Choughs, the red-billed crow with a distinctive ringing call, is very much associated with Wales; the country held around 80% of the UK population at the last count. However, a new study shows that the population in North and Mid Wales is not as healthy as expected. Using data from 25 years of nest monitoring by Adrienne Stratford and Tony Cross, the paper published in the journal Bird Study found that the proportion of territories occupied each year at inland sites has fallen by more than two-thirds and that nesting success fell by one-third. Breeding metrics have fallen at coastal sites too, although less dramatically. RSPB Cymru has warned that this could lead to local extinctions and has called for targeted options to enable livestock farmers to provide the grazing that Choughs need. The birds have already gone from inland sites in much of Wales, and there are fears that they could be lost in Eryri National Park away from the coast. In the 19th century, Choughs were a common sight in the slate quarries across the region. You can read more about what Choughs need in this Daily Post article from 2019. A Pallas’s Warbler was a good find at Talacre last week, a quarter-ounce songbird that has travelled here from the mountain forests of northern Mongolia. An American Wigeon at RSPB Cors Ddyga is the first in North Wales since 2007 and showed pale cheeks indicative of a rare form that US hunters call ‘Storm Wigeon’.
Flooded fields attracted a Glossy Ibis to Valley and two to Llanengan, near Abersoch, which may have been the duo over Aberystwyth on Sunday. Elsewhere, two Black Redstarts were at Amlwch, a Firecrest at Glanwydden, Garganey at Cors Ddyga and Snow Bunting at Holyhead breakwater. A Ring Ouzel remains on Holyhead Mountain, Slavonian Grebes have returned to the Inland Sea and several Great Northern Divers are off Cemlyn.
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Two Waxwings dropped in briefly on Sunday to Llaneilian, the first village on Anglesey for birds arriving from the northeast. It’s been seven winters since there were last good numbers of this noisy, punkish songbird from northern Europe, but with numbers in Scotland already, perhaps more will arrive in the coming weeks. There’s certainly no shortage of berries to feed them, following the spectacular Hawthorn blossoms last spring. Listen out for their excited, high-pitched trill, especially around supermarket car parks planted with Rowan trees.
A dozen Twite are on the shingle shore at Gronant, perhaps freshly arrived from the Western Isles of Scotland and set to head up the Dee estuary to their regular wintering area at Connah’s Quay nature reserve. Three Woodlarks were a great find at Morfa Nefyn on Monday and a Black Redstart was by the halfway tram station on the Great Orme. Yellow-browed Warblers were at Talacre and Porth Meudwy, a Firecrest was ringed on the Orme last week, and a Ring Ouzel remained at Holyhead’s Breakwater Country Park on Monday. A Surf Scoter and half a dozen Velvet Scoters were among the growing flock of Common Scoters on calm seas off Llanddulas, and a Slavonian Grebe was in Bangor harbour last week. Several Cattle Egrets remained in the region on Monday, with four on Anglesey’s Alaw estuary, three by the Cefni upstream from Malltraeth and one by the sluice at Porthmadog. Late Garganeys are at Connah’s Quay nature reserve and RSPB Conwy, where a couple of Spotted Redshanks remain. Two Glossy Ibises flew south over Bardsey last Friday, just before Bird Observatory staff departed the island for the season. Short-eared Owls are arriving from the north and can turn up anywhere: Lleweni, Aber and Holyhead are among the sightings in recent days. News that bird flu has reached the Antarctic region, with confirmed cases in Brown Skuas on South Georgia, has elevated fears of the impact if the virus spreads, including to albatrosses and penguins already under pressure from long-line fishing and a rapidly changing climate. Cattle Egrets were, until fairly recently, a bird seen during Mediterranean or African holidays, small groups of the yellow-billed herons foraging around cattle, buffalos or other grazing animals. Prior to 2000, only four had been recorded in North Wales, and there were only another half dozen in the next 15 years. Christmas 2016 saw the first flock in the region, in the Cefni Valley, and the following spring the species bred just over the border, in the Wirral part of RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, then the most northerly nest in the World.
Now roosts of more than 200 Cattle Egrets occur in Somerset, the county which holds the bulk of the UK breeding population. Up to 40 were in North Wales last week, including two different flocks of 14 at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands and RSPB Cors Ddyga, the largest ever recorded in the region. Four were seen from Porthmadog Cob, three at Valley, two near Uwchmynydd and singles at Pennal, Pontllyfni, RSPB Conwy, Holyhead and south of Rhyl. Long-tailed Ducks are feeding on Llyn Maelog and RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands’ Border Pool. Lapland Buntings were on Bardsey, at Talacre, and at RSPB Conwy, along with six Great White Egrets and a Garganey. Sunday saw Snow Buntings near Pontllyfni, a Great Grey Shrike and Short-eared Owl on the Great Orme and the second Barred Warbler of the autumn on Holy Island. A late Osprey flew inland from Caernarfon and two Twite were among migrants logged at RSPB South Stack. In tough times for breeding seabirds, a welcome announcement was that a new Sandwich Tern colony has become established on Anglesey’s Inland Sea, where 118 pairs fledged 71 young. Common and Arctic Terns, and Black-headed Gulls also nested at the site, which was wardened by RSPB Cymru. It is the first time since the mid-1980s that there have been two Welsh colonies of Sandwich Terns. The other colony, at Cemlyn, was – like many sites - hit by bird flu this year. It is not just the weather that is feeling more wintry. Most of our summer migrants have left the country, so it was nice to see a few Wheatears on the Great Orme on Monday, and a White Wagtail that had arrived from Iceland. It’s been a chilly start for a brood of young Swallows that fledged late last week on Anglesey and while most Chiffchaffs have gone, a few will remain through the winter. The first flocks of Whooper Swans were over Bangor and at RSPB Point of Ayr, Cors Ddyga and the Cefni estuary, and Golden Plovers are arriving on Mynydd Hiraethog. Small numbers of Chaffinch and Goldcrests are moving along the coast.
