Gulls clear up in the wake of Storm Darragh

Glaucous Gull (or perhaps a Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrid), right, with Herring Gulls (Mike Pollard)

Storm Darragh continued to dominate lives in North Wales for much of last week. Conifer plantations suffered particularly, with shallow rootplates pulled out of the sodden ground. Some native woodlands also took a hit, with large Oaks and Ash trees uprooted at some sites. It is hoped that woodland managers will minimise intervention, ensuring safety where there is public access but leaving fallen timber and upright snags to rot in situ. Dead and dying wood is a valuable part of healthy woodland ecosystems, and the holes in the canopy will enable plants and insects to flourish until new saplings take their place.

Gulls continued to take advantage of the glut of sealife washed ashore. Thousands were reported at several sites, and there must be more than 10,000 between Point of Ayr and the Little Orme. A beefy adult Glaucous Gull arrived at Gronant from northern latitudes, although a few birders queried whether it might contain some Herring Gull genes. Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls were among seabirds off Old Colwyn on Sunday with Velvet and a couple of Surf Scoters, and Eiders winter off Rhyl and Point of Ayr. Bearded Tits continue to be elusive at Gronant, but a couple of Cattle Egrets on the Alaw estuary last week were not seen again.

Inland, a drake Ring-necked Duck on Llyn Tegid is likely to be one seen here in previous winters, while a Common Scoter on Llyn Celyn was presumably heading for Cardigan Bay before a premature landing. Up to half a dozen Hawfinches feed among Hornbeams at Bodnant Garden, with a couple more across the river at Caerhun and others at Llanrwst.

Anglesey’s Inland Sea hosts a Black-necked Grebe, two Slavonian Grebes and a Long-tailed Duck, and is one of the few reliable sites for these three winter visitors to North Wales. A Snow Bunting has been popular at Kinmel Bay’s Horton’s Nose throughout the week, as were two on the Great Orme, while a Black Redstart winters at Llanbedrog Quarry.