 Twite (Dave Williams) The recent influx of European White-fronted Geese into Britain has been unprecedented in modern Welsh ornithology. Last week, 215 of these Russian-breeding waterbirds accompanied Pink-footed Geese and a small group of Barnacle Geese, on the floodplain of the River Dee near Holt. It is the largest flock in North Wales since the 1950s, and the largest anywhere in Wales since 1979. Another 30 were at Shotwick Fields and 68 in the Clwyd Valley south of Bodfari, with six making it as far west at the Glaslyn Valley, alongside six Pink-footed Geese and 51 Whooper Swans.
A dozen Twite feed on Flint Marsh, a diminishing wintering population in North Wales. Around 200 wintered at Flint little over a decade ago, and ringing shows that the Dee estuary held Twite that bred in the Hebrides, Pennines and Eryri’s Nant Ffrancon. Breeding birds are virtually extinct at English and Welsh sites, while those from farther north now tend to stay in Scotland. The unusual English name is derived from its simple “tweet” call, whereas Llinos y Mynydd is more descriptive as the “Mountain Linnet”. The Beddmanarch Bay/Inland Sea holds up to seven Slavonian Grebes, Long-tailed Duck and Great Northern Divers, while the count of Purple Sandpipers at nearby Trearddur Bay reached 25 last week with a Cattle Egret on the edge of the village. Elsewhere on Anglesey, a couple of Scaup are at Llyn Llygeirian with others in Foryd Bay and Llyn Tegid. Snow Buntings were at Gronant dunes and Llanddona last week, Lesser Yellowlegs and Water Pipit remain on the Clwyd estuary and a Black Redstart at Kinmel Bay. On the Menai Strait, a Little Gull and two Slavonian Grebes fed off Aber Ogwen, and a Green-winged Teal grazes saltmarsh at Glan-y-môr Elias. The first Swallows were spotted in southwest England and a couple of Sand Martins sneaked past us into northern England in Sunday’s sunshine. There are a few places left on a free Breeding Bird Survey Introduction & Practice Session in Porthmadog on 15 March, open to anyone involved with, or wishing to adopt a square for the annual BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey. Full details on the BTO website.
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 Common Sandpiper (Steve Culley)  Sightings of Sand Martin (left) and Common Sandpiper (right) across Europe - 12-18 February 2026 The sight of a Common Sandpiper, a small wader brown above and white below, is not uncommon alongside rivers and lakes in North Wales in summer. With its bobbing gait, they nest among lakeside rocks, although will use human-made substrates: I know several that laid eggs on the ballast beside railway tracks, the incubating adult getting off briefly when it feels the vibration of an oncoming train. In February, most Common Sandpipers are bobbing alongside rivers in Africa, south of the Sahara, but birders’ sightings collated weekly by the European Bird Census Council suggest that many hundreds, perhaps thousands, are across western European waterbodies.
Around 30-40 Common Sandpipers winter in Wales according to the latest Welsh Ornithological Society bird report, almost always on estuaries. This is a good chunk of a British wintering population of 100 individuals, estimated in a recent paper in the journal British Birds. A couple are on the Clwyd estuary and Menai Strait, with others at RSPB Conwy, Flint Castle and Cemaes in recent weeks. The first arrivals of our summer visitors are only weeks away if the weather is favourable. Sand Martin sightings have increased with warmer weather in Iberia in recent days, and a Whitethroat was in South Wales at the weekend, perhaps having overwