Redwings and warblers arrive on Arctic winds

Redwing (David Parry)

Easterly winds last week brought the ‘tseep’ calls of Redwings to North Wales, with the first heard over Penrhyn Bay on Friday night and on Holyhead Mountain on Saturday. The main arrival of these thrushes from Scandinavia is usually in the second half of October, but small numbers are normal in late September, before the last of the Swallows and House Martins have departed south.

The first Lapland Buntings of autumn were on Ynys Enlli/Bardsey and Pen Cilan last week and a handful of Yellow-browed Warblers were seen in Wales. With larger numbers on North Sea coasts, there may be more of the warblers from Siberia to come. Records came from near Carmel Head, Porth Meudwy and Tonfanau, with one heard at a Gyrn Goch bus stop just north of Trefor. Strong winds brought a Leach’s Petrel past Rhos Point, Little Gulls to the Glaslyn estuary, Balearic Shearwaters off Tonfanau and a Sabine’s Gull was seen from a ferry leaving Holyhead on Sunday.

The American Golden Plover was seen intermittently at Aled Isaf Reservoir, although viewing conditions have been challenging in bad weather. A couple of Cattle Egrets remained at RSPB Cors Ddyga last week and another is near Tywyn’s Broadwater, while a Great White Egret was at Rhosneigr and a drake Scaup in Foryd Bay. A flock of 100 Greenfinches on the Great Orme indicated smaller birds on the move.

Waders arriving from the north include Turnstones bearing inscribed orange leg flags that were attached in previous winters by SCAN ringing group along the North Wales coast. Reading the inscriptions as the birds feed hurriedly among the rocks on our beaches is a challenge, but the completion of new sea defences at Old Colwyn may provide an opportunity for telescope users as the waders roost close to the new fishing platform extending from the promenade.

Bookings have opened for the Welsh Ornithological Society conference in Aberystwyth on 16 November, on the theme Action for Welsh Birds, with bursaries available to support attendance by 16-26 year olds. Programme and booking is at birdsin.wales/conference