Conwy RSPB 26/04/2016

A trip to Conwy today brought about some great additions to my year list, especially thanks to another birder who pointed out several birds, and helped to ID others. As I crossed the road bridge, I got stuck in a traffic jam, so I looked out over the estuary. There, literally just under the bridge, were a pair of black and white birds. At first, I thought they were Oystercatchers, but then I noticed the upturned beaks (they were that close), and a later look in my bird book confirmed that they were Avocets. Apart from that, actually on the reserve were some quite exciting birds, such as a pair of Goldeneye busily fishing in front of one of the hides. Also, there were loads of Shelduck, and on the far side of the water I made out birds that I thought were Gannets. Of course, they wouldn't have been, and the other birder in the hide kindly pointed out that although the birds were in a posture similar to that of a perching Gannet, they were in fact Little Egrets. Also, along the trails were numerous Wheatear, which I was constantly flushing up from the short-cropped grass.

Holiday, Nr Shrewsbury 19/04/2016

Some more firsts for me came just after we had arrived at friends on holiday. I was birding in their back garden, and I added four warblers to my list. The first was a Chiffchaff. The bird was singing loudly from the top of a fir tree at the bottom of their garden. Then, as I was trying to get closer to that, another bird burst into song from a thicket to my right. The bird popped out and revealed itself for a minute, and I clearly saw that it was a Garden Warbler, before it disappeared, never to be relocated. Next day, I saw a pair of Blackcap in some local woods, and with them, or rather above them, a Willow Warbler, singing full belt, as usual.