A plea to help Swifts, and a new bird for the northwest

Caspian Gull (centre) with Herring Gulls (Dante Shepherd)

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.
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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.