Plenty of Greenshanks, but can I find a Yellowhammer?

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.