Llandegfedd Change of Seasons
At the end of summer, birding at Llandegfedd becomes a lot more interesting. Not only do we get our migratories birds passing thru again on their way back to Africa but we also get some post-breeders turn up to feed right up until Autumn/Winter. Gull numbers are quite high right now with the odd Yellow-Legged Gull among quite a large roost. Terns have already been sighted, mostly Common Tern but 1 Artic Tern has also been recorded so far. One special thing however is the Wading Birds which seem to time their arrival perfectly for a drop in water level. The mud banks are vital for them to feed on water dwelling critters
Most numerous in summer is the Common Sandpiper. The bird below is one of this years chicks, you can tell this by the stripping patterns on the outer wings which are almost non-existent on adult birds. Beautifully elegant looking birds with a bold peeping call similar to that of a Kingfisher.
Something a little more exciting that I always look forward to seeing is the Ospreys. I've seen at-least one Osprey every Spring and Autumn for the last three years and each year is slightly different. This year was unique in that we had an early migratory bird in July which stayed not far from Llandegfedd but not actually onsite. It was fishing every evening for 3-4 weeks but has since moved on. Other Ospreys have been sighted since but haven't stayed long (couple hours).