Meet at Car Park of Comprehensive School at Ffairfach on the Bethlehem road at 9.30am. Walk will be led by Mr Ian Hainsworth.

A visit to some young woodland at Tregib Wood (SN635219) to look for species which favour young plantations for breeding e.g. Tree Pipit, Whinchat, Redstart, Grasshopper Warbler. We can combine this with a visit to the River Tywi to look for breeding Little Ringed Plover, Grey Wagtail, Common Sandpiper. We will take a short walk along the river bank and then explore the plantation next to the car park. We can then drive to the crossroads at SN678218 where there is roadside parking and look at two other woodlands Cennen Tower Wood and Carreglwyd Wood. We walk about ½ mile on the Ridgeway footpath to reach Carreglwyd and, during this walk, can expect to see Wheatear, Red Kite and Raven.

Butterflies Dragonflies and Birds of Pembrey Country Park. Meet at Car Park by football field, on the left prior to C. P. Entrance at 9.30am. We fully expect to see a couple of Fritillary species of butterfly plus Marbled White, Small Blue and others.

Wednesday August 20th

Tern watch Burry Port/Pembrey. Meet at free car park Pembrey Harbour, just past Shoreline Caravan Park, at 6.30pm. Last year over 200 Terns were seen, unfortunately all of one species but we hope for better luck.

High Tide Watch at Penclacwydd. Meet at Centre at 6.15pm. High Tide is at 20.22hrs with a height of 8.2m. There will be a fee of £4.00 for this event which will include coffee/tea biscuits plus a donation of £2.50 to the Centre. We should see a good selection of waders and wildfowl and normally at this time of year large numbers of Little Egrets. Fingers crossed for a rarity!

The Annual General Meeting will take place at the National Wetlands Centre at 7.30pm and will be followed by an illustrated talk on the Wildlife of the Teifi Valley by Mr Melvyn Grey. Followed by tea/coffee and biscuits.

Any queries about Events to Wendell Thomas 07912577626.

March 12th, our last indoor meeting, was attended by 28 members. What a lucky lot we were! Nigel McCall of Towy Works led us on a journey with his illustrated talk, from the Falkland Islands to the Ross Sea. We were treated to some superb wildlife and scenic photography. In addition to that we were shown around Scott and Shackletons bases used for their Antarctic expeditions. Video footage of the stormy seas probably had some of us wishing that we had taken sea sickness pills as the ship tilted between 25 and 40 degrees.

April 26th twelve of us met at Dinas RSPB Reserve. We were immediately greeted by the sight of a Red Kite overhead and the singing of a male Redstart. 40 species were seen around the Reserve with the highlights being a rather restless Goosander in flight, close up views of 2 stunning male Wood Warblers exploding in song. Tree Pipits were parachuting and 7or8 male Pied Flycatchers were going about their job of finding a partner. A couple of members were fortunate enough to see a male Whinchat further up the valley on a slope 300yds beyond the entrance to Llyn Brianne Reservoir. It was disappointing not to hear a Cuckoo or Garden Warbler, however it was another excellent day at a brilliant reserve.

May 10th despite a damp start to the day the weather improved quickly at Lliw Valley Reservoir. Eleven Members thoroughly enjoyed an excellent day’s birdwatching. A total of 52 species were seen with the highlights being a Cuckoo bombarded by 4 Meadow Pipits, 2 Garden Warblers, 2 Redstart males, Red Kite, Peregrine, and Raven and at the far end of our route a pair of Spotted Flycatchers preparing a nest in the root ball of a fallen tree. The day ended with ice creams all round from the Café.

A County First for the Cattle Egretseen at Penclacwydd on May 10th. News did not get through to the members on the above trip until 4pm. but one tireless person followed it up and was rewarded by a sighting from the British Steel Hide.

Highlights for March

First migrant sightings were a Swallow on the 20th at Carmarthen Bay Caravan Site a Wheatear at Kidwelly Sewage Works on the 7th, Little Ringed Plover at Pentre Dafis (13th) which is the earliest recorded arrival date for this species, a Hobby at Cilsan Bridge (7th) and Sand Martins over Lower Talley Lakes on the 3rd.

A Green-winged Teal was found on the western scrapes at WWT Llanelli (30th). The first Swift was seen at Pinged, Kidwelly on the 28th. Single Dotterel sightings came from Mynydd Ddu (4th 23rd). The first Pied Flycatcher sightings came from the RSPB Dinas Reserve on the 16th.