I took a break from all the gloss painting and other stuff form the last few weeks, and went to Llanrhidian yesterday to see what was there. I was hoping to catch a Short eared owl, as someone reported one a couple of weeks ago, but no show while I was there.
My other main target birds were Hen Harrier, and both a male and a female were present - a long way out though. With the very soft mud following big tides plus the heavy rain recently, I decided to sit tight by the car and see if anything would come close. Not my day, however plenty of birds out there including large numbers of Geese, Goldfinch bouncing around the marsh, Great white egret, Red Kite, Stonechat, etc.
Back on my local estuary i`ve had Merlin around and again good numbers of Canada and Greylag Geese, but no sign of a local Hen Harrier yet this year on the limited time I can be there. (The roaming horses restrict where I can view from now). Hoping that one day I will catch a Short eared owl locally, perfect habitat with the rough fields adjacent to the marsh. My gut feeling is that they have passed through at some stage over the years, but haven`t seen this yet.
I saw my first two Redwing of the winter on Llangennech marsh this week, so hope they will be in in good numbers soon.