At least five Yellow-browed Warblers were found on Bardsey last week, and two more were on Holy Island. I remember seeing my first, on the Great Orme, in 1988 when they were genuinely rare. The species underwent a transformation in its status during the last decade, becoming a scarce but expected passage migrant each autumn. It seems that these are no longer lost vagrants but small numbers journey between Siberia and southwest Europe, a shorter distance than their usual winter haunts in southeast Asia. North Sea coasts welcome the majority of European records, but some make it to North Wales in most years. And with many miles of suitable scrubby habitat along the coastline, who knows how many pass un-noticed? Bardsey Bird Observatory also recorded a Common Rosefinch last week, while a Barred Warbler was a good find on Holyhead Mountain. A Hen Harrier on the Great Orme, and Merlin and Short-eared Owl at Point of Ayr are migrants from hilly areas. Two more Cattle Egrets have joined the flock at RSPB Cors Ddyga, that now totals five birds and look very much at home among cattle grazing the nature reserve. 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 the Pembrokeshire Bird Group. You may just get one of the last few tickets on the WOS website. From the east, large numbers of Fieldfares came to Bala and more than 200 were at Moel Arthur in the Clwydian Hills at the weekend. A few Redwings are already as far west as Bardsey. They’ll find plenty to eat, with Hawthorns and Rowan laden with bright red berries this autumn. Keen ears picked up the calls of Common Scoters west over Penrhyn Bay at night, which will probably have travelled here from farther east, as far away as northern Siberia. These all-black ducks will be in Liverpool Bay until next March, joining many tens of thousands wintering here.
Flooding at RSPB Cors Ddyga has attracted large numbers of waterbirds to the Cefni Valley. A Red-necked Phalarope was the rarest visitor, but also present are a Wood Sandpiper, Garganey, Mandarin Duck, a trio of Cattle Egrets among the grazing cows, and at least four Great White Egrets. Two Spoonbills are on Anglesey’s Inland Sea, a Glossy Ibis was south of Aberdysynni last week and a Little Gull flew past Bangor Pier on Monday. Grey Phalaropes are on a flooded field at Valley and at Glan-y-mor Elias, west of Llanfairfechan, and another Garganey is at RSPB Conwy. A Hoopoe was a surprise find in a Rhoshirwaun garden and the first Black Redstart of autumn is on Bardsey. Most of our summer warblers have departed, but a Garden Warbler was on the Great Orme on Monday. The Curlew LIFE project reported on the third breeding season of the four-year project working with farmers and landowners, including the National Trust, in Ysbyty Ifan and Hiraethog. A team of 30 volunteers helped to find 49 territories in the project area and monitored 28 nests and broods. Temporary fencing around nests resulted in successful hatching of many nests, and at least 11 chicks fledged. Data from lightweight radio-tags is being analysed to understand the loss of other chicks in order to steer future management. More details are on the project’s blog. Last week’s Storm Agnes deposited several phalaropes around North Wales. Globally, there are three members of this family of slim-necked waders, two of which breed in the high Arctic. Unlike other shorebirds that winter along the coast, phalaropes behave more like a seabird, spending their non-breeding season far out in tropical oceans. A Red-necked Phalarope is at RSPB Cors Ddyga, while Grey Phalaropes were on flooded fields at Valley and Dinas Dinlle over the weekend, with others at Criccieth (including one walking down the promenade!), Porthmadog, Porth Oer and Morfa Madryn, near Llanfairfechan. Three more were on Penrhos floods near Llanbedrog, with a Pectoral Sandpiper and Little Stint also there last week. The storm also claimed a Leach’s Petrel, which apparently hit the windows at Pontio in Bangor.
Bardsey had its third Black-and-White Warbler in a week, all three of which were ringed at the Bird Observatory, the only individuals of this North American species ever to be ringed in Europe. More trans-Atlantic vagrants were seen in Britain last week, including a probable Tufted Puffin reported off Porth Oer, and a Monarch butterfly at Rhoscolyn may have made the same crossing. A Wryneck was also found nearby. Both RSPB Conwy and Cors Ddyga nature reserves hosted Garganey and Cattle Egrets, with three of the white herons in the Cefni Valley and one at Conwy being the first ever at the site. Seven Curlew Sandpipers were at Cors Ddyga, with others at Morfa Madryn, Beddmanarch Bay and the Clwyd estuary, and two Dotterels were in fields near Fort Belan on Friday. Anglesey’s first ever Red-throated Pipit was identified from a sound-recording made at RSPB South Stack on Sunday. Also from the east was a Red-flanked Bluetail in Dyfnant Forest, just south of Lake Vyrnwy. Thousands of Swallows streamed through coastal sites on Monday. 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.
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. |
Bird notesA weekly update of bird sightings and news from North Wales, published in The Daily Post every Thursday. Archives
March 2024
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