Forthcoming Events

Wednesday, 7 December 2011

An illustrated talk by Mr Dave Rich on two visits he has made to New Zealand, he will concentrate on visits to the four most famous reserves in the country and the efforts being made to save about 30 endemic birds.  He also visited four penguin colonies and ended on a fabulous pelagic.  Venue as usual will be the National Wetlands Centre, Penclacwydd to commence at 7.30pm.  Coffee/tea and biscuits to follow at £1.70 per person.

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

An illustrated talk by Mr Paul Richards of Pembroke “A Year in the Life of a Wildlife Photographer”.  He will also give hints to our growing number of photographers in the Club.  Talk to commence at 7.30 at the National Wetlands Centre, Penclacwydd followed by tea/coffee and biscuits at £1.70 per head.

Saturday, 4 February 2012 or Saturday, 18 February 2012

Our annual visit to Whiteford Burrows, meet in Cwm Ivy Car Park at 9.30am.  An invitation has again been extended to our friends from Gwent Ornithological Society.  Warm clothing and waterproof footwear essential.  Bring a packed lunch with you. High tide on both dates is at approximately 5pm.

Should the weather prove unsuitable on the 4th an alternative date will be the 18th, (check the website or ring Wendell on 07912577626).

Wednesday, 14 March 2012

An illustrated talk by Mr Ed Hunter on birdwatching in East Germany. Ed has made numerous visits to this country due to family connections there.  Talk to commence at 7.30 at the National Wetlands Centre, Penclacwydd followed by tea/coffee and biscuits at £1.70 per head.

As usual any donations of prizes for the Raffle will be greatly appreciated.

Our thanks go to the Management and Staff at Penclacwydd for the use of the building for our indoor meetings.

Saturday, 28 April 2012

Our annual visit to RSPB Dinas for Pied Flycatcher, Woodwarbler and Redstart etc.  Meet in Reserve car park at 9.30pm.  Should the weather not be suitable, we will try again on Saturday, 5 May 2012.

Saturday, 19 May 2012

Joint meeting at Craig Cerrig Gleisiad with our friends from Gwent O.S.  Meet at 9.30am at Layby SN989249 on A470 if travelling north.  Second layby after Libanus if from the north (Brecon).  We will then move on to Forest Lodge for walk along Sarn Helen to Cwm Ddu.  Easy terrain with mountain option.  Hopefully the weather will be fine if not, Saturday, 26 May 2012 is an option. 

You may have missed –

Monday, 12 September 2011 - High tide watch at National Wetlands Centre, Penclacwydd

Disappointingly only 12 members met at the Centre for the High Tide Watch which proved to be a good evenings birding with Whimbrel, Brent Goose, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Garganey, Wigeon, Teal, Little Egret and Common Tern to enjoy.

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Following the AGM there was an illustrated talk on “The Wildlife of South West Alberta” by former Club Chairman Mr Derek Moore OBE.  Derek showed members stunning photographs of birds including: Hummingbirds, Vireos, Jays, Woodpeckers and Kinglets to name but a few, he took whilst visiting his son and family who live in the area.  Thank you Derek for sharing your wonderful birding holiday in South Alberta with us.

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

The Club was delighted to welcome back as guest speaker Mr Nigel McCall of Carmarthen.  He talked on his visit to the Falkland Islands last year. 

Nigel first of all told us that he and his wife travelled to the Falklands with the RAF from Brize Norton which took 18 hours with a stop off for about 1½ hours for re-fuelling on Ascension Island.  They then flew into the airport at Mount Pleasant.  From then on they travelled around the islands; either by landrover (rover), boat or plane. Their accommodation during their stay looked very welcoming and homely.  Nigel showed us some fantastic shots showing the landscape of the Falklands and the hamlets, many of which only consisted of may be two or three houses.   

Here are five of the best locations in the Falklands for birders:

Pebble Islands – for possibly five species of penguins and large numbers of wildfowl.

Carcass Island (with a trip over to West Point Island) – for large numbers of small birds including Cobb’s Wren.

Saunders Island – for close up views of Black-browed Albatross, plus very large numbers of four different species of penguin.

Sea Lion Islands – for large numbers of a variety bird species.

Pleasant Roads/Kelp Point area – for stunning views of the Falklands and general good birding.

This is a list of some of the wonderful birds Nigel photographed : Black-browed Albatross; Rockhopper, Gentoo, King, Macaroni and Magellanic Penguins; Imperial Shag; Caracara; Magellanic and Blackish Oystercatchers; Falklands Flightless Steamer Ducks; Dark-faced Ground-tyrant; Red-backed Hawk; Turkey Vulture; Dolphin Gull; Rufous-chested Dotterels; the list went on and on. 

For all of you photographers who I am sure will be interested, the camera lens Nigel used for his photographs were 14mm wide angle (fish eye lens), 70 – 200mm and 400mm.

Thank you so much to Nigel for his wonderful talk.  We can’t wait for his talk next October.

Club Notices

The Club would like to thank Owen Harris, Rob Hunt and Gary Harper for their hard work in producing the Carmarthenshire Bird Report for both last year and this year.

County Bird Recorders Report – A reminder to submit any records to Owen Harris ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

And now for something not seen very often, in fact you could call it a rarity in itself:

Rob Hunt standing on Gower, looking at Carmarthenshire and hoping to get this Isabelline Wheatear in the foreground.

If any one has any interesting birding articles or accounts of birding holidays etc they would like to be added to the Newsletter please contact Julie by email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .