Shape-shifting Starlings halt Anglesey shoppers

Starling murmuration at Llangefni (Phil Taylor)

Few bird spectacles make non-birdwatchers stop the car and take out their smartphone, but many people working or shopping around Llangefni Industrial Estate were in awe of a huge murmuration of Starlings last week. At least 50,000 swooped over the Cefni Valley late each afternoon before roosting in reedbeds, shifting their shape as a Peregrine attempted to pick off one for dinner.

The Starlings will shortly head to Russia and the Baltic States, where their arrival will be heralded as a harbinger of spring. Last week’s warm weather triggered Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps to sing here, some of which had probably arrived from southern Europe. The year’s first Sand Martin in the region was at Aber Dysynni on 5th, with more over the weekend at RSPB Cors Ddyga and Valley Wetlands, where a wintering Red-necked Grebe remains. A small number of Wheatears were scattered along the coast, with a couple in Eryri and Mynydd Hiraethog at the weekend, and a Swallow was at Talacre on Monday

An adult male Surf Scoter in Red Wharf Bay is almost certainly a different individual to those that wintered off Old Colwyn. A flock of Snow Buntings was a great find on the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn, while singles were on the Great Orme, Point Lynas and RSPB South Stack. A Black Redstart is in Trefriw, while the long-staying male on the Great Orme continues to pose for photographers.

A pledge made by shooting organisations to replace lead shot with non-toxic alternatives by 2025 has failed, according to research by Cambridge University, working with the University of the Highlands and Islands. Recent studies found that of Pheasants (which contained shot) bought from butchers, game dealers and supermarkets across Britain, 99% were killed with lead ammunition, while 100% of Red Grouse tested in the 2024/25 season contained lead shot.

Lead was banned from use in paint and petrol several decades ago because it is toxic to humans when absorbed by the body and there is no known safe level of exposure. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust estimates that 100,000 waterbirds die from ingesting fragments of lead shot that they eat, and raptors are also vulnerable because they scavenge wildfowl and deer killed by lead ammunition. The studies come as Welsh Government Ministers have to decide, along with Scotland and Westminster, whether to ban lead shot and large calibre bullets outdoors. The voluntary pledge was made in February 2020 by the UK’s nine leading game shooting and rural organisations and aimed to benefit wildlife and the environment, and ensure a market for the healthiest game meat food products.