Glossy Ibis at Penclacwydd

phonescope shot through Liz's 'scope

Whilst doing some botanical work yesterday, our group decided to make a small diversion and we popped into the Sir Peter Scott hide to look for Small Red-eyed Damselflies. A visiting birdwatcher, Elizabeth Boughey, was the only person in there and she drew my attention to a bird she was unfamiliar with - I was amazed to see a Glossy Ibis at close range, this constituting only the second record of this species at Penclacwydd. Well done Liz!

Small Red-eyed Damselfly at Penclacwydd WWT

male Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Rob Taylor found some Small Red-eyed Damselfly flying in front of the Sir Peter Scott hide at Penclacwydd, this afternoon. I managed to get down to see them late afternoon by which time, the numbers on view from the hide had risen to being 50+. Alongside the good numbers of very territorial males, an ovipositing tandem pair was also on view.
Apart from size the diagnostic features for male Small Red-eyed Damselfly are found on the abdomen, which is divided into 10 segments. Segment 1 (S1) is attached to the thorax, and the segments are numbered sequentially to Segment 10 (S10) which is the very end segment. On male Small Red-eyed Damselfly there is more blue on the abdomen, S1 is completely blue and blue is found on the side of S2 and even the underside of S3. On male Red-eyed Damselfly the blue near the thorax is confined to S1 only. The other difference lies at the the other end of the abdomen; male Small Red-eyed Damselfly show complete blue on S10 and S9 but also a significant amount of blue on the side and underside of S8. On male Red-eyed Damselfly the blue is confined to S10 and S9.
I've included a record shot of a male Red-eyed Damselfly, taken earlier in the year at Neath Canal, for comparison.

male Red-Eyed Damselfly

The Small Red-eyed Damselfly was first discovered in the UK in 1999, at Essex (Brooks). Since then it has been spreading west through England but that expansion seems to have slowed considerably recently. An early feeling is that this find may represent one of, if not the, first records for Wales. However, similar resources show a lack of Red-eyed Damselfly in Wales when we know it has been established for a number of years. It will be interesting to hear news of any records previous to this one, from Wales. Whatever the case it is now in Llanelli and it would seem likely that it is to be found between there and the English border? With 50+ flying today it would appear that now is a good time to look for it.
I've attached a link below which will take you to the British Dragonflies website page for Small Red-eyed Damselfly where further photos and a distribution map can be found.

http://british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/small-red-eyed-damselfly

A new duckweed in Wales?

Lemna valdiviana

The article on duckweeds in the June volume of British Wildlife prompted a closer inspection of the duckweeds at the National Wetland Centre at Llanelli last week and plants fitting the characters of Lemna valdiviana were found along with the more abundant Least Duckweed (L. minuta) and locally frequent Common Duckweed (L. minor), Ivy-leaved Duckweed (L. trisulca) and Greater Duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza). Although this is the first time L. valdiviana has been recorded in Carmarthenshire, and possibly Wales, it seems likely it has been overlooked and is worth searching for elsewhere.

Lemna valdiviana alongside greener L. minuta

[NB specimens sent to NHM have now been identified as just being L. minor]

Black-tailed Godwits on the move

By the 4^thJuly the Black-tailed Godwit flock at Penclacwydd WWT had increased to 236 with the following four colour-ringed birds noted by Wendell Thomas:

  L: Green/Red, R: Lime/Red

  L: Lime/Red, R: Green/Red flag

  L: White/Orange, R: Orange/Red

  L: Orange/Yellow, R: Orange flag/Yellow

Details of LR-GRf were received yesterday that reveal it was ringed in north-east Iceland on 10^th July 2009. It has spent every subsequent winter at Pontevedra, Galicia in NW Spain, Wendell’s sighting being the first away from this locality. All colour-ringed sightings of Black-tailed Godwits seen at WWT are shown above with LR-GRf shown by the thicker yellow line. Still awaiting details of the other three.

Gull-billed Tern at Penclacwydd WWT

To help me get over the fact that I've missed out on a very nice bird recently it didn't take me long to get to the British Steel Hide when news got out that a Gull-billed Tern was showing there. It had flown off while I was driving down but luckily for me it came back to the scrapes when I was pulling into the carpark. It showed well for about 20mins before flying off up river towards Loughor Bridge.  There's a good chance it might stick around and venture into Glamorgan with a bit of luck. However, since being lost to view around 12:15, to my knowledge, it has yet to reappear, despite searching for it. Thanks to Wendell Thomas for getting news out.