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phelpstoby.bsky.social
Toby Phelps
@phelpstoby.bsky.social
500 followers 430 following 53 posts
Birds. Mostly Chester and Pembrokeshire.

Must be protein free,
Seriously gammy knee,
I love Pipits, me.
(M.Doyle, 2022)
Posts Replies Media Videos
phelpstoby.bsky.social
Ring Ouzel feasting on hawthorn berries by Manorbier beach this afternoon. At least 1 Firecrest around too. Also a Yellow-browed Warbler heard calling (unfortunately not seen) on Thursday and good movement of finches most mornings! Lots to look at at the moment! #birdingWales
Ring Ouzel sitting in a hawthorn bush.
October 18, 2025 at 1:52 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
A Black Tern flew west past Old Castle Hd, Manorbier at lunchtime today. Otherwise very little moving in misty conditions #birdingWales
September 18, 2025 at 7:57 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
2 Balearic Shearwaters west past St Govan's Head in an hr this evening #birdingWales
September 1, 2025 at 8:15 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
Enjoyable day seawatching at
St Govan's Hd yesterday.

Sabine's Gull 4 (2 Ad, 2 Juv)
Cory's Shearwater 1
Balearic Shearwater 1
Sooty Shearwater 4
Grey Phalarope 2

Plus a big push of 'Commic' Terns (c700) early morning and a flock of 29 Pale-bellied Brent Geese west!
#birdingWales
Adult Sabine's Gull Balearic Shearwater St Govan's Head
September 1, 2025 at 8:12 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
Manx shearwaters streaming past St Govan's Hd this evening. Estimated over 11,000/hr between 5.30-6.30pm. Awesome!
8 Puffin and 2 Sanderling past too. #birdingWales
No pics of the birds so here is a Green-winged Orchid. One of several on the clifftop near my seawatching spot.
May 26, 2025 at 8:36 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
This superb breeding plumage Grey Plover spent 4 days at Tenby south beach. No sign of it this evening so I assume it has continued on its northward migration #birdingWales
May 25, 2025 at 8:05 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
2 Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Dunlin and on Tenby South Beach this evening. Other bits and bobs in recent days include several Whimbrel, a Tree Pipit (at Skrinkle on Fri) and a few singing Lesser Whitethroats and Garden Warblers #birdingWales
May 5, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Toby Phelps
birdsinwales.bsky.social
The Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2024 is now available to download below. Vital and huge work from Pembrokeshire Bird Group 🙌

Mae Adroddiad Adar Sir Benfro ar gael i’w lawrlwytho isod. Gwaith gwych ac allweddol gan Grŵp Adarydda Sir Benfro 🙌

Diolch 🙏

drive.google.com/file/d/1Q0VS...
Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2024.pdf
drive.google.com
May 2, 2025 at 6:35 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
Yesterday morning there was an impressive feeding raft of Manx Shearwaters off Presipe beach. Maybe about 300+! A little flurry of migrants in the bushes at Skrinkle including my first Grasshopper Warbler and Common Whitethroat of the year #birdingWales
Feeding Manx Shearwaters.
April 12, 2025 at 1:18 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
The colour-ringed Wheatear I recorded at Manorbier on the 24th March was ringed on Lundy as a one-year old breeding male in May 2023. He was also seen in the same territory last year. Let's hope he's made it back there this year! #birdingWales
A male Wheatear with colour rings on its legs recorded at Manorbier in March 2025. This bird was ringed on Lundy Island in 2023 and was recorded there again in 2024.
April 8, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Toby Phelps
penrhynbirder.bsky.social
How many people contribute records to county and local bird reports in Wales?

How much data do those county recorders manage and through which channels?

How wide is the coverage? More detail in Alt Text.

Number-wrangling while I'm writing the @birdsinwales.bsky.social 2024 report.

#BirdingWales
Slide shows the number of bird records (not including those from structured surveys) contributed by birdwatchers in Wales to the national record through a variety of channels in 2024. Of 637,636 records, 67% were collected through BirdTrack, 27% through eBird, 4% directly to county bird recorders, 2% through the four Local Environmental Records Centres and the LERC Wales mobile app, and <1% through iRecord (figures are rounded). It is estimated that around 4000 people contributed records, making counts equivalent to 5.6 million birds. A map - produced by the British Trust for Ornithology - shows all the locations in Wales from which BirdTrack and eBird records were submitted. There was almost complete coverage around the coast and in the main river valleys but far fewer in the uplands of mid, west and north Wales. In total, records came from 277 of the 282 (96%) 10-km squares. The two main recording apps provided 26,089 complete lists which is the most useful way of providing records, during 49,573 hours of recording effort. Massive thanks to everyone who contributes, even bigger thanks to county recorders who manage all this data. My thanks to Simon Gillings at BTO, Sarah Woodcock at BIS on behalf of LERC Wales and all the county recorders who provided estimates.
April 3, 2025 at 5:14 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
My 4th Black Redstart of the spring, a female-type, on the road to RAF Manorbier this morning. Later seen on the coast path near Presipe. Also a female Wheatear and a few extra Chiffchaffs about. #BirdingWales
March 29, 2025 at 10:49 AM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
Wheatears! 7 this morning behind the RAF Manorbier range (2 females, 5 males). One of which was colour ringed!
Any help tracking down the project would be gratefully appreciated.
Lundy maybe?

