Green Heron @ Pembrokeshire

Actually managed a trip out of the valley/county today. A rare American Green Heron had been found at Llan-Mill, Pembroke a few days earlier by their MP Simon Hart in his farm garden pond. It showed well from the time we arrived to the time we left and fed mainly on newts and small Rudd. It's only the 7th record for Great Britain and is regarded as a "mega" rarity.

On the journey back we had a few Red Kites between Carmarthen and Kidwelly. We stopped off at Kidwelly, the estuary only had a dozen Whimbrel of note. So we decided to walk the reens and scrub area to see if any migrants were about. This turned out to be a good idea as the sun came out and it was now warming up. All the birds were singing in the sun, so were easy to locate and we recorded 2 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, double figures of both Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat, we also had singles of Cuckoo, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. Other birds seen included 2 Greylag Goose, Little Egret, female Peregrine and 10+ Linnet.

A couple of common hoverfly species were feeding on Dandelion & Meadow Buttercup, with Cheilosia albitarsis of note as first for the year.

 Sedge Warbler

 Cuckoo - distant

Cheilosia albitarsis - with the diagnostic dark 1st and 5th tarsi and pale 2nd, 3rd, 4th tarsi on the front legs