Fast-moving Atlantic low-pressure systems in the autumn trigger expectation among west-coast birders hoping to find a North American songbird. Most storms occur in October, when the majority of southbound migrants are already well out of the way, but ex-hurricane Lee last week deposited an unprecedented number of vagrants into Britain & Ireland. Hundreds of birds probably made landfall, most never to be found in remote coastal areas, but of those that were, Wales was the focus for some of the rarest.

Pembrokeshire kicked off last Wednesday with Wales’ first Alder Flycatcher on Skokholm and first Magnolia Warbler on St Govan’s Head. On Thursday, Wales’ fourth Bobolink was found on Skokholm, first Bay-breasted Warbler on Ramsey and a Red-eyed Vireo near Porthcawl. North Wales joined the party with Wales’ second Black-and-white Warbler found by ringers on Bardsey. Friday brought Wales’ first Cliff Swallow to Sker Point and another Bobolink was reported in the Vale of Glamorgan. Remarkably, young Chester-based birder, Toby Phelps, who found the Magnolia Warbler, only the third ever in Britain, surpassed that on Saturday morning with Britain’s first Canada Warbler at nearby Flimston. Saturday brought a second Black-and-white Warbler to Bardsey, now the only two ever to be ringed in Europe and another Cliff Swallow found by birders visiting Ramsey. Sunday saw, incredibly, a second Magnolia Warbler, this time at Briton Ferry near Port Talbot, but bad weather frustrated clinching the identification of an American flycatcher at Pen Cilan, near Porth Neigwl. 1 in 6 of the North American songbirds ever recorded in Wales arrived last week, and there may be more to find, with more storms forecast from Wednesday.

In four days, five species never previously recorded in Wales have been seen. For context, the average number of new species added to the Welsh List each decade since 1900 is 14, so last week was genuinely unprecedented.
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Lost migrants, by their nature, fail to add their genes to native populations but Dr Alexander Lees, Reader at Manchester Metropolitan University and co-author of Vagrancy in Birds, warns that climate change could magnify the impact of such events: “tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of migrant birds, will have drowned in the Atlantic before a few make European landfall. Increasing storm severity will lead to a temporary increase in vagrants, but in the longer-term population size could be affected”.

Last week BirdNotes reported on the dramatic threats to Britain’s seabirds from warming seas, and North Wales Wildlife Trust reported that 40% of Arctic Terns and 55% of Sandwich Terns at its Cemlyn colony on Anglesey were lost to avian flu, so news of a seabird success story is very welcome. Denbighshire County Council announced that a record 212 pairs of Little Tern bred on the beach at Gronant, fledging 155 youngsters. Another 16 fledged at the RSPB Point of Ayr colony, established in 2019, and hopefully most are on their way to their first winter in West Africa.

The Gronant colony is at its largest in almost 50 years and produced exactly the right number of chicks this year to maintain its size, an average of 0.74 young per nest. It constitutes 10% of the UK Little Tern population, thanks to sterling work by local authority wardens and volunteers from North Wales Little Tern Group who use fences and daily patrols to protect the beach-nesting seabirds from predation, and disturbance by people and dogs. The birds are one of the species for which government has to manage the Liverpool Bay Special Protection Area, which extends from eastern Anglesey to north Lancashire.

A Yellow-browed Warbler near Carmel Head last Wednesday is the earliest ever found in Wales. Most arrive in early October. Curlew Sandpipers are passing through North Wales, including 10 on the Border Pool at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, which also hosted a Pectoral Sandpiper, a couple of Wood Sandpipers and 12 Cattle Egrets. Four Curlew Sandpipers and a Pectoral Sandpiper were on Anglesey’s Alaw estuary. Other highlights include a Hoopoe in an Aberffraw garden, Sabine’s Gull off Point Lynas and Bull Bay, and a Cory’s Shearwater past Bardsey. A Little Stint is at RSPB Conwy, the first Lapland Bunting of autumn at RSPB South Stack and a Hooded Crow was reported at Llandudno’s West Shore.

I’m looking forward to speaking at the Welsh Ornithological Society’s conference at Aberystwyth University on 4 November, and hope to meet birdwatchers from across North Wales. Also speaking on the theme of "Into and Out of the Red – creating a brighter future for birds in Wales" will be WOS President, Iolo Williams, the BTO’s Rachel Taylor, NRW’s Patrick Lindley, Rare Breeding Bird Panel chair Dawn Balmer, and Bob Haycock from Pembrokeshire Bird Group. Full details and how to book are on the WOS website.

​Seabirds are tough. They deal with severe weather annually, but the last two years in northwest Europe illustrate that a changing environment can be too much even for them. Birders were thrilled to see thousands of Cory’s Shearwaters, which breed on the holiday isles off southwest Europe, move into the Southwestern Approaches and Celtic Seas. Rare tropical seabirds have been spotted, such as Red-footed Booby on Scilly and Brown Boobies as far north as Scotland, and even in the Baltic near Helsinki. But the unprecedented spectacle should worry us.

