Poms on the estuary, another Little Gull and Spot Fly

Tuesday saw the arrival of a low pressure system with very high winds blowing up into the Burry Inlet, so I was eager to see if it would deliver any seabirds for my morning bird count. On my initial scan, the estuary was devoid of any birds flying over it, and in the end the only seabird I could muster was a single Sandwich Tern, however a few Turnstone flying about with some Dunlin and Ringed Plover was was a welcome addition to my patch list.

Later in the day I was told that an adult Little Gull had been seen shortly after I had left the hide. Pretty annoying since I had been constantly checking the small flock of Black-headed Gulls with Little Gull being very much in mind.

Little Gull

Possibly the same bird as the one at Sandy Water Park?

In the evening after dinner, I headed out to Machynys point for the high tide and with the hope of seeing some skuas. I wasn't disappointed as I soon got onto a Great Skua flying high over the estuary. Then a pale morph Pomarine Skua entered my field of view, and then another! It's always amazing seeing your first skuas of the year. I could sit and watch them for hours. They're such cool birds!

An 'atmospheric' shot of a Pomarine Skua

On Wednesday I had a second go at an evening 'sea' watch. It was much quieter with no skuas, however two Eiders (an adult male and a 1st summer male) which flew out of the estuary and towards the sea were the first of the year for patch.

Later in the week while doing a breeding bird survey I saw my first Spotted Flycatcher of the year around the fishing platforms and I almost stepped on this Grass Snake right in the middle of the path.

Grass Snake

And here are some more photos of the Little Gull...