First outing

I have just started a years placement at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust's fantastic reserve in Llanelli as part of my biology degree course at Plymouth University. Llanelli is situated by the Loughor Estuary, a nationally important site for wildfowl and waders, so I'm hoping that I'll have a few decent finds during the year!

It started off very promisingly with a probable Goshawk which flew over a roundabout on the way into Llanelli. I was in to car so I didn't get the details I would have liked, but the shear size and slowness of the wing beats makes me almost 100% sure.

Today I had my first proper birding outing. I checked out a nearby lake called Delta Lake where I found a 1st summer Little Gull moulting into 2nd winter plumage. I enjoyed watching it elegantly flying around, catching insects and snatching bits off the surface of the water before being warned by a passerby that I should leave the area immediately to avoid being mugged by nearby gypsies! I relocated to the other side of the lake where views were a little more distant by managed to get some nice photos...

Little Gull

Also present were six Sand Martin, five each of House Martin and Swallow, 19 Tufted Duck and four Pochard.

Next I moved only a short distance to the North Dock Channel, a small estuary to the west of Llanelli. Here there were large numbers of Redshank roosting on the mud banks totaling 360+ birds. There were also nine Common Gull, 30 Dunlin and 32 Ringed Plover.