The following sections are intended to give you an idea of the special birds of this area which you could see at various times of the year. Our birdwatching is always at a relaxed pace yet we generally encounter an impressive number and variety of species. It is not unusual for groups to record 90-100 or more species in just a few days.

The following sections will give you an idea of the birds which you could see at various times of the year.

"White" or leucistic Red Kite

Red kites are always a common sight. They had been eliminated from Britain except from a nearby isolated Mid-Wales valley. Now their numbers have recovered and nothing can beat the sight of red kites soaring and gliding above their beautiful Welsh haunts. Our local red kite feeding site is situated by a scenic woodland lakeside. The number of birds it attracts varies from day to day; 30 on a very poor day or up to 80,90 or more on the good ones!

We get very close views of the birds. Many have wings tags, fitted when the birds were nestlings. When tagged birds are perched we can read the tags to discover where the birds have come from and how old they are. In this way we can also identify the frequent visiting kites from the Scottish and English reintroduced populations.

Another frequent interesting visitor is one of the rare Welsh 'white' or leucistic red kites.

Peregrines also breed in very good numbers here and we have sparrowhawks, kestrels, merlins and goshawks.

Buzzards, together with ravens, are more numerous than anywhere else in Europe.

Dipper

Willow Tit

Buzzard

Of the smaller birds, this area has good numbers of siskins, nuthatches, tree-creepers and greater spotted woodpeckers. Marsh and willow tits are frequently encountered. Chough can be seen at the coast.

Resident wildfowl and waders include goosander, red-breasted merganser, teal, shoveller, oystercatcher, lapwing, ringed plover and redshank. Mediterranean Gulls are seen throughout the year and there is a major influx every summer.

The birds of prey are a great attraction for many visitors but so are some of the summer migrants, which are restricted mainly to western Britain; wood warblers, pied flycatchers, redstarts and tree pipits. Wheatears and whinchats are common and we have a very good variety of warblers.

A favourite of many people is the wood warbler. Its body quivers as it utters its trilling song which sometimes ends with a nightingale-like whistle.

Cliff-top vantage points give excellent views of nesting guillemots, razorbills, cormorants, shags, fulmars, herring gulls and kittiwakes.
Offshore, gannets and Manx shearwaters may be seen.

Common sandpipers visit the upland lakes and rivers to breed, while birds such as curlews and grasshopper warblers favour boggy locations. Red grouse and dunlin breed on the remote uplands.

Hobbys are present every summer and we suspect that they have begun to breed.

Since 2004, little egrets have bred in Ceredigion and in that year ospreys began their colonisation of Wales to the north of us. More recently ospreys have been summering at the nearby Dyfi estuary. An artificial nest has attracted birds and it is expected that breeding will occur in 2010. Last year our groups had good views of these marvellous birds at the Dyfi Osprey Project site.

These are the birds which pass through the area, northbound in spring to their nesting territories and more leisurely in summer and autumn, southbound.

Regulars include garganey, osprey, marsh harrier, sandwich, common and Arctic terns, whimbrel, sanderling, wood and curlew sandpipers, greenshank and white wagtail.

Real rarities can turn up. In the spring of 2000 a male Montagu's harrier performing its "sky-dance" display flight was a great treat for one of our groups as was a squacco heron in June 2003 ( the 7th in Wales and 1st in Ceredigion.) and in May 2004 we found a common crane (5th in Ceredigion).

In April 2006 a group saw a green-winged teal (the American version of the European Teal) and, remarkably, another crane! A spoonbill delighted a group in May 2007.

Brent Geese

Whooper swans regularly visit local upland lakes. Brent geese are often seen at the coast. Fieldfares and redwings come and stay in very large numbers and sometimes we have a good number of bramblings. A scarce Great Grey Shrike was watched in October 2007.

At the nearby coast, Purple Sandpipers and Black Redstarts may be seen and there is a huge Starling roost which often attracts the attention of a Peregrine or Sparrowhawk.

Purple Sandpiper

At the start of 2005 a rare Iceland Gull took up residence for a few weeks and delighted one of our groups.
Our part of Cardigan Bay is an important wintering site for grebes, divers and scoters. A Long-tailed Duck was an unusual sighting in November 2007.

Sea-watching can be very exciting. A group in October 2006 enjoyed the sight of a scarce Sabine's gull, some rare Balearic shearwaters and a couple of Arctic skuas.

In March 2008 a group was lucky enough to see Ceredigion's first Cattle Egret.

"Thank you again for all your patience and expertise. We would never have seen half the birds without you. Hopefully, we will be able to come again next year". Mr and Mrs F (Bedfordshire).

"Thank you for taking us to see such a variety of lovely birds in the peaceful Welsh countryside. We really did enjoy ourselves and have brought home a lot of happy memories. It really was a holiday with a difference." Mr and Mrs T (W Yorks).

"The programme was informative and well balanced, given our respective standards, as well as incredibly interesting and delivered with such friendly spirit and enthusiasm. One could not fail to draw inspiration from as rich a source." Mrs. M (Cheshire).

"Very many thanks for unfolding the delights of your 'patch' to us and exposing the little dramas that so many of us miss. Your good humour and enthusiasm was infectious - a delightful stay." Dr G (Cardiff)