Also 2 Black Redstarts, a female-type and a new(?) adult male.
#birdingWales
Male Wheatear with colour-rings. On its left leg there are two rings, white over blue and on its right legthere is a metal ring above a yellow ring with a black line through the middle. Male Wheatear with colour-rings. On its left leg there are two rings, white over blue and on its right legthere is a metal ring above a yellow ring with a black line through the middle. Male Black Redstart. Male Black Redstart.
March 24, 2025 at 9:19 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
A few more common migrants appeared in the strong northerlies this morning, incl. a nice hirundine flock at Tenby Marsh with 2 House Martin, 6 Swallow and 11 Sand Martin. A Willow Warbler there too.

Red-throated Diver off Tenby South Beach and the Hoopoe still at Kiln Park.

#birdingWales
Red-throated Diver
March 23, 2025 at 10:51 AM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
A smart but mobile male Black Redstart above Presipe beach, Manorbier the highlight today. Yesterday a couple of White Wagtails and a Firecrest.
Still waiting for that first Wheatear though!
#birdingWales
Male Black Redstart on a stone wall. White Wagtail in a ploughed field. Firecrest in a blackthorn thicket.
March 22, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Toby Phelps
richardkbroughton.bsky.social
Special Issue of #BirdStudy is now published:
The impacts of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza on birds: part 1

10 papers (5 #OpenAccess) plus Editorial on the impacts of #birdflu #HPAI outbreak in Europe, Canada, Antarctica: www.tandfonline.com/toc/tbis20/7...

#ornithology #ukbirding #seabirds
March 20, 2025 at 12:32 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
Hoopoe still present at 07.45 this morning at Kiln Park, Tenby, near the railway bridge. #birdingWales
March 19, 2025 at 8:35 AM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
Not seen a Wheatear or Sand Martin yet! #birdingWales
Hoopoe in the evening sunlight. Kiln Park, Tenby. A bird that has overwinter in South Pembrokeshire first reported in December 2024.
March 18, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Toby Phelps
ursulascuderi.bsky.social
Great day yesterday birding with @phelpstoby.bsky.social, Jalal and @becky-gibbs.bsky.social: managed to twitch the Black scoter down Holylake and we also got a great view of the little owl at Burton marshes 🦉
March 9, 2025 at 5:33 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
Nice to catch up with the drake Black Scoter off Hoylake late morning! Good views despite distance and haze. A couple of Long-tailed Ducks offshore too.
Drake Black Scoter (right) with female and (obscured) drake common scoter (left).
March 8, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Toby Phelps
spurnterns.bsky.social
We are now live on Bluesky! Click the follow button to keep up to date with all the latest happenings at Easington Little Tern colony.

Also, please feel free to share this post and spread the word. 🙏 🐦
February 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Toby Phelps
markgurn.bsky.social
Feisty little dudes. I'm almost used to calling them Curruca instead of Sylvia now. Scratchy songs, angry fire eyes, good colour schemes, but lose a point for being a bit too skulking = 8/10 #birdart #birds
An illustration of twelve warblers. Each row has three similar species. The top three are grey with black heads and varying amounts of black below; the next row has three with long tails, two are all grey, one is wine-red below; then there are the three subalpine warblers, which are grey above and red or orange below; and the bottom row has three with white throats and brown backs, two have rusty wing panels and the other is rather different with dark legs and a rather cold tone. The birds are all facing left and in the same pose so it is easier to compare the differences between them.
February 9, 2025 at 3:15 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
2 Russian White-fronted Geese still on Burton Marsh with the Pinkie flock this morning but quite distant. 5 Barnacle Geese too. Elsewhere wet fields around Chester produced 32 Snipe, 225 Redwing and a nice Merlin zoomed through #ukbirding
February 9, 2025 at 2:12 PM
phelpstoby.bsky.social
A nice day out on Anglesey today, helping out with the annual Chough survey. Saw two birds on my section and managed to catch up with the Red-necked Grebe at Valley Wetlands RSPB later on. 57 Pochard and a few Goldeneye there too #birdingWales
Red-necked Grebe Red-necked Grebe
February 8, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Reposted by Toby Phelps
smp-seabirds.bsky.social
1/ 🔊 The SMP Report, published in November 2024, provides an overview of the status of the UK’s breeding #seabirds since 1986. It further highlights declines as shown by the recent Seabirds Count, a census of Britain & Ireland’s seabirds.
🔗 www.bto.org/smp-publications

Discover more in the thread ⬇️
Image of a Puffin alongside the wording: Seabird Monitoring Programme. Seabird Population Trends and Causes of Change: 1986-2023. SMP logo top right of image. BTO, JNCC, and ‘in association with’ RSPB logo bottom right.
February 6, 2025 at 4:18 PM