Middleton and Gower

Eddie Hunter had found a probable Hume's Warbler in a garden in Middleton, Rhossili on Friday, it was confirmed on Sunday from excellent photos from Jeff Slocombe posted on the web. So today I went down for a look after the rush hour traffic in Swansea. Arrived about 1215ish. Bird showed in the garden almost immediately but than disappeared for a while. A few other birders were present, I heard the distinctive call further up the lane and saw a small warbler flit across the sycamores at Middleton farm, but then it was found again back at the original garden some 100metres apart. So there maybe more than one bird. The views were pretty good [about 15yds away] and it called occasionally to confirm its ID. Also present in the village was a fem/1wp Black Redstart on the village hall roof.

Black Redstart not playing ball

After this I went for a walk around Mewslade Valley to check out any late flowering Ivy for hoverflies but all the Ivy had already gone over. But did mange to see some lingering species, all common.

Platycheirus albimanus

Called it a day around 3 and started home but took the scenic route and stopped off for pasties in Penclawdd and parked up at the pill to eat them. Usual stuff present like Little Egret, Redshank and Teal. One of the gulls had a Darvic ring on its left leg. So I photographed it and reported it when I got home. An almost instantaneous reply revealed that it had been ringed as a chick at Marsh Lane Nature Reserve near Coventry on 7th June 2016 and was the third time it had been reported from this site, which is 116 miles from its birth place.

 2BLN - 1st winter Black Headed Gull [147 days old]