I wondered if it might bring down a few swifts or other migrants. having seen nothing much at the Dowrog, we decided to have a look St David's Airfield. We stopped off at Trecenny Farm to buy some potatoes. As we came out of the barn, I noticed a funny looking Buzzard flying low past the farm-house, flap flap flap glide, flap flap flap glide, I just got the bins on it as it flew away, I was pretty sure it was a Honey, but rear views don't give much away. A few minutes later, we parked up at the airfield just in time to get a second bite of ..read more

The valley at Deer Park was quite quiet yesterday morning. A female Redstart was busy prospecting for bugs around the rocks ..read more

Beautiful afternoon trudging across Brynberian. After the recent wet weather wellies essential, some of the streams are almost welly top deep and belting through and much of the moor is saturated with some places impassable without risking a lost wellie or boot full of water. Took a long walk to hear the first singing Whinchat, in a regular spot, and eventually found a second. Grasshopper warblers reeling away in three spots. Pair of Redstart and Redpolls buzzing around. No Whitethroat and no cuckoo in the 4 hours I was there. Lots of St Mark's flies being snapped up by the many willow warbler ..read more

It was such a nice morning we decided to go out for a birdwatch. We started at Marloes Mere, then walked the coast path, then coffee and cake at Runwayskiln, then the Deer park, then lunch at home then out to the Gann and Mullock Bridge. About half way through the proceedings we realised we were getting a decent list of quite good birds so turned it into a local patch "big day". We picked up birds which can be difficult to get such as Bullfinch, Rock Pipit and Reed Bunting, and found some interesting birds at the Gann - see David O's post below. Best birds were very smart Wheatears on the rock ..read more

Has anyone seen/heard a wood warbler at Minwear yet this spring?   Having failed to see or hear one there during a BBS first visit earlier in the week we decided to have another look this morning, covering all the  areas we have often seen or heard them in previous springs. Alas no joy! Perhaps they are just late arriving there this spring. We did not have time to look at Canaston Wood unfortunately, but hopefully there are some over there. Most woodland birds were generally fairly quiet this morning, although mistle thrushes were in good voice as were drumming great spotted woo ..read more