Feeling on top of the world

Turtle Dove (John Riley)

I write from the highest altitude bird survey that I will ever do in Wales. Three teams of birdwatchers are scouring Eryri's Carneddau range in search of Dotterels. It's the second UK survey of these plovers, the first since 2011, and while we know that the chances of finding any are slim, we can't assume they are absent so have to climb to over 1000m (almost 3,500 feet) to be sure.

A handful of Dotterel records come from these mountains each year, most from observant hill walkers. These are usually birds resting on migration, heading for the higher hills of Scotland or Scandinavia. Dotterel has bred sporadically up here, with confirmed records from the 1950s to the ‘70s, but it's possible that breeding attempts pass unnoticed because only during a survey year is there a dedicated effort to check all the likely habitat.

Even if we do not see Dotterels today, we have already had some good sightings. A large flock of Choughs fed on the slopes of Foel Fras, birds that are one or two years old and have yet to be recruited into the breeding population. This socialisation period is valuable for young birds to find the best places to feed, where the grass is short and larvae and grubs are close to the surface.

Dozens of Swifts feed high above the summits, appropriately enough at the start of Swift Awareness Week. Are these local breeders or from farther away, or perhaps the midsummer wave of younger non-breeding birds that are touring Europe, checking out good places to try and breed next year?

Lots of butterflies are moving over the hills, the most surprising being a Purple Hairstreak at almost 700m and a very long way from an Oak tree.
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Scarce visitors to the region last week included an obliging Turtle Dove near Moelfre, a White Stork perched on a power pole near Caerwys and at least one Roseate Tern regularly attending the seabird colony on Cemlyn lagoon. A flock of 85 Mediterranean Gulls on Anglesey's Alaw estuary indicates post-breeding dispersal from colonies on the Channel coast or farther into mainland Europe.