Easterly winds last week brought the ‘tseep’ calls of Redwings to North Wales, with the first heard over Penrhyn Bay on Friday night and on Holyhead Mountain on Saturday. The main arrival of these thrushes from Scandinavia is usually in the second half of October, but small numbers are normal in late September, before the last of the Swallows and House Martins have departed south.

The first Lapland Buntings of autumn were on Ynys Enlli/Bardsey and Pen Cilan last week and a handful of Yellow-browed Warblers were seen in Wales. With larger numbers on North Sea coasts, there may be more of the warblers from Siberia to come. Records came from near Carmel Head, Porth Meudwy and Tonfanau, with one heard at a Gyrn Goch bus stop just north of Trefor. Strong winds brought a Leach’s Petrel past Rhos Point, Little Gulls to the Glaslyn estuary, Balearic Shearwaters off Tonfanau and a Sabine’s Gull was seen from a ferry leaving Holyhead on Sunday.

The American Golden Plover was seen intermittently at Aled Isaf Reservoir, although viewing conditions have been challenging in bad weather. A couple of Cattle Egrets remained at RSPB Cors Ddyga last week and another is near Tywyn’s Broadwater, while a Great White Egret was at Rhosneigr and a drake Scaup in Foryd Bay. A flock of 100 Greenfinches on the Great Orme indicated smaller birds on the move.

Waders arriving from the north include Turnstones bearing inscribed orange leg flags that were attached in previous winters by SCAN ringing group along the North Wales coast. Reading the inscriptions as the birds feed hurriedly among the rocks on our beaches is a challenge, but the completion of new sea defences at Old Colwyn may provide an opportunity for telescope users as the waders roost close to the new fishing platform extending from the promenade.

Bookings have opened for the Welsh Ornithological Society conference in Aberystwyth on 16 November, on the theme Action for Welsh Birds, with bursaries available to support attendance by 16-26 year olds. Programme and booking is at birdsin.wales/conference

Most birders dream of finding a rare visitor. Few of us will come across a first for Britain or Wales, but finding a Wryneck is more achievable as small numbers turn up each year. This woodpecker migrates from Europe to Africa each autumn, and has an unusual defence feature: twisting its neck and hissing like a snake when threatened. My autumn coastal walks have yet to realise a Wryneck, but there were wonderful views of one in last week’s sunshine at Cemlyn.
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Rarest visitor of the week was an American Golden Plover on Aled Isaf Reservoir, a species recorded on fewer than 30 occasions in Wales. This excellent find was only the third in Wales away from the coast and illustrates how waders migrate over land. It was in a small flock of European Golden Plovers, with which it may have travelled between the Arctic Circle and Europe for several years.

Birdwatchers have become used to seeing Great White Egrets – the height of a Grey Heron – alongside Little Egrets in recent years on larger estuaries. They are yet to breed in Wales, although that can only be a matter of time. The weekend saw an influx, with a Welsh record 24 on the Dyfi estuary, seven on the Conwy and five on the Mawddach; although this was small beer compared to more than 100 on Rutland Water in central England. Two more diminutive Cattle Egrets are at RSPB Cors Ddyga, with another by Porthmadog Cob, where a site record 17 Greenshanks were seen last week.

Other unusual sightings included a Garganey on Llyn Trawsfynydd, Spotted Redshanks at Malltraeth Cob and RSPB Conwy, a Barred Warbler at Cors Ddyga and Little Stint on the Alaw estuary. Thousands of Pink-footed Geese have returned to the Dee estuary for winter, with smaller numbers over Criccieth and Foryd Bay. A flock of 48 was the largest ever recorded over Bardsey.

For birdwatchers of a certain age, news last week of the death of Tony Soper was a reminder of the early days of wildlife on British television. Instrumental in the creation of the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, he fronted a suite of programmes that brought British nature into our homes in parallel to Sir David Attenborough presenting wildlife wonders from farther afield. He was a keen birdwatcher and was among the first people – with Welsh luminary Bill Condry - to see Britain’s first and only Summer Tanager, an American vagrant, on Bardsey in September 1957.
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The children’s tv series Wildtrack (1978-95), co-presented with Su Ingle, was instrumental in firing my own interest in birds, cemented by the annual Birdwatch programmes (1980-88) presented live from the field with RSPB Cymru’s Roger Lovegrove, which were a predecessor of Springwatch. His informal yet earnest style fell out of favour with tv bosses and he faded from public consciousness as the enthusiastic Bill Oddie and Chris Packham acquired his mantle, yet I am sure there are many other wildlife enthusiasts whose interest was nurtured, in part, by Tony Soper putting Britain's birds on our screens.

Last week’s gales pushed North Atlantic seabirds into Liverpool Bay, some of which made their way into the teeth of the northwest winds along the North Wales coast. By Wednesday afternoon it was clear that scarce visitors were close to shore, mainly between Point of Ayr and Anglesey’s Wylfa Head, with smaller numbers off the north coast of Pen Llŷn and Bardsey.
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Leach’s Petrels were seen from 15 watchpoints, with at least 117 reported, the most significant movement since 2017. It is one of the most threatened seabirds that occurs in Welsh waters, listed as Vulnerable globally and added to the UK Red List. The British breeding population, entirely in Scotland and primarily on the remote island of St Kilda, has declined by a catastrophic 79% in just two decades. Watching Leach’s Petrels at close quarters was a treat. The fluttering flight reminds me of a Noctule Bat, changing speed and direction erratically. They paddle on the water, picking tiny plankton from the surface. Yet this tiny bird, only marginally bigger than a Skylark, spends much of its life in such stormy conditions far from land. Sadly, not all survive the storms: one met its end outside Lidl in Llandudno Junction, either hit by a vehicle or dropped by a large gull.​

Among other seawatching highlights were more than 60 Arctic Skuas, 16 Sooty Shearwaters and eight Sabine’s Gulls, including one off Tywyn on Sunday. More than 1500 Sandwich Terns battled west off Rhos Point in just a few hours last Wednesday. However, only 17 Great Skuas were recorded, reflecting the impacts of ‘bird flu’ on their northern colonies.
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When the winds calmed, autumn migrants on Anglesey included a Wryneck, Turtle Dove and Little Stint at Cemlyn on Monday, two Spoonbills on the Alaw estuary, and Hooded Crows at RSPB South Stack and Ynys Llanddwyn. On the mainland, Pink-footed Geese flew over RSPB Conwy on Monday, Deeside’s Hudsonian Godwit was again off Flint last week and several readers noticed gatherings of House Martins flocking ahead of departure to Africa.

Habitat management at RSPB Cors Ddyga is pulling in waders, Starlings and Pied Wagtails keen to extract food from exposed soil where new scrapes and islands are being created. It was a joy to watch hundreds of Snipe probing the edges of shallow floods, with six Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Little Ringed Plover and a couple of Wood Sandpipers there in recent days. It’s a peak period for migration, illustrated by dozens of Swallows (and Red Admiral butterflies) heading south over Moel-y-gest on Sunday and dozens of House Martins feeding over Penmaenmawr before going to roost.

Black Terns were off Port Amlwch, Point of Ayr and the Clwyd estuary at the start of the week and two Garganeys on the Border Pool at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands. The Clwyd estuary and RSPB Conwy each hosted a Little Stint at the weekend, and two Curlew Sandpipers fed on the Cefni estuary with another at Point of Ayr.

The first Dotterel of autumn visited the Great Orme, with the same or another reported on Foel Grach, high in the Carneddau, on Monday. A Dartford Warbler was a surprise visitor to the quarry at Holyhead’s Breakwater Country Park; it was the first Anglesey record for several years, although there appears to be suitable habitat on coastal heath along the north and west coasts of the island. This will have come from a breeding population somewhere to the south or east.

A Nightjar was on the beach on Bardsey, where other passage visitors included Pied Flycatchers, Grasshopper Warbler and Whinchat. Great White Egrets are at several sites as they disperse from breeding sites in southwest England and beyond: six on the Conwy estuary, two at Cors Ddyga and three on the Afon Glaslyn, where three Whooper Swans are at Pont Croesor. Northwest winds this week may bring seabirds close to coastal watchpoints and Pink-footed Geese from Iceland to western Britain. 

Our largest breeding seabird was added to the Welsh Red-list of birds this week following a dramatic halving of the breeding population between 2022 and 2023. Gannet numbers had been increasing progressively on the sole breeding site of Grassholm, Pembrokeshire, until a decade ago, but Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (‘bird flu’) caused a loss of 52% in just one year. It means that 20 of 22 breeding seabird species are now Red or Amber-listed.

The other change on the list, updated in light of new data on seabird populations, was more positive, as Black Guillemot moved onto the Green List of lower concern. The small Welsh population breeds in rocky clefts at the base of cliffs on the Great Orme and around Anglesey, although a few now summer in Cardigan Bay. Since they do not breed or roost colonially, they were probably hit less badly by HPAI.

