The shorebirds were very showy in front of the west hide and comprised a pair of Bar-tailed Godwits and a single Whimbrel. It looked like there were a fair few more Barwits roosting towards Flint too, but the distance and haze hampered a conclusive view.
A light procession of Swallows was passing through, but it was not until I was about to leave that I bagged my first House Martins and Swifts of the year – a brace of both.
Another new species for the year was Common Tern. Initially, I picked up around fifteen feeding in the middle of the river channel as the tide moved in, but the more I looked the more birds I found; there could have been up to one hundred, but a figure of eighty would be a conservative estimate.
Fingers and toes crossed for some breeding activity at Shotton Pools this year after the last two blanks. Interestingly, a chap in the hide today seemed to dismiss the theory (promulgated by the Mersey Ringing Group) that the failure of the colony may be linked to a change in the dredging routine at Aerospace. He seemed to think that only 200 yards of the river downstream would be affected…?
To end on the positive, the Connah’s Quay Ravens seemed to have successfully hatched three chicks and they are already well on their way to looking like big bruisers!
Also breeding somewhere in the vicinity is a pair of Little Ringed Plovers. I’ll have to be coy about the precise location for obvious reasons, but I will say that they have moved address this year!
Connah’s Quay 30.04.2011
75+ Common Tern
2 Swift
2 House Martin
20+ Swallow
2+ Whimbrel
2+ Bar-tailed Godwit
4+ Whitethroat
Until later.
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