Strumble Diary 16/04/2026

 An overcast morning on the dropping tide with the wind moderate from the SW. A good amount of swell pushing against the tide made for quite lumpy conditions out in the tide race. I saw five Porpoise in total all distant and within the first twenty minutes or so of my survey. I think they were keeping well out due to the numbers of Common Dolphin that were feeding closer in. I surveyed from 10.15 until 12.30pm and for all that time there were Commons visible over the area from the Lighthouse to Pen Caer point. Mostly well scattered but at one time a very tight pod passed East to West consisting of twenty or so animals. I would guess at between 120-140 commons in total for the session. The action was still going on as I left but not so many animals at that point.

 

Strumble Diary 13/04/2026

 Up early for the dropping tide today and set up for a 08.15 start. A dozen or so Gannets off to the NW gave me hope of cetaceans underneath. Indeed there were and as the minutes passed they moved closer in. What followed was a steady stream of commons moving West to East surging and feeding as they went with some rounding the point and moving toward Fishguard Bay while the majority fed in the sweet spot in front of the lookout. As the tide dropped away the expected decline in action never materialised and even as I closed my session at around 10.30 there were still Commons visible all around the tide race from the lighthouse to Pen Caer Point. I must have seen well over a hundred for the session which is better than numbers seen by me over the past week or two. Sadly no porpoise seen but given the high numbers of Commons and with the tides still small I was not surprised at that.

The one that got away. Spot the fish.

 

 

 

Cetaceans and birds at Strumble this morning!

Wind SSW 3-4 overcast: Arrived at Strumble about 09.30 to see a steady stream of swallows and House Martins passing by following the coast heading towards the Lighthouse. A small passerine flying parallel to the coast but further out had a red tail but on it to late for more conclusive ID than Redstart sp. Around 60 Common Dolphins crossed the bay R to L, giving nice views inclusing mothers with small caalves,for over half an hour before dissappearing beyond the light. A while later four or five commons came in close to us and were seen feeding which attracted a dozen or so Gannets. At one point four Gannets plunged in and remained down for some time all with Mackrel /Herring sized fish in their beaks which they then swallowed! Interesting, was an obvious subadult, feeding close to what was presumably its much larger mother. As the small tide gathered porpoises arrived on the scene one group of maybe five or six just beyond feeding common dolphins, both visible at the same time in my bins. The porpoises were less obvious and also seemed to be surface feeding although around twenty metres apart from the dolphins. The flow of swallows and Martins had eased off but a few spots of rain brought down more hirundines. A nice single fulmar swept past just as we left! 

Pen Anglas Point 08/04/2026

 It was such a nice morning and with the survey team covering Strumble I decided to take a slow amble out to Pen Anglas. A beautiful clear blue sky with a gentle haze covering the distant view to Dinas Hd. I settled on a spot roughly half way between Pen Anglas Point and Crincoed Point which allowed me to see anything coming into either location. First sighting shortly after setting up was of three Porpoise coming in from the North and they quickly turned and headed toward Crincoed Point. This started some steady sightings at fairly regular intervals over the next three hours or so interspersed with sightings of a few pods of Commons passing East to West heading out of Fishguard bay toward Strumble, with one single Common bucking the trend and passing in toward the bay. One marked animal of note with a distinctive scar on it's right flank (highlighted below).