South Wales is without question one of the best destinations for a bird watching holiday in the UK. What's more, our holiday cottage accommodtion is bird watcher friendly and close to many great birding locations in South Wales. Here is our suggested itinerary for a one week bird watching holiday at our self catering cottages:

DAY ONE: Cwm Clydach RSPB Reserve (5 miles away)
Cwm Clydach RSPB Reserve [SN 682053] is a superb example of the type of broad-leaved woodland previously found throughout Wales, but now restricted to a few remaining areas. From the car park, the patch follows the Clydach River, which is excellent for dippers, kingfishers and grey wagtails. After a while, the track crosses the river and enters a fabulous area of woodland. Pied flycatchers, redstarts and wood warblers nest in good numbers, while other common birds include cuckoo, chiffchaff, willow warblers, blackcap, garden warblers, sparrowhawks, jays, bullfinches and greenfinches. Green and great-spotted woodpeckers breed in good numbers, and there are even a few lesser spotted woodpeckers. Winter can be a good time for locating tit flocks - blue, great, coal, marsh, willow and long-tailed - together with nuthatches, treecreepers and goldcrests, all of which breed on the reserve. Blackbird, song and mistle thrushes breed, being joined by redwings and fieldfares in winter - these are easier to see in the fields surrounding the reserve, which can be accessed by continuing up the minor road past the entrance to the car park. These scrubby areas on the fringes of the main woodland are also good for birds like whitethroat, yellowhammer, whinchat and tree pipits. Further along the road, you will enter an area of high moorland, where meadow pipits replace the tree pipits, and linnets and wheatears are common. Curlews and lapwings also breed in these areas. [Public paths and trails are open at all times; Tel: 01792 842927]

DAY TWO: Oxwich Marsh (24 miles away)
[SS500850] Drive west from Swansea along the A4118 which runs along the southern part of the Gower. At Penrice Castle, a minor road drops steeply down and crosses Oxwich Marsh (a NNR) before reaching the village itself. The main attraction is the large freshwater marsh, on both sides of the minor road leading down from the village of Penrice. A footpath runs out into the eastern part of the marsh, and eventually loops back to the road through Penrice Woods which form the northern border to the marsh There is a heronry in these woods, and grey herons are often seen flying over the marsh. The extensive reed beds hold reed and sedge warblers, grasshopper and cetti’s warblers, with bearded tit and water rail regularly recorded. little grebes and various ducks (pochard and teal) are common on the open areas along the road. Bitterns have been recorded in winter, while marsh harriers are regular, and rarities have included purple heron. The beach at Oxwich itself has small numbers of waders in winter including sanderling.

DAY THREE: Plas Farm (location of our holiday cottages)
You are free to explore the 120 acres of countryside that surrounds your cottage. Plas Farm has a number of diverse environments in a relatively small space which makes it great for spotting different kinds of birds. A short walk can take you past improved grassland, marshy fields, the mountain river, broadleaved woodland, coniferous woodland and fields that open out onto the heathy mountain. We also have over 30 bird boxes dotted around the farm. Since 2003, when we began recording, 52 different species have been spotted at the farm and around the holiday cottages. To see the list please link to Bird Species at Plas Farm.

DAY FOUR: Kenfig Pool (22 miles away)
Kenfig Pool [SS6982] has gained a reputation as a rarity hot spot. The pool at Kenfig covers over 30 hectares and is surrounded by reed beds and sallows. Between the pool and the sea are the sand dunes which lead down to the rocky foreshore at Sker. There are two hides with a bewildering variety of species to be spotted. Its position on the coast is a natural magnet for migrants such as wheatears, chiffchaffs, willow warblers, sand martins, swallows, house martins, cuckoos, reed warblers, sedge warblers, whitethroats, lesser whitethroats, whimbrel, blue-tailed godwits and the elusive grasshopper warbler. Waders and ducks can be found on the coastal stretch or around the pool such as manx shearwaters, fulmars, gannets, common scoter, skuas, petrels, storm petrels, common terns, sandwich terns, black terns, white-winged black terns and caspian terns, garganey, cetti’s warblers and aquatic warblers. Other rarities have included little whimbrel (a UK first), the pied-billed grebe, great white egret, purple heron, penduline tit and the rose-coloured starling. Summer breeding birds include warblers, stonechats, linnets, yellowhammers, great crested grebes, mallards, coots, moorhens, water rails. In the winter you may see divers, grebes, sawbills, whooper’s, bewick’s swans, bitterns, shovelers, goldeneyes, gadwalls, pochards, tufted ducks, ruddy ducks and smews. On the dunes, short-eared owls, merlins, peregrines and occasionally hen harriers can be found. Other birds include kingfishers, snipe, jack snipe, golden plover, starlings, finches, lapland buntings, grey plovers, turnstones, sanderlings and purple sandpipers. [Reached from Junction 37 of M4; Open all year, Tel: 01656 743386]

DAY FIVE: Red Kite Feeding Station (20 miles away)
Although red kites have been spotted at Plas Farm, the nearest place to guarantee a sighting is the local landfill site, where kites may be spotted scavenging for food in the rubbish. The local tip, Pwllfawatkin Landfill Site, is located just off the A474 between Pontardawe and Cwmgors, some 6 miles away. Drive up the hill that overlooks the site for great views. If loitering around rubbish tips is not your thing, you could visit our local kite feeding station on The Black Mountain which attracts over 50 red kites and buzzards every day [Tel: 01550 740617].

DAY SIX: Blackpill Mudflats, Swansea (14 miles away)
Blackpill beach and mudflats [Page 51 H3] is famous as the place where the UK’s first ring-billed gull was found and is a must for any gull-watchers, particularly during the winter, with a large gull roost including all the common species - common, black-headed, herring, lesser and greater black-backs as well as rarer gulls such iceland, glaucous, little and mediterranean gulls as well the ring-billed gulls. Waders include oystercatchers, grey and ringed plovers, dunlin, sanderling, redshank, curlew, whimbrel, bar-tailed and black-tailed godwits, knot and greenshank. The Woodman pub-restaurant is nearby and has a car park (for customers of course!). Access the shoreline is via the cycle track that extends from Swansea to Mumbles.

DAY SEVEN: National Wetlands Centre, Llanelli (19 miles)
Having opened in 1991, the centre now covers over 500 acres. As well as the captive species, there are numerous hides looking out onto the Loughor estuary, an inner lagoon and wetland. There’s a good variety of habitats for duck, waders, raptors, warblers and garden/field birds. The highlights are the little egrets, who number close to 200 at the summer roost, spoonbills are regular visitors, as are passing migrant waders, and some rarities. Spring: passage waders, including whimbrel, common sandpiper, redshank, early migrating sand martins, wheatears etc. Summer: early autumn migrant waders can start to show as early as the end of July. Also mediterranean gulls, and some passage terns. Autumn: migrating waders, curlew sandpipers, dunlin, black tailed and bar tailed godwits, whimbrel. Wintering ducks start to arrive. Winter: teal, pochard, wigeon. Wintering raptors, peregrine, merlin, goshawk, occasional hen harrier, short eared owl. Water rails, kingfishers give regular good views at close quarters. Wintering whooper swans. To find the centre follow the duck signs off the M4, exiting at junction 47 or 48 [Tel: 01554 741087] See the National Wetlands Official Website.

That's a full week! If you want more, you could always stay for a fortnight and include boats trips to some of the amazing islands off the coast of Pembrokshire such as Ramsay and Skomer.