Wood warbler at Heulfre Gardens

Wendy McCarthy, a renowned botanist and naturalist who lives on the Orme contacted me last night to say she had seen and heard a Wood Warbler in full song in Heulfre Gardens yesterday - excellent stuff. Only the third record I know of for the Orme. She also tipped me off to a singing Lesser Whitethroat at Powell's Well. I checked it out this morning and there were three singing in the area! Thanks Wendy and I appreciate the records.

Waking up to a Dotterel!

I arrived on the limestones at 5.30am just in time to see the sunrise and lone Swift flying east. Twenty minutes later and the call of a Dotterel well and truly woke me up. The bird landed briefly by the cairn before flying around me for a minute or two and heading off towards the summit. Certainly a case of the early birder getting the spoils! Although quite quiet this morning, the four hours spent up there produced a few bits and pieces - a Whinchat on the limestones and around 30 Greenland type Wheatears, 3 Lesser Whitethroats by Powell's Well, three Tree Pipits over and a lone Yellow Wagtail over west as I was enjoying a hard earned cup of coffe at the north end before leaving. Two Black Guillemots were also present off the gun-site. 5 Lesser redpolls, 7 Swifts, 5 Siskin, 5 'alba' Wagtails, 2 Blackcap, Whitethraot and a handful of Willow Warblers made up the best of the other migrants. Chough, Peregrine and Sparrowhawk were all good to see while the cliffs were alive with the sounds and sight of Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmar, Cormormants, Shags and Kittiwakes. The best pictures ever of Dotterel ;-/ ! And a showy female Greenalnd Wheatear waking up in the early morning sun.

May the Fourth be with you! It was to some extent - Bee-eater and the one that got away.

This morning on the Orme was a bit special. On getting out of the car a few Willow Warblers flitted around the gorse at the northern end - always a good sign. Suddenly an unusual call had me searching the misty clouds the above me - House Sparrow? Tree Sparrow? The bird then appeared out of the gloom above me - a large Pipit!! The whole time it was calling I felt uneasy - this didn't sound like Richard's Pipit but what else could it be? Tawny's call like Yellow Wags and this didn't. It flew East towards the cemetery and lost to view. I put the news out as a large Pipit sp, probably a Richard's. Upon returning work, I listened to Tawny pipit. Expecting to hear a Yellow wagtail like call, I suddenly had a sick gut feeling when I heard a call similar to a raspy harsh House Sparrow call. Oh dear! .......The one that got away. Continuing on a Grasshopper Warbler jumoed from heather clump to heather clump while 3 Sandwhich Terns appeared out of the mist over the Limestones - a strange sight. Greenland Wheatears were still evident and several Willow Warblers hopped around the hawthorns. Suddenly a bird called above, perhaps two. It got closer and closer and the familiar yet exciting sound was above me. Pete Alderson, some 400 yards away started waving madly and pointing to the sky, his animated posturing giving away his excitement. Above us somewhere in the mist as at least one, probably two Bee-eaters calling. The birds continuing south towards the summit high above us, but their calls echoing around the headland in the stillness of the morning. You could hear a pin drop up there this morning. A small group of Redpolls could be heard in the distance and quick blast of the iPod brought five birds into the Hawthorns. One nice pale bird was a good Mealy Redpoll candidate and was grilled by Pete and I - remincent of the birds seen on Bardsey recently. Not a clssic but certainly not a Welsh Lesser! A Tree Pipit and 2 Blackcpas made up the rest. Not a bad couple fo hours before work, despite being frustrating!!

May 3rd - yesterday's leftovers

Birds left over from yestreday's fall on the limestones, and a few new individuals included - 1st summer male Common Redstart, Tree Pipits over, 20+ Greenland Wheatears, 2 Blackcaps in the northern end gorse and 5 Willow Warblers. A lot quieter today.

A 1st summer male Redstart today - in the gorse along the limestone wall.

A baby Chaffinch on the Gun Site chipping away - the call got me going for a bit!

Several cracking Greenland Wheatears still present - peachy underparts, brown in the back and the large size giving them away.

Floodgates Open on May 2nd!

Early morning saw the first proper fall on the Great Orme (that invloved multiple species) of the year. One of the first birds seen and heard was a 1st for the Orme - a cracking Little Ringed Plover that circled low over the pavements. 2 male Redstarts, 2 male Whinchat, female Ring Ouzel, Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap, 7 Tree Pipits, 60+ Wheatears with the vast majority being Greeland birds, 30+ Willow Warblers and a few Chiff-chaffs on the limestones. Many Swallow, Sand Martin and House Martin were also on the move. Superb! Late afternoon saw 2 Black Guillemots and 100+ Sandwich Tern off the western edge of the gunsite. Four Whitethroat in the scrub here, while a birder met there had seen 2 Redstarts and 2 Whinchats along Invalid's Walk.

White Storks an Orme first - April 25th!

April 25th - Six huge White Storks flew over Llandudno and over the Great Omre. Magical! Alan Davies and a few other very lucky observers connected as these birds put hundreds of gulls up in the air as they frightened the living daylights out of the local birds.

Northerly winds block migration - last two weeks of April

The last few weeks on the Great Orme have been pretty grim with a constant flow of northerly air. The only mogrants that seem to have got through have been a few Greenland Wheatears, one or two Whitethroats, small numbers of Tree Pipits and a light passage of Crossbills some mornings. Willow Warbler numbers have started to build up this last week as has Wheatears with around 60+ of each on Monday and Tuesday this week. Hopefully the switch to warmer air will aid our migrants north.

Willow Warbler numbers have increased during the last week of April.

The first Whitethroat sang its heart out on April 25th.