Globally, July and August were the two warmest months ever, August sea temperatures smashed records and an early summer marine heatwave saw waters around Britain up to 5°Celsius above the norm. Such big changes could have shifted the food web and left Guillemots and Razorbills struggling to find food before they head into the Atlantic for winter. Many washed up dead on beaches last month, but tested negative for avian influenza.

Yet bird flu has taken a huge toll on breeding seabirds, such as terns on Anglesey and Deeside, and Gannets in Pembrokeshire. RSPB Cymru reports that only 16,482 pairs of Gannets nested on the island of Grassholm this year, down from 34,491 pairs in 2022. The 52% reduction has set the population back more than 50 years to 1969 levels.

On land, more than a dozen Wrynecks were found in Pembrokeshire during last week’s heatwave. One made it to Bardsey, where it was still present on Monday. Small groups of Curlew Sandpipers are on the Alaw and Cefni estuaries, a Spoonbill on the Clwyd and a Dotterel was on coastal heath near Rhoscolyn. Ruffs are moving through the region, Great White Egrets are on Llyn Trawsfynydd and Llyn Traffwll, and a Black Kite was an excellent record for Bardsey.

September is a critical month for many trans-Saharan migrants, which need to be in good condition for the long journeys ahead. Although in less of a rush than in spring, they rely on a habitat network from northern Europe to West Africa at which they can rest and refuel. Species that I have too easily taken for granted through the summer, such as Reed and Sedge Warblers, Whitethroats and Garden Warblers, were busy feeding as I made a circuit of RSPB Conwy. Most go about their business quietly, but some Chiffchaffs have started their disyllabic song as though it were spring. Many will not leave here until late September and travel only as far as the Atlantic seaboard of Iberia and Morocco. There appears no definitive answer as to why some Chiffchaffs sing before departure when most birds are silent. Are these our breeding birds, or migrants from farther north. Who knows?

Cattle Egret numbers have increased rapidly in Britain this century; at least 60 pairs now breed in England. Smaller than Little Egrets, 20 years ahead in their colonisation and with a year-round bright yellow bill, a flock of at least 28 were on the Dyfi estuary on Sunday. Found initially at Ynys las nature reserve in Ceredigion, they were later seen on saltmarsh on the Meirionnydd side. It is by far the largest group of Cattle Egrets seen in Wales, and for context, only 28 were recorded in Wales between the first in 1980 and the end of 2009.

A dozen Little Gulls were dip-feeding in calm waters at Point Lynas, while others saw Sabine’s Gull, Long-tailed Skua and Black Terns there over the weekend. Garganey and Wood Sandpiper were at RSPB Cors Ddyga, another Garganey at RSPB Valley Wetlands, and Firecrest and Merlin on Bardsey.

Work started this week to rejuvenate the Reception Pool at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands. Periodically resetting the ecological clock is an essential wetland management tool, alongside water level control and grazing management, performed there by Carneddau ponies. As well as improving the diversity of the habitat, the work will enhance views for visitors over the coming years. Read more about the work here.

Edited 5 September to clarify that the flock of Cattle Egrets was found initially in Ceredigion before moving onto the Meirionnydd bank of the Dyfi estuary.

Through the summer, I’ve been digging into Birds on your Doorstep, the vast data archive from the British Trust for Ornithology to assess changes in local birdlife over the last 50 years. You can read about the 10-km squares with the most birds recorded here, the fewest records here and the areas that have lost most breeding birds here. This week, I look at the parts of North Wales with the greatest number of ‘new’ species since 1970.

​Top of the league is Carmel Head and The Skerries in northwest Anglesey, where a remarkable 44 species have been recorded in the breeding season for the first time since 1970. These include common birds such as Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and Coal Tit, in the plantation and gardens, and RSPB wardens looking after the huge tern colony have doubtless bumped up the total. Increased recording may account for 27 new species at Kinmel Bay too, including Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler and Stonechat, although some of the ‘new’ species are unlikely to have bred.

Other areas with net gains are the 10-km squares east of Trawsfynydd and south of Llangefni. Among 26 colonists in the hills east of Llyn Trawsfynydd are Great Crested Grebe and Tufted Duck, but Golden Plover, Redshank and Green Woodpecker are now absent. There are 24 new breeding species in central Anglesey, many resulting from the creation and management of the RSPB’s Cors Ddyga wetland in the Cefni Valley. Arrivals here include breeding Bittern, Pochard and Cetti’s Warbler, although Yellowhammer, Nightjar and Redshank have been lost.

