We spent much of the the Bank Holiday period checking chough sites at Castlemartin Range, where despite the exceptionally wet ground conditions, most of the expected territories appear to be occupied. It is still early days, but at least 16-17 pairs will hopefully go on to breed. 

These include an almost 20-year old colour-ringed female at Linney Head where she has been resident in the breeding season, during all of the last 18 years or so. She is one of four that fledged from a nest at Stackpole back in 2004. Although by no means the oldest living chough known in Wales, if she reaches 21 she will equal the oldest one previously known in Pembrokeshire. 

Other species of interest included numerous wheatears, mostly at usual/expected territories. A pair of kestrels appeared to be settling in at a usual site and a likely overwintering merlin was resting/hiding on large anthills of the yellow ant when not hunting meadow pipits and linnets. 

A splendid flock of 300+ golden plovers flew around for a while today inland from Crickmail Down, almost all of them in full summer breeding plumage. Several hundred razorbills were either at their nest crevices, or rafting on the sea below today and c.1,000 guillemots were ashore on the Elegug Stacks etc. It is still quite early in the season for these and other breeding birds.