Scanning Aber Ogwen at the weekend, I counted 24 Greenshanks in just a few minutes, a sure sign that birds are heading south, as suggested by a hedgerow busy with Chiffchaffs. Many were scruffy-looking adults moulting their feathers before they begin their autumn journey.
Mediterranean Gulls have started to appear in ones and twos along the North Wales coast, as they disperse from colonies in southern England and the near-continent. A Wood Sandpiper was found at Gronant on Monday, the summering Ring-necked Duck was again on Llyn Brân, half a dozen Common Scoters were on nearby Llyn Brenig and a Roseate Tern at Cemlyn lagoon over the weekend. A Ruddy Shelduck on the Clwyd estuary is likely to be one seen recently on Flint Marshes, although its origin is a matter for speculation, as is that of a female Wood Duck near RAF Valley. Owing to their being kept in – and escaping from – wildfowl collections, neither species appears on Category A of the list of wild birds recorded in Wales since 1950, although presumed wild Ruddy Shelducks were seen in the 1890s, including one on the Conwy estuary. Although I have been birdwatching almost 200 times this year, it’s telling that I haven’t seen a Yellowhammer. Much of my time is spent in northwest Wales, and I know that they hang on in a few places here, and are more abundant farther east. Nonetheless, it is staggering how the yellow bunting that sings “a little bit of bread but not cheese” has disappeared from much of Wales. Numbers have fallen by over 75% since 1995, and it stands on the brink of joining other farmland species that are too scarce to be monitored by the Breeding Bird Survey. A coalition of nature charities in Wales – RSPB Cymru, Wildlife Trusts Wales and National Trust Cymru – has called on Welsh Government to increase its investment in nature-friendly farming significantly to meet nature restoration targets and reverse declines in birds such as Yellowhammer. They have published independent economic analysis that says increasing investment to £594 million each year is essential to fund Welsh farmers in tackling the nature and climate crisis, and provide a sustainable future for food production.
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Europe’s migratory seabirds are gathering as the breeding season ends, before heading to Africa. I was moments too late to see a Little Tern in the Conwy estuary on Sunday morning, a scarce visitor west of the Orme. Its coloured leg-ring suggests that it originated from the breeding colony at Gronant. A couple of Roseate Terns were an excellent record on the Clwyd estuary where roosting Sandwich Terns include some ringed as chicks in Belgium, Northern Ireland and Cumbria. Others were ringed as chicks at Cemlyn lagoon on Anglesey, some just a few weeks ago but some are now adults that were ringed there in 2022 and not reported since. Individuals from that year’s cohort of young have also been seen in France, the Netherlands and Devon in recent weeks.
Mediterranean Gulls show up among Black-headed Gulls in late summer, with moulting birds at Rhos Point and RSPB Conwy. Crossbills and Redstarts on the Great Orme at the weekend were migrating as was a Wood Sandpiper reported from Malltraeth Cob pool. A Quail sang its wispy “wet-my-lips” from a field between Sealand village and the River Dee, the over-summering Ring-necked Duck was on Llyn Brân, Hooded Crows were at RSPB South Stack and the Clwyd estuary, and a Ruddy Shelduck on mudflats off Connah’s Quay nature reserve. It was great to see and hear dozens of Swallows feeding on insects above fruit-pickers near Llanedwen on Anglesey at the weekend, including a good number of this year’s fledged youngsters with their shorter tail-streamers. Insect-eating birds have had a tough summer with cool temperatures and wet, windy weather. The Wales co-ordinator of the Garden Moth Scheme reports that during April-June, numbers of the 20 commonest species were down, on average, by 65%, and 11 of those were down by 75%. ![]() In western Anglesey at the weekend came the scratchy call of Whitethroats from several hedgerows and patches of scrub. This trans-Saharan migrant has been missing from many of my days out this summer, but while we tend to notice if a familiar bird is absent, it’s harder to assess abundance from memory. Records are important, more so when collected systematically such as through the Breeding Bird Survey, run by the British Trust for Ornithology in association with the RSPB and JNCC. The BBS shows that Whitethroat numbers dropped by 28% in Wales between 1995 and 2022, in contrast to the UK as a whole. In Scotland, Whitethroat abundance has more than doubled in the same period, while numbers in England increased by 15%. BBS results for this year won’t be available until next spring, but a crude idea of the state of play is evident from BirdTrack, the online system to which 5.7 million sightings have already been added this year. Occurrence of a species on lists submitted by birdwatchers (known as the reporting rate) gives an idea of how frequently it is encountered. The rate for Whitethroat in Scotland has tracked above the average since mid-May when most Whitethroats arrive, but were 20-30% lower than the Welsh average, and by early July it is more than 50% lower. The deficit is most marked in Anglesey and Gwynedd. It’s hard to think why Whitethroats are doing worse in Wales than elsewhere in Britain. Previous fluctuations have caused by lower survival when rains fail south of the Sahara, reducing the abundance of invertebrates in the Sahel region to which many European migrants travel in autumn. But the differences between parts of Britain suggest something on their breeding areas. Let’s hope it is just a blip. Scarcest sightings at the weekend were a Roseate Tern and Hooded Crow on the Clwyd estuary, both unusual east of the Great Orme. Another Roseate Tern was at Cemlyn, where North Wales Wildlife Trust wardens counted almost 1700 Sandwich Tern and over 300 Black-headed Gull chicks, welcome totals after last year’s bird flu tragedy. A Ruddy Shelduck is off Flint, two Whooper Swans at Porthmadog, and last week’s winds saw Storm Petrels pass Porth Ysgaden and a Sooty Shearwater from a ferry into Holyhead. Sadly there seem to be fewer Swifts than usual around our village, but it has been a joy to watch a couple of pairs nest in our street. Who needs to watch lacklustre performances at Euro 2024 when you can watch them swoop to the eaves and squeeze through a tiny gap to the rapturous calls of the young. In near-darkness, it disgorges a pellet of insects collected from airspace perhaps many miles away and bound with its own saliva.
My attention was drawn to calls as both Swifts returned to next door’s nest. One bird clung to the fascia while its mate squeezed through the gap. Instead of a muted response, the shriek that followed caused me to grab my binoculars in time to watch the Swift emerge awkwardly from the hole, dragging a House Sparrow behind it! Swifts have short legs with long claws so they can cling to a cliff or building – the family name Apus is from the Greek “a pous” which means “without a foot”. That sparrow can confirm that a Swift has feet as it was pulled by its wing, screeching, through the gap in the boards. The two birds dropped from gutter level to head height in a second. A House Sparrow is two-thirds the weight of a Swift, which is not designed to carry cargo. I ducked instinctively, at which point the Swift released its firm grip to avoid a crash-landing, and each flew off in a different direction. Swifts sometimes evict nesting House Sparrows, which start their breeding season before Swifts return from Africa, and there is evidence of House Sparrows destroying Swift eggs. I’ll never quite know what happened here, but the Swifts were not to be messed with. More than 2500 people have signed a petition calling on Welsh Government to require homes for Swifts to be incorporated into new buildings. RSPB Cymru and North Wales Wildlife Trust hope that it will gain further support during Swift Awareness Week. Sightings in the last week include a Quail on the Dee estuary near Shotwick, Cattle Egret, Spotted Redshank and Little Ringed Plovers at RSPB Conwy and a Cattle Egret at RSPB Cors Ddyga. Eight Mediterranean Gulls were at Llanbedr, the first Wigeon of autumn at Porthmadog and a Sooty Shearwater was reported past Porth Oer. Falling water levels in the Cefni Valley are attracting egrets into fields at RSPB Cors Ddyga that are busy with many young Lapwings, most already fledged. Up to four Great White Egrets and a Cattle Egret are with a dozen or more Little Egrets and Grey Herons, and Bitterns make occasional flights across the nearby reedbed. Several broods of Shoveler are loving the shallow pools, with Teal and Pochards nearby and an occasional Hobby overhead. It was great to hear Curlews still calling on Monday, evidently still watching over chicks that are close to fledging from pasture managed by farmers working with the Natur am Byth species recovery project.
An adult Rose-coloured Starling visited a Caernarfon garden last week, a Turtle Dove was on wires by the road to Porth Neigwl, a Ring-necked Duck remains at Llyn Brenig and a Wood Sandpiper was a good find at Llyn Trawsfynydd. A Whooper Swan on the Glaslyn estuary appears to be uninjured but didn’t leave for Iceland with the rest of its flock. An unseasonal Black Redstart was at Cemlyn, where North Wales Wildlife Trust wardens counted more than 1000 Sandwich Tern and 280 Black-headed Gull chicks. Mercifully, Welsh seabird colonies show no signs of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza that was so devastating last summer. Three broods of stripy Great Crested Grebe chicks are at RSPB Conwy, where Common Sandpiper has bred once again. While many birds are still busy with their breeding season, some waders are already returning from their breeding grounds to the north, presumably having failed to breed. A Greenshank at Morfa Madryn on Sunday morning was my first of the autumn and numbers of migrating waders will increase in the next two months, with the first Green Sandpipers expected in the next week. North Wales Wildlife Trust is running events for Swift Awareness Week in several towns where the birds still nest, to encourage local people to champion these declining summer migrants. Events are in Llanberis, Trefriw, Menai Bridge, Bethesda, Holyhead, Wrexham and Holt in the next three weeks. Book a place on their website. And while you’re thinking about Swifts, please do sign this petition calling on Welsh Government to require homes for Swifts to be incorporated into new buildings. Young birds and failed breeders are already starting to disperse. Three Cattle Egrets at RSPB Cors Ddyga on Monday are perhaps the start of a post-breeding dispersal from colonies farther south that last autumn topped out at 14 birds in October. Across the wider Cefni Valley, where the Natur am Byth project is working with farmers to help Water Voles and Curlews, all the Curlew nests within temporary electric fencing have hatched. Some chicks are already three weeks old, just a couple of weeks away from fledging.
The Ring-necked Duck remains at Llyn Brenig and a Hooded Crow at Llandudno’s West Shore, with others recently on Bardsey and on Anglesey at Newborough and Traeth Coch. A Common Scoter alighted on Llyn Arenig Fach for a couple of days, perhaps an early returning migrant to Cardigan Bay from Russia. A Black Redstart was a surprising summer visitor to Llanfair Talhaiarn and 100 Swifts over Bagillt is noteworthy for its relative rarity: there were only four counts of larger numbers in the whole of Wales last year, indicative of the decline in this tropical migrant. Browsing the results of the latest BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey results shows that Swift numbers in Wales fell a further 16% in just one year to 2023. It was one of 24 species in lower numbers than the previous year, with other big losers including Curlew (-31%), Wheatear (-28%) and Buzzard (-19%). A greater number of species, 36, increased on the previous year, including Red Kite (+28%), Redstart (+25%) and Swallow (+23%). The real value of the BBS is the long-term trends, however, and the biggest losers since 1995 remain Greenfinch, Curlew, Swift and Yellowhammer, all of which have decline by 75%. In other words, for every four individuals of each species in the Welsh countrywide 27 years ago, there is now only one. Last week, a petition calling on Welsh Government to require “Swift bricks” to be incorporated into all new buildings was launched. Backed by RSPB Cymru, Wildlife Trusts Wales and local Swift groups, it already has more than 1600 signatures, but needs more than 10,000 to trigger consideration for a debate in the Senedd. Adding a new species to a county list is, on average, a less than annual occurrence, but a single Caspian Gull was added to the avifauna of both Caernarfonshire and Anglesey within a few minutes, as one flew briefly across the Menai Strait from Upper Bangor. Caspian Gull is a rare visitor to Wales, with only 23 previous sightings. Acceptance of this record is subject to verification by the Welsh Birds Rarities Committee, which maintains the Welsh List of birds on behalf of the Welsh Ornithological Society. More photos, by Sam Prettyman, appear below.
Caspian Gull is a regular visitor to southeastern counties of England and has spread west across Europe in the last 100 years. As its name suggests, the species was found around the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan, west to the Black Sea coast of Ukraine, at the start of the 20th century. The latest assessment, published in the journal British Birds, shows they now breed on the North Sea coast of the Netherlands, where numbers doubled between 2020 and 2022, to 105 pairs. At least 1000 probably winter in France each year. Lack of familiarity by many birdwatchers in North Wales – identification is clinched by build and posture as much as plumage – may be one reason that so few have been found here. Two in Denbighshire are the only Welsh records outside South and West Wales. June is a quiet month for scarce birds, with few making long-distance movements. Llyn Brenig’s Ring-necked Duck was on nearby Llyn Brân last week, an Icterine Warbler on Bardsey and Hooded Crows at Rhoscolyn and Llandudno’s West Shore. A couple of Arctic Skuas were blown into the Menai Strait and a Pale-bellied Brent Goose that missed the flight to eastern Canada is summering at Foryd Bay. In just a few days, more than 1200 people have signed a petition calling on Welsh Government to require “Swift bricks” to be incorporated into all new buildings. The petition opened in the week that the UK Government refused a plea for similar measures to be implemented in England, despite a well-supported campaign by writer Hannah Bourne-Taylor. The Senedd petition, which can be found here, is supported by RSPB Cymru, Wildlife Trusts Wales and local Swift groups across the country. Swift bricks, along with wetland restoration and a Sustainable Farming Scheme that promotes habitats to support aerial insects, would be a cheap solution to help resolve the housing crisis for a migratory species that has declined by 76% since 1995. It seems like an easy win for the new Cabinet Secretary for Local Government, Julie James MS, who until recently had responsibility for nature recovery. Ynys Enlli, off the tip of Pen Llŷn, is no stranger to rare birds, having notched up almost 40 species not previously recorded in Wales since Bardsey Bird Observatory was established in 1953. The “island of 20,000 saints” is home to thousands of breeding seabirds and typically eight pairs of red-billed Chough, almost 4% of the Welsh total. But it is almost 70 years since the rasping call of Corncrakes was heard regularly, although one does stop briefly on the island every few years.
A Corncrake was heard daily for a couple of weeks during April, having arrived from central Africa. The call has been likened to running a nail file across the teeth of a comb and is generally made at dusk and dawn, and frequently through the night. When it stopped calling, Bird Observatory staff assumed it had moved on to the Western Isles of Scotland, which hold almost all of the remnant UK population. That was not the end of the story, however, as three different Corncrakes were heard on Bardsey during May. It is the first time since 2005 that the island held one through the spring but it’s the first year with multiple residents since 1956. The Bardsey records will soon be added to RSPB Scotland’s interactive observations map, part of a Lottery-funded project to save the species from UK extinction. Corncrakes are secretive birds that hide in long grass, but with wildlife-friendly farming and an absence of rats and cats on Ynys Enlli, it is quite possible that the trio of males have attracted a female or two. Proving breeding will be a challenge, but if confirmed would be the first in Wales since 1992, when pairs bred in Anglesey and Denbighshire following a small influx. Late migrants last week included Curlew Sandpipers on the Dulas estuary and at Rhos Point. Seven Egyptian Geese dropped into Cemlyn briefly, the Ring-necked Duck remains on Llyn Brenig, a Whooper Swan off Porthmadog Cob, and Hooded Crows were on Bardsey, the Clwyd estuary and the Great Orme. Last week’s storms was a challenge for some nesting birds, especially those that hatched mid-week into several days of cool and constant rain. Many Little Tern nests were lost at Gronant, the largest colony in Britain & Ireland. Sand blown across the site buried an unknown number of eggs as well as the electric fence that protects the birds. It’s expected that most, if not all, of the terns will lay another clutch, and providing there is good weather over the coming weeks, there is still plenty of time for the season to be successful. Denbighshire County Council, which manages the site, has closed the viewing hide temporarily, to give the birds the best chance of relaying. The weather may prove tougher for Pied Flycatchers, hatching now, if parents are unable to find enough caterpillars washed out of trees by the rain.
A Rough-legged Buzzard over Cwm Eigiau last week was highly unusual, both in timing and location. These are rare visitors to Wales, and usually occur in mid-winter, not May when they should be on their breeding grounds in northern Scandinavia. The last one in North Wales was also in Eryri, near Capel Curig, in November 2018. Honey Buzzards are more typical spring migrants, but three in a few days was unusual, with birds over RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, Minera and Maentwrog last week. A Curlew Sandpiper was a colourful addition to Cemlyn over the weekend, while the site also hosted a Red-rumped Swallow last week. Four Cattle Egrets were reported on the Alaw estuary, a Ring-necked Duck and Scaup continue to paddle across Llyn Brenig, and a Whooper Swan at Porthmadog Cob may well over-summer since the wintering Glaslyn valley flock has long since left for Iceland. The winds brought Pomarine Skuas to Bardsey and Aberdyfi, and perhaps delayed the last push of migrants, as a remarkable 39 Spotted Flycatchers were seen on the north end of Holy Island on Saturday morning. While it is too early to be sure that highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) will not dominate the seabird headlines again this season, as reported last week the terns on Anglesey appear healthy at present. Initial news from some Guillemot colonies is less rosy; North Sutor in the Cromarty Firth holds 83% fewer than last year, Skokholm in Pembrokeshire 30% fewer and numbers at South Stack are about 10% down. The decline follows thousands of Guillemots being washed ashore around Britain late last summer. HPAI and higher sea temperatures affecting fish availability are both suggested as potential factors.
Protecting seabird colonies from other threats has thus become even more critical. North Wales Police are emphasising to watercraft users, among others, the importance of not disturbing seabird colonies, while RSPB Cymru’s only canine employee recently visited The Skerries tern and Puffin colony off northwest Anglesey ahead of Invasive Species Week. Jinx has been trained to sniff out signs of rats that are not native to offshore islands. His visits with handler Greg are part of biosecurity plans drawn up for all the Welsh island SSSIs under a project funded by Welsh Government’s Nature Networks Fund. The islands’ seabirds need effective biosecurity every day of the year, so what will happen when funding ends in March 2025 remains to be seen. The rarest visitor of spring to North Wales was an Eastern Subalpine Warbler ringed at Bardsey Bird Observatory. The island also recorded an Alpine Swift, singing Firecrest and Hawfinch, and another of the chunky finches flew over Bangor railway station. Llyn Brenig’s Ring-necked Duck was joined by a Scaup, a Quail calls at Rhosneigr golf course and a Nightjar churred in Wrexham. Hooded Crows are on the Clwyd estuary and at South Stack, and more than 30 Crossbills dropped onto the Great Orme on Sunday. |
Bird notesA weekly update of bird sightings and news from North Wales, published in The Daily Post every Thursday. Archives
July 2024
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