Birders are on the lookout for Sandwich Terns with coloured leg rings this month. Liverpool Bay is an important mix-zone for these seabirds before they head to southwest Africa for the winter. The colour rings, usually placed on chicks before they leave the nest, show that terns from colonies across Britain and Ireland feed along our coast, as do some from Denmark and The Netherlands. The records illustrate the importance of our shallow bays to birds from across northwest Europe, where they fishing for sandeels and sprats prior to migration. The records holds even greater significance since several colonies have been hit hard by bird flu.

My early morning visit to Rhos Point last week found just two ringed Sandwich Terns, one of which – dark blue 631 - hadn’t been recorded in North Wales previously. Scrolling idly through Twitter over breakfast, I saw a photo of a Sandwich Tern with dark blue ring 631, taken not in North Wales but the previous afternoon at Port Seton, east of Edinburgh. A quick exchange of messages confirmed that it was the same bird, which had crossed from the North Sea to the Irish Sea - 186 miles in a straight line - in less than 18 hours. It was ringed as a chick north of Aberdeen in 2018 and visited a nesting colony in Co. Donegal, northwest Ireland, in June this year, where the colour-ring was added. These birds get about!

Other visitors to the coast this week include four Spoonbills at Connah’s Quay nature reserve, two Roseate Terns at Hafan y Môr, Purple Sandpiper at Kinmel Bay and Spotted Redshanks at Morfa Madryn and RSPB Conwy, although the most exciting wildlife sighting was of two Orcas off Aberdesach last Friday. Hundreds of Swallows followed the coast west on Saturday, clearly on migration, and 10,000 roosted that evening at RSPB Cors Ddyga, where a Purple Heron continues to reside. A Ring-necked Duck remains at RSPB Valley Wetlands and an Egyptian Goose is at Foryd Bay.

On the Anglesey coast at the weekend, flocks of Swallows gathered, perching briefly in treetops a sign of readiness to depart for Africa. Smaller numbers of Sand Martins fed on insects over the cliffs, and several Wheatears may also have been early southbound migrants. A few Swifts screeched over the village this morning, suggesting that one or two nests have young that are yet to fledge, but most have gone already.

A visit to the Inland Sea, separating Holy Island from the rest of Anglesey, found a flock of 20 Mediterranean Gulls, all adults with white wings and various stages of black head feathers moulting to white. That is a good count for North Wales, but nothing compared to the sight of more than 1,250 in a field above Llanon, Ceredigion, a flock count that smashed the Welsh record for the third successive year. Three dozen of them bore colour rings which will explain more about the origins of this late summer influx to Wales, where the species remains a rare breeder. The recent European Breeding Bird Atlas shows that Mediterranean Gulls have shifted northwest in recent decades, away from the Black Sea and into western Europe. Wetland creation, protection of their colonies and a warming planet are all contributing to this change.

A Purple Heron has spent several days at RSPB Cors Ddyga, the most westerly of a small influx into the southern half of Britain, and a Ring-necked Duck remains at RSPB Valley Wetlands. A Black Kite was over Llyn Coron on Sunday, perhaps the same as seen in mid Wales last week. A Curlew Sandpiper and three Ruffs were on Malltraeth Cob pool on Sunday, and several Balearic Shearwaters were seen around the Anglesey coast last week. Hooded Crows are near Rhoscolyn, the Alaw estuary, Uwchmynydd and on the Clwyd estuary, and a family of Garganeys is at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands.

​It is at least 162 years since the first, and until now only, Gannet colony became established in Wales, on Grassholm, Pembrokeshire. The colony has grown to over 36,000 nesting pairs, protected as an RSPB nature reserve since 1948, the charity’s first land purchase in Wales. This week, The Seabird Group, a global network of researchers, announced the establishment of a second Welsh colony, off the Anglesey coast. The first photographs to confirm that chicks had hatched were taken by Steve Culley in mid-July.

Gannets are seen regularly off the North Wales coast through each summer, as non-breeding adults roam widely. As well as Grassholm, our coasts are probably visited by gannets from Ailsa Craig in Scotland’s Firth of Clyde and from Ireland’s Eye in Dublin Bay, which became established as recently as 1989.

The presence of Gannets on Ynys Badrig among nesting Cormorants, Guillemots and Razorbills was noticed by a visiting birder in 2019, since when volunteers from the Seawatch Foundation have monitored numbers. Bangor University has used trail cameras to record developments on the island. Also known as Middle Mouse and lying just one kilometre off a headland east of Cemaes Bay, it is the most northerly point in Wales and according to legend, the site where St Patrick was shipwrecked.

It’s early days for the colony, with 21 nests counted. Experts hope that this will be an important step for Gannets in the UK, especially as several Scottish colonies have been devastated by avian influenza this summer. Welcoming the news, RSPB Cymru reminded boat users and paddleboarders to steer clear of the island. The Anglesey marine code asks users to get no closer than 100 metres of seabird colonies and to travel at less than five knots within 300 metres.

