A visit to the roost at Llanrhidian this evening was really rewarding. In terms of the numbers and quality of species present, I can't remember it being better on any of my previous visits. Following Barry Stewart's haul last Friday and Simon Murray's report yesterday it seemed worthwhile to get into position in good time for the roost to kick-off.
I arrived at 15:30 and found a single ringtail Hen Harrier quartering the marsh immediately. Not long afterwards a second ringtail Hen harrier appeared in a different part of the marsh. Over the course of the evening they were on view regularly and occasionally flying together. Both birds were still flying after 16:30.
It wasn't until 16:00 that I saw the first Short-eared Owl, and it was quickly joined by a second. A third bird appeared by 16:30 and a single sweep over the marsh at 17:00 found 5 birds in the air at the same time, 3 chasing each other around in an erratic fashion and 2 hunting in a more relaxed manner in a different area.
At 16:45 a Barn Owl appeared albeit briefly.
At 16:50 2 Great White Egrets flew in together from the direction of Great Pill and Weobley, hugging the edge of the marsh. They came in flying fairly high and dropped swiftly from height into the reeds at the base of the Little Egret roost. 15 minutes later a single bird flew in from the Wernffrwd direction passing fairly near to Marsh Road. Undoubtedly a different individual though when I followed it no other GWE were on view, before it dropped into the same reedbed as the earlier two.
Simon Murray watching the same roost from a different location along Marsh Road had the 3 GWE flying up from the reedbed into the roost tree together. He also had 6 SEO's and 2 Barn Owls.
(Note to self - I must try harder!)
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