A couple of Wood Sandpipers visited RSPB Cors Ddyga last week while Black Terns continue to pass Rhos Point and north Anglesey, and Sabine’s Gulls passed Point Lynas and Mynydd Mawr, near Aberdaron. A Spotted Redshank, scarce now on Anglesey, was on the Alaw estuary, and RSPB Conwy hosts Green Sandpiper, Ruff and Great White Egrets, plus the first Pintails of the autumn. A Cattle Egret was on the Border Pool at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands on Saturday, and a Melodious Warbler among the migrants on Bardsey. While most Swifts have already left the country, a brood at a nest in the Clwydian Hills has yet to fledge.

Blustery weather may have dampened family barbecues and outdoor events, but attracted birders to coastal watchpoints around North Wales. Black Terns were seen in an arc from the Dyfi estuary and Harlech to Kinmel Bay, with the largest counts of 70 from Rhos Point, where some roosted on the stone breakwater, and 65 at Criccieth in a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon. Two dozen passed Amlwch and Point Lynas in north Anglesey, and those reported were probably the tip of an iceberg. With at least 250 past Pembrokeshire’s Strumble Head, more Black Terns were seen in Wales in three days than in any year since 2005 (see the chart below).

Black Terns haven’t bred regularly in Britain since The Fens were drained in eastern England, and they continue to decline in western Europe because of habitat loss. The birds seen in the Irish Sea at the weekend originate from lakes and peat bogs in the eastern Baltic, Belarus and western Russia, where they recently finished their breeding season. They usually fly through the southern North Sea and down the Bay of Biscay but strong south-easterly winds pushed them farther west. Their ultimate destination is the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa, where they will spend the winter.

A handful of Arctic and Great Skuas were alongside the terns, numbers of the latter lower than usual because of bird flu on their breeding islands, and a Long-tailed Skua passed Rhos Point. Easterly winds also brought a Melodious Warbler and Nightjar to Bardsey, a Little Stint and Ruff are at RSPB Conwy, and a Wood Sandpiper dropped onto Cemlyn lagoon.

Rowans and Hawthorns hang heavy with fruit in the Carneddau, attracting roving flocks of Mistle Thrushes from the valleys, attention drawn by their rattling calls. In just eight weeks, the first Redwings from Scandinavia will arrive to pick off the remains. 

Twice a year, billions of individuals of around 4000 species make a journey. Some travel farther than others, and in the northern hemisphere ‘autumn’ the direction is broadly north to south, but of course, it’s not quite that simple. While some have almost completed their migration by mid August, such as adult Cuckoos that left us in June and are already south of the Sahara, our Swifts are only now leaving their nest sites for Africa. Monday’s rain brought Spotted Flycatchers and warblers including Willow, Sedge and Whitethroat to Bardsey, where Bird Observatory staff will monitor numbers as they have annually since 1953.

One of my favourite waders is Greenshank, elegant in white and grey winter plumage, although some late-summer arrivals still have brown wings and mottled underparts from the breeding season. Their ‘tieu-tieu-tieu’ alarm call as they take flight gives away their presence. Numbers increased sharply at the weekend, with a flock of 28 at Aber Ogwen and 24 at Morfa Madryn, on the southern shore of Menai Strait.

Greenshanks breed from Scotland to the far east of Siberia, bordering the Bering Sea. Those in North Wales are most likely to breed in Scotland and will stay for the winter or move on to Ireland or France, whereas those on North Sea coasts include many from Scandinavia that are heading for West Africa. But even that journey is nothing compared to Greenshanks from eastern Russia that fly to Australia and New Zealand to winter. In all cases, they depend on a network of wetlands such as Traeth Lafan at which to refuel. For more information about Greenshank migration (and lots more amazing Wader Tales), I thoroughly recommend browsing through Graham Appleton's excellent blog.

A Balearic Shearwater fed among Kittiwakes off Anglesey’s Point Lynas on Saturday and a Storm Petrel fluttered past Criccieth. Farther south, a Wilson’s Petrel became a snack for a Peregrine; it was the first Wilson’s Petrel in Ceredigion, but is one of the most abundant birds in the world, having made it to Cardigan Bay from the South Atlantic. Ruffs were at Cemlyn, RSPB Cors Ddyga and Malltraeth Cob, a Little Tern at Cemlyn and a Roseate Tern at Gronant. A dozen Black Guillemots are off Penmaenmawr.

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A seabird that breeds on tropical islands has made the national birding headlines after turning up near Criccieth. The Bridled Tern, which nests no closer than the Caribbean, was found on Sunday close to where the Afon Wen meets Cardigan Bay, and seen again on Monday afternoon.