Other highlights this week include a Wood Sandpiper on the Clwyd estuary, Spotted Redshank at RSPB Conwy, two Roseate Terns at Afon Wen and a Little Gull on the Dwyfor estuary. A Cory’s Shearwater flew past Cemlyn on Friday, a Ring-necked Duck remains at RSPB Valley Wetlands and a Corncrake was reported calling west of Llanfairfechan.

​Roseate Terns are Britain’s rarest breeding seabird, so it is always special to see them in North Wales. Two adults and a juvenile were at Cemlyn Bay on Sunday, the metal leg rings on one of the adults denoting that it had been raised on Rockabill, the island in Dublin Bay that is the most important site for the species in Europe. Another Roseate Tern was at Rhos Point on Monday. Thankfully, the Irish colony appears to have avoided the huge outbreak of high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that is having devastating consequences for seabird colonies in Scotland and eastern England. Terns are also fledging from Welsh colonies, including a pair of Roseate Terns from the Skerries, off the northwest coast of Anglesey. That is very welcome news, as the only significant colony in Britain, Coquet island in Northumberland, has been badly affected by HPAI, which has killed at least a quarter of the adult population.

A Black Tern was an unusual visitor off The Skerries at the weekend, while other scarce visitors to Anglesey included a Ring-necked Duck and Purple Heron at RSPB Valley Wetlands, Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint on the Alaw estuary, and a Ring Ouzel near Bryngwran. The heron was the 200th species to be recorded on the island this year, reports the Anglesey Bird News blog.

Mediterranean Gulls continue to arrive from the southeast, with 43 on the Alaw estuary, nine at Rhos Point and eight at Cemlyn and on the Afon Glaslyn. Yellow Wagtails have been spotted at RSPB Conwy, with a count of 57 Little Egrets and a couple of Great White Egrets there. Waders are arriving daily, many still in their colourful breeding garb: several Turnstones and a Knot at Rhos Point looked were freshly in on Monday, as were Greenshanks at Morfa Madryn and the Alaw.

Thank you for the positive response to last week’s plea to help Hawfinches by suspending provision of waters and feeders in gardens in Meirionnydd. If you missed the story, click here.

RSPB Cymru and BTO Cymru have called on householders in Meirionnydd to suspend providing food and water for birds for the remainder of the summer. This area includes the towns of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Bala, Penrhyndeudraeth and Barmouth. The move is an effort to reduce the risk of Trichomonosis spreading in the Hawfinch population. People have been reporting sick and dead Hawfinches in gardens throughout spring and summer in the Dolgellau area, making it the worst year since studies began 10 years ago.

Hawfinch is a scarce and localised woodland breeding bird that is attracted to sunflower seeds provided in gardens. The area around Dolgellau holds one of the five most important populations in the UK and is one of the two principal breeding areas in Wales.

Trichomonosis is the primary cause of a 79% decline in Greenfinch in Wales over the last 10 years, and a 38% decline in Chaffinch, so a similar decline could be catastrophic for the Hawfinch population. Trichomonosis causes lesions in the throat, which makes it progressively hard for the bird to swallow food. Sick birds may be lethargic, fluffed-up, regurgitate food, salivate excessively or show laboured breathing. It is bird-specific, and does not pass to mammals, including humans.

Diseases can be spread by birds congregating at bird feeders and water. Householders elsewhere in North Wales are reminded to maintain good hygiene where food and water are provided, and to withdraw food and fresh water if sick birds are seen. Birds will disperse across the countryside where they are less prone to transmitting disease. Despite the dry weather, there is plenty of fruit, nuts and fresh water in Meirionnydd during the summer. In this area, householders are advised not to provide bird baths to reduce the risk to the survival of Hawfinches. To find out more about Hawfinch studies in North Wales, see this Daily Post article from 2017.

The first of a new generation of North Wales Ospreys took to the air at the weekend, with the maiden flight of the eldest chick in Nant Glaslyn. Three Spotted Redshanks were at Connah’s Quay nature reserve last week, a Marsh Harrier has spent a week on Bardsey, and a small number of Mediterranean Gulls are scattered around the coast.

One of the joys of sleeping with open windows has been waking to the sound of Swifts that nest above our roof soffits. The adults have been screaming down the street until sunset, and then at first light drop from the nest above the bedroom window, off to find flying insects to feed their young. We came home recently to the sad sight of a young Swift that fell to its death on the doorstep, just days before its maiden flight. Despite this disaster, all three nests remain active within our eaves. The chicks should fledge in the coming days, destined to remain airborne until 2024, when we hope to welcome them back. I added these nests, and others spotted in recent days, to swiftmapper.org.uk, so the information is available to those working to save Swifts.

