Pembrokeshire (part three)

Sorry for the delay folks...I'm still struggling to change gear out of holiday mode.  Anyway, here it is the 3rd and final (phew!) Pembrokeshire post.

Wednesday 16th May - Stackpole

Today we headed south of the river, past Pembroke and down to the National Trust owned Stackpole Estate.  The estate is famous for it's large beautiful lily pools at Bosherton.  Unfortunately the lilies were not quite in bloom when we visited but it was still a beautiful walk all the same.  It is a well known place for a range of dragonflies...although we didn't see much of a variety there were many newly emerged Common Blue Damselflies present.  It is also a place where, if you are very lucky you can possibly see otter...needless to say we didn't but hey who cares when the scenery is this good.

From Bosherton our walk took us to Stackpole quay where there is a cracking tea room!  (I can strongly recommend the homemade bread pudding).  There was little to see of interest at the quay itself but a couple of Holly Blue butterflies were on the wing nearby.  The walk then took us to Barafundle Bay and possibly one of the finest sandy beaches you will ever see.  As it is a far walk there from the nearest carpark at stackpole quay it is also reasonably quiet, an ideal place to sit for a while and watch the world go by.

The next stage of the walk took us around the cliffs at Stackpole Head..  Here we had cracking views of Fulmars, Razorbills and Gullimots, and just of shore we observed good views of Gannets plunge-diving.  Along the cliff tops there were Rock Pipits displaying and Wheatears were seemingly everywhere. Along the grassy areas of Stackpole Warren there were good numbers of Skylark present and small numbers of Meadow Pipit were displaying.

The final stretch of the walk took us past another beautiful beach at an area called Broadhaven and back past the western edge of Bosherton Lily Ponds.  Whilst walking back past the pools I was continually scanning (to be honest I never really switch off from looking for wildlife..I'm a nightmare for it!).  This scanning paid off when I picked up a pair of Otters swimming cross the pool.  They were diving periodically, arcing their backs in a lovely curving motion as they submerged.  What a joy!  this was the first time I have ever seen wild Otters and it was the undoubted highlight of the week for me.   What a great way to round of a great walk.

Bosherton Lily Ponds

Thursday 17th  May - The Gann and Marloes Mere
Today I went my separate way from Bev and Nat.  They were walking the coastal path from St. Bride's to Little Haven and I decided to have a bit of me time and do some solo birding.

My first port of call that morning was The Gann estuary.  Apart from the ubiquitous Oystercatchers, also noted were 5 Bar-tailed Godwits, 6 Dunlin, 2 Whimbrel and 3 Curlew.

After spending some time at the Gann I headed over to Marloes Mere to have yet another look at the rather resplendent Glossy Ibis.  I was in luck today and all 4 Glossy Ibis were showing fairly close to the iron gate, with one individual very close,  allowing me to take some more photos.  

Whilst there I picked up on 2 Yellow Wagtail (1♂ & 1♀) that were along the water's edge.  Yellow Wagtail is a fairly scarce passage migrant in Pembrokeshire with only usually a handful of records of single birds each year.

Whilst viewing from the hide 3 Dunlin circled the mere at 14:30 pm before flying off WNW.  Also of note on the mere were 2 Shelduck, 3 Shoveller (2♂, 1♀), 2 Gadwall (1♂, 1♀) and 1 Little Grebe.  Warblers were in good voice with many Sedge Warblers and Common Whitethroats perched up singing.  Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler were also noted.

After leaving the mere I headed back to the cottage at Little Haven and sat outside in the sunshine with a big mug of tea reflecting on what a great week it had been.  The only downer was the fact that we were heading home tomorrow.

Glossy Ibis