There was no sign of bird flu in any UK seabird colonies this year, good news for the pioneering Gannet colony on Ynys Badrig off the north Anglesey coast. Last year, there were concerns that the virus could extinguish establishment of a second Welsh breeding site. Photos show several well-grown chicks and at least one adult with a black iris, rather than the usual pale blue. This individual has survived the flu, based on a study led by the RSPB in Scotland that found 78% of black-eyed Gannets had antibodies for the H5N1 strain of the virus.

Elsewhere in North Wales, the Hudsonian Godwit continues to show at Flint Castle on high tides, a young Honey-buzzard flew over Holyhead Mountain on Saturday and a Wood Sandpiper was at Foryd Bay. A Grey Phalarope and all four skua species passed Bardsey during strong winds, five Black Terns passed Point of Ayr, and Curlew Sandpipers and Spotted Redshanks were at RSPB Conwy and Malltraeth Cob pool. . 

The winds pushed passage seabirds to the coast over the weekend, including Sabine’s Gulls past Point Lynas, Ynys Llanddwyn and Bardsey, with a few Storm Petrels past the latter island. Another Sabine’s Gull was an unusual record for the Dee estuary, flying over Flint Castle on Friday, where the rare Hudsonian Godwit has been spotted intermittently throughout the week. A Caspian Gull, the fourth of the summer in North Wales, was at Gronant with a Spotted Redshank on Sunday.

Swallows and House Martins, buffeted by the gales, were not to be stopped in their determined southward flight, coming in low over the coast and on through the mountains of Eryri. A few Wheatears paused, but within weeks will be on the south side of the Sahara. Meanwhile, the first Pale-bellied Brent Geese arrived in Foryd Bay from their breeding quarters in eastern Canada.

Drawing together many thousands of bird sightings each year is a monumental task, and I am always staggered by the effort that goes into producing county reports each year for 12 of the nature recording areas in Wales, plus the two island Bird Observatories. Not only the rare visitors, but assessments of the status of breeding and wintering species. The Northeast Wales Bird Report for 2023 has been published recently (cofnod.org.uk/CBRG) as, just outside the BirdNotes area, has the report for Montgomeryshire.

With so many ways in which bird news can now be shared, it is a timely reminder to submit your records to either your Local Environmental Records Centre (Cofnod for North Wales), BirdTrack or eBird. So many valuable records must be lost each year because they make it no further than a social media post or WhatsApp message. Yet such records are essential when planners need to understand the importance of a site or local people want to defend places from potentially damaging developments. One recent example was a collation of ten years of waterbird records from the rocky beach at Rhos Point, used by Conwy Council to introduce a year-round dog control order.

A species never previously recorded in Wales has been attracting birders to the Dee estuary, following a report of a Hudsonian Godwit last Monday. The godwit is a North American species that breeds on marshes in the very remotest far north of Canada and migrates through the central and eastern United States and Caribbean to winter in the southern half of South America, as far south as Cape Horn.

The bird was initially seen at the permit-only Connah’s Quay nature reserve and later that evening was at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, where it has been seen on several days subsequently; it was also reported from Flint Castle on Monday. Full credit to the observers on both sides of the border who found this individual among a large flock of Black-tailed Godwits. The Dee estuary is the second most important site in Britain for Black-tailed Godwits, with more than 7000 here in late summer. Hudsonian Godwit, with its distinctive black underwings, has only occurred in Britain a handful of times, in 1981-83, 1988, 2015, 2020 and 2023.
​The Border Pool at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands also hosted two Garganeys on Monday, while other unusual sightings include a Roseate Tern and two Little Terns at Afon Wen near Criccieth, where more than 40 Mediterranean Gulls roosted. A Quail has called in the Dee valley near Holt for more than a week, a Wood Warbler was at Porth Meudwy and a Little Ringed Plover at Cemlyn on Sunday. Several Marsh Harriers have passed through Meirionnydd, including two at Morfa Harlech and singles on the Glaslyn and Artro estuaries. These may be birds from farther north or could be youngsters dispersing from two nests on the Dyfi estuary that were the first ever in Ceredigion. 

​High levels of rat poison in birds of prey and owls have led to a significant tightening of rules for use of second-generation rodenticides (SGARs). The products are no longer available to buy for use in outdoor locations unless connected to a building. Almost 90% of Barn Owls and more than two-thirds of Kestrels tested were exposed to at least one of the poisons, and in the case of Kestrel there is evidence that the rodenticide bromadiolone has contributed to the species’ decline in Britain.

The Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use has warned that failing to follow instructions on the label is illegal and that even a product with an old label must not be used in open areas. There is a use up period to the end of 2024, and then their use in open areas will be banned. From January 2026, all farmers must be certified in order to buy professional rodenticides.

Strong winds last week brought two Cory’s Shearwaters past Bardsey, on the northern edge of a movement that pushed several thousand birds into the Southwestern Approaches in sight of land, and doubtless many more beyond the range of telescopes. A Little Gull was at Porthmadog’s Llyn Bach, Arctic Skuas off Porth Ysgaden and the third Caspian Gull of the summer in the region was at Gronant on Sunday with two Yellow-legged Gulls. Mediterranean Gulls are also dispersing from the southeast, with counts of 13 at Traeth Dulas and over 40 at Pen-y-chain near Pwllheli, including birds ringed at colonies in Germany and France.

Hooded Crows, originating from Ireland, were at Newborough and on a bird table near South Stack. A Green Woodpecker, now rare on Anglesey, was heard near Mynydd Bodafon and more than 100 Little Egrets roosted at Cei Ballast in the Glaslyn estuary.

Please note that I no longer use Twitter (now known as X) but continue to post a link to the weekly BirdNotes on the North Wales Bird & Wildlife Sightings page on Facebook, and as @penrhynbirder on Threads and BlueSky. And, of course, the column appears in The Daily Post every Thursday.

With more than 330 species – almost 75% of the Welsh total – recorded on Ynys Enlli, it becomes ever harder to add a new species to the list seen on the island, off the tip of Pen Llŷn. Spring and autumn migrations provide the best chance, but the latest addition seen by wardens at Bardsey Bird Observatory was a seabird dispersing from Europe. A Caspian Gull, with its pear-shaped head and deep, slightly bulbous, bill, bore a colour-ring attached in the nest at De Kreupel in The Netherlands. Enquiries revealed that it had been ringed in early May and this was the first resighting. As reported when the first Caspian Gull for Caernarfonshire was seen in June, the species has been recorded fewer than 25 times in Wales, although may occur more frequently than is recognised. As its breeding range has spread west to this Dutch site in recent years, these won’t be the last.

An early autumn Curlew Sandpiper on Malltraeth Cob Pool on Sunday was heading south to sub-Saharan Africa after spending the breeding season in the high latitudes of Siberia. News came this week that a Curlew Sandpiper seen in Pembrokeshire earlier this summer had been colour-ringed on the very southern tip of India, where it was probably wintering, in November 2022. I’d speculate that it flew north to breed in spring 2023, but then joined other waders leaving for a journey to West Africa via eastern Europe, and then headed north via west Wales this spring. No Curlew Sandpiper ringed in India has been seen in Britain or Ireland previously; Ukraine is the farthest east that ringed birds seen in Britain have been recorded, according to BTO ringing data.

The weekend saw a Garganey at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands Border Pool, and a long-staying Ring-necked Duck again on Llyn Brân in Mynydd Hiraethog. A Ruff and Green Sandpiper were among waders at RSPB Conwy last week and a Hooded Crow at Aber Ogwen.

After the tragedy of bird ‘flu in several of Wales’ seabird colonies last year, it has been a far more successful breeding season, illustrated by gatherings of young terns and gulls. Several fluffy white Gannet chicks occupied nests on Ynys Badrig, off the north Anglesey coast, on Sunday. The thousands of Guillemots have already left their ledges, and just a few young gulls and Cormorants remain to leave, close to fledging. It will be well into September before the young Gannets are ready to fly from this, only the second Welsh gannetry in recorded history.

There were few unusual visitors in North Wales last week: a Black Redstart on Bardsey, Cattle Egret at RSPB Cors Ddyga, Spotted Redshanks at Connah’s Quay nature reserve and a Marsh Harrier over the Great Orme. The first Pink-footed Goose of autumn is on the Dee estuary, but surely it summered somewhere closer than Iceland?

More common birds are clearly moving through, or out. There were double-figure counts of Common Sandpipers at Rhos Point and in the Menai Strait at the weekend, and the rising tide flushed a couple of Snipe from saltmarsh as I walked the Conwy estuary. A passage of Swallows over my village this morning headed southwest with haste, not local breeders feeding. A few days previously, a swirling group of more than a dozen Swifts screamed over the rooftops and gained height, beyond my eyesight. I suspect they’ll already be over France by now.

Cuckoos are even farther head, as they didn’t have to hang around to feed the kids. Five being satellite-tracked by the British Trust for Ornithology have already crossed the Sahara Desert, three on a western coastal route and the others heading out through Italy and now close to the Central African Republic where they’ll spend the winter.