I have received some very interesting county records (to montbird@gmail.com) recently: Simon Cope reports a Hobby on 8 April near Ardleen, and more controversially, a Firecrest at Deuddwr (near Ardleen) on the same date. Firecrests are rare in the county, usually restricted to autumn passage birds at Lake Vyrnwy. Even rarer would be a male Snow Bunting, reported on 13 April by Mike and Sylvia Backhouse on a local walk near Llanerfyl. On the phone I argued the case for a leucistic House Sparrow, but Mike would have none of it! A pity he didn't have a camera with him....
Supporting this stellar cast, Barry Long had an early Garden Warbler (seen and heard) on 10 April between Carno and Clatter, and a Wheatear by the Carno Windfarm on 13 April.
Supporting this stellar cast, Barry Long had an early Garden Warbler (seen and heard) on 10 April between Carno and Clatter, and a Wheatear by the Carno Windfarm on 13 April.
Great records. I do wonder how many Firecrests are around? Is that there are so few, or are we just missing them? I had a male singing on the Ceri ridgeway on 27/03/2011, so they do turn up.
ReplyDeleteI also saw a Snow Bunting near Llanefyl in 2011, but this was in January. No reason why one couldn't be passing through. Spring and autumn are great for oddities.