The prospect of record-breaking temperatures should concentrate all our minds on the need for urgent action to tackle climate change. New research by the British Trust for Ornithology adds another example to the growing list of rapid changes facing nature. Willow Warblers have become scarcer in England in recent years but more common in Scotland, and climate has been a suspected factor. The study shows that optimal average ground temperature during the breeding season is 11° Celsius for Willow Warblers, and 13.5°C for the similar Chiffchaff. In just over 20 years to 2017, the breeding season temperature averaged 12.7°C in England where Willow Warblers are declining and 10.2°C in Scotland where they are increasing. Although the study didn’t analyse data in Wales, we might expect a similar northward shift, and that further temperature increases will be bad news for Chiffchaffs too. The heatwave should remind us to ensure we maintain water in gardens to help wildlife, but also to ensure that birdbaths are cleaned regularly to minimise the risk of transferring disease.

Waders are trickling back from the Arctic as the breeding season draws to a close. Whimbrels from Iceland, Green Sandpipers from Scandinavia and Greenshanks from Fennoscandia are at the forefront of migration, while Curlews landing on our beaches may have come from elsewhere in Britain, or as far east as Finland and Poland, while Great White Egrets on the Conwy estuary and at RSPB Cors Ddyga may have originated from France or the Low Countries.

With its long tail streamers, Roseate Tern is one of our most elegant seabirds and one of Britain’s rarest, so the sight of dead birds on the tideline and confirmation of high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) at our only colony was a bitter blow this week for those who have spent 20 years helping its population to recover. Just 150 pairs breed on Coquet Island in Northumberland, with a handful of nests elsewhere in the UK, including an occasional one on Anglesey. Seabird die-offs have been witnessed in Germany, The Netherlands, and France, as well as the south coast of England.

It is the latest bodyblow for seabirds, already struggling with the twin impacts of climate change and long-term declines in fish stocks. The list of species and number of colonies affected is lengthening. Initially confirmed in Great Skuas in Scotland, each day through June has seen more images of dead and dying birds, including Gannets, Sandwich and Common Terns, Guillemots and Razorbills. Testing to confirm HPAI has been sporadic, but the scale of gaps in colonies that should contain thousands of birds shows this is the biggest outbreak ever in wild birds. The disease jumped from farmed poultry to wild birds in east Asia in 2003, and more recently in Central Asia. Migration has brought HPAI to our shores with devastating consequences.

Seabirds around the Irish Sea have been less affected to date, but it is impossible to know how this will play out. Wardens at tern colonies in Anglesey and Denbighshire report that chicks are fledging, and it is hoped that at least some will move way from mass gatherings in which the disease spreads rapidly. Rockabill island in Dublin Bay holds around 1700 pairs of Roseate Terns, so an outbreak there would be even more catastrophic.

Meanwhile, the RSPCA has stopped accepting sick or injured seabirds to its rescue centres and several islands are closed to visitors, including the Farnes in Northumberland. The public are being urged not to touch dead or sick birds nor allow dogs to do so, and to ring Defra on 03459 335577 if you find three or more dead waterbirds, seabirds or raptors.

Recent notable sightings include a Cattle Egret on the Alaw estuary, Quail at RSPB Cors Ddyga, up to 40 Mediterranean Gulls on Porthmadog’s Llyn Bach, Great White Egret and Green Sandpiper at RSPB Conwy, and a young Cuckoo at Cemlyn.

​I have written before about the enjoyment I get from visits to ‘my’ allocated squares for the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), organised by the British Trust for Ornithology with support from the RSPB and Joint Nature Conservation Committee. As well as noticing annual changes in birds, mammals and habitat in my square, satisfaction comes from knowing that, combined with effort in almost 4000 other squares across the UK, my few hours of volunteering helps to track populations of the most abundant birds. Last week saw the realisation of our time well spent with publication of the BBS results up to 2021.

The long-term trends are, perhaps, the most important, informing Birds of Conservation Concern, which assesses the red, amber and green lists. Of the 58 species monitored in Wales since 1995, 28 have increased, headed by the introduced Canada Goose, up 429%. However, populations of the other 30 have fallen, none more so than Greenfinch, down 79%, all in the last decade. Numbers of six other species have more than halved in Wales: Yellowhammer (-75%), Swift (-74%), Curlew (-73%), Rook (-63%), Starling (-63%), all once common birds of farmland. The decline of Goldcrest (-53%) is hard to explain, since counts in England were up over the same period. While numbers of another species associated with conifers, Coal Tit, were down 25%, Siskins have increased by 160%.

There are several other species for which Wales is important but which are not common enough on the sampled squares to create a country trend, but which are falling across the UK as a whole. Among these are Wood Warbler (-83%), Pied Flycatcher (-55%) and Whinchat (-53%).

There’s better news for Cuckoos, whose numbers in Wales have increased by 43% over the last decade to levels only just below those of 1995, and Song Thrush, whose numbers are 29% up over the long-term. Wheatear numbers returned to 2015 levels after several poor years, but remain 28% down on a decade ago. However, House Martin and Swallow numbers are down 47% and 40% in 10 years, and in just five years, Buzzards are down by 15%, Carrion Crow by 10% and Raven by 8%. There’s a wealth of information in the latest report, visit bto.org/bbs to find out more, and to sign up as a volunteer for next year.

Scarcer visitors to the region last week include Black Redstarts at RSPB Conwy, Llanbedr and in a Penrhyn Bay garden, two Roseate Terns at Cemlyn lagoon, and Hooded Crows at RSPB South Stack, Traeth Dulas and the Clwyd estuary.

Leading a course in the Carneddau on Sunday, it was good to see young Wheatears foraging among the rocks, a Pied Flycatcher dropping from a branch to grab insects, and a pair of Redstarts commuting with small green caterpillars to a nest in the roof of a cottage. For others, such as the Siskins calling from the highest branches of the forestry plantation, the breeding season is already a distant memory. So too for the Ravens tumbling over the summit and Long-tailed Tits working their way through the oak trees, having already formed a flock in readiness for winter.

We heard two Cuckoos, which may be my last until next April. Many are already heading south. Of 12 Cuckoos tracked by the British Trust for Ornithology, six are in France including one already close to the Riviera resort of Cannes. They should soon be joined by JAC, ringed near Llandegla in 2021, which is heading south through Herefordshire after spending spring in the same area of moorland near Wrexham. Another Welsh-tagged Cuckoo - Daniel - remains in Montgomeryshire, mainly on moorland above Lake Vyrnwy but with occasional forays to a site 20 miles east on the Shropshire border, identical to movements that it made last summer.

A Wood Sandpiper at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands on the Dee estuary is another sign that the northern hemisphere is about to tilt away from the sun. Over the coming weeks, expect to see more waders dropping into North Wales as they head towards the equator from their Arctic breeding sites.

Hooded Crows were again at RSPB South Stack and the Clwyd estuary, with one over Cors Bodeilio, near Pentraeth. A Rose-coloured Starling was near Caernarfon airport, and a moulting Whooper Swan remains around Porthmadog Cob having been unable to fly to Iceland with the rest of the Glaslyn flock in spring.

As my groaning shelves testify, I love a bird book. A well-researched volume is more definitive in its answers than an internet search, and I love the feel of the pages, the rich artwork and photographs in my hand. But there is some information for which the web is far superior, especially for sharing and visualising data almost in real time.

The United Nations Convention on Migration Species recently launched a Eurasian-African Bird Migration Atlas, which for the first time maps the movements of millions of individual birds that have been ringed and found subsequently, over more than a century. The results, open to all at migrationatlas.org, enable ornithologists to understand better how different parts of the flyway are connected between seasons, but also how that is changing with climate disruption.
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It is a goldmine that I will doubtless spend long winter evenings digging into. At the weekend, I watched a male Ring Ouzel feeding three begging juveniles that had not long left their nest in the Carneddau. From the Migration Atlas, I can see that there have been just two exchanges of Ring Ouzels from North Wales: one between Bardsey and southwest France, the other between Conwy and the Grampian Mountains. However, added to all the Ring Ouzel data from both continents shows that these form part of a movement between Britain and Morocco, where they spend winter with other Ring Ouzels that breed in the Alps and Scandinavia. In a few months, these young Carneddau birds could be sharing Juniper berries with birds hatched in Norway and Switzerland.

​Understanding bird movements is also essential for those tracking highly pathogenic avian influenza. A lack of testing makes it hard to be certain, but reports from seabird colonies across Scotland, and in tern sites in eastern England, the Netherlands and France, indicate that ‘bird flu’ could be catastrophic for some species. Wales’ only Little Tern colony at Gronant – which now has a live stream from the beach - is having a record year, with over 200 nests, so wardens will be watching nervously for symptoms. The Animal & Plant Health Agency urges anyone finding a dead bird to report it on 03459 335577 and not to touch it.

Rose-coloured Starlings have been spotted in gardens in Llandudno Junction and Llanfechell in the last week, perhaps the start of a westward European movement that we have witnessed in the last two summers. A handful of waders, such as Whimbrel at RSPB Conwy and a Greenshank on the Alaw estuary, are a sign of southward migration as failed breeders leave their Arctic breeding grounds and make an early move to their wintering areas. A Yellow-legged Gull was at RSPB Conwy on Sunday, a Hooded Crow on the Clwyd estuary and six Mediterranean Gulls on Porthmadog’s Llyn Bach, including one ringed near Leipzig last summer. Two Black Swans on the Inland Sea and one at Aber Ogwen originate from a collection.