Bridled Terns breed on rocky islets, but little is known about where they spend the rest of the year. There have been only 25 previous records in Britain, of which two were in Wales: one found dead on the Gower in 1954 and another that spent several weeks among Sandwich Terns at the Cemlyn colony on Anglesey in 1988. This week’s, close to the Hafan-y-Môr holiday park, was also with Sandwich Terns feeding offshore before starting their autumn migration to West Africa.

The rare visitor came in the wake of strong winds that had brought two Cory’s Shearwaters past Cemlyn, and three more plus Great, Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters past Bardsey. Birders on Bardsey and Rhos Point also recorded Storm Petrel last week, and Arctic Skuas were seen from several coastal watchpoints.

Smaller migrants are also on the move, with Wheatears and Whimbrels appearing on coastlines from which they have been absent since heading north in May. On Bardsey, the first Spotted Flycatcher of autumn and increased numbers of Willow Warblers took their first steps to an African winter. Four Curlew Sandpipers were on the Border Pool at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands on Friday, and numbers of Curlews, Turnstones, Redshanks and Oystercatchers are building after completing their breeding season in the Arctic, mainland Europe or farther north in Britain.

Although many terns have left their Anglesey nesting colonies, where hundreds have died from bird ‘flu this summer, a few remain at Cemlyn, where broods of Shelduck and Ringed Plover fledged successfully.

Seabird colonies in North Wales are quietening as the breeding season draws to a close. I visit Rhos Point, hoping to find Sandwich Terns before they leave our shores, perhaps some with coloured leg rings that indicate their origin. I arrive soon after the sun rises, turning the brown kelp a deep amber. The ribbons form waves between rocks encrusted with barnacles, among which Ringed Plovers huddle, their feathers mimicking the stones. They appear to sleep, but one eye is alert to an overhead Peregrine.

Curlews look up too, twisting their heads to probe for a small crab. Or a large crab. Their rolling whistle, the Cri'r Gylfinir, connects this place to the hills from which they've come: farms in Hiraethog or the Pennines perhaps, or the plains of northern Germany or peatbogs of Finland.

A Turnstone pushes over a pebble in search of a morsel. Another splashes in a rockpool to clean his rusty orange, black and white plumage, briefly creating an arc of silver sparkles. A brush-up after the long haul from Greenland. At the top of the beach, Starlings move as one, scrabbling over the decaying seaweed pushed here by last winter's storms. They forage for sandflies, as does a young Pied Wagtail that picks nervously amid the throng.

As the tide falls, Sandwich Terns call across the bay and settle on emerging rocks, each finding its place after a light jostle. I check their legs while they preen. No rings on these, but no matter. I'm just grateful to see them. They are survivors of a journey that brought them from South Africa in spring and of bird flu that has ravaged their number.

Farther out, a few Gannets pass. No other seabirds today, although others saw more at the weekend: several Arctic Skuas passed Bull Bay, Storm Petrel and Arctic Skua off Criccieth, and Grey Phalarope and Cory’s Shearwater were seen from Bardsey. But these were nothing compared to remarkable counts in Cornwall where 6,500 Cory’s Shearwaters were seen from a single headland on Sunday.

Back at Rhos Point, early morning runners and dog walkers wish me a good day. It is. My perfect way to start a day.

Young Ospreys made their maiden flights this month, a vulnerable time for any bird. Two left their nest platform at Cors Dyfi last week, followed by two at Llyn Brenig and brothers at Pont Croesor, upstream from Porthmadog, at the weekend. Youngsters will remain within short flights of their home nest for another month, learning to fish and navigate before starting their first journey to West Africa. There is a lot to learn and it’s not without risk, as illustrated by the fate of one at Llyn Clywedog, near Llanidloes, which was the first Welsh Osprey to fledge this year. Ten days after its first flight, a Goshawk predated the young male while it was tucking into fresh fish brought to the nest by one of its parents.

Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife, which monitors and protects the Ospreys at Pont Croesor, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Ospreys nesting in Wales, which occurred there in 2004 . They have a weekend of events on 12-13 August – you can find out more and book tickets here.

Ospreys found their way to Wales naturally, although several adults that have nested here originate from reintroduction projects in England. White-tailed Eagles are much less likely to arrive in Wales without assistance, but a proposal is being developed with farmers and landowners around the Severn estuary, as visitors to the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show have been finding out this week. Planning and consultations are underway, boosted by news of the first White-tailed Eagle chick to fly from an English nest for 230 years. Its parents were released as juveniles on the Isle of Wight in 2020; an immature bird released on the island has been on the Mersey estuary, at Hale, throughout July and was perhaps the one on Anglesey the previous week.

Scarcer seabirds passing our coasts at the weekend included a Sooty Shearwater off Cemlyn, Arctic Skuas and Little Tern near Criccieth, and a couple of Roseate Terns were at Penmon last week. Mediterranean Gull numbers are increasing, with 40 at Hafan y Môr and 25 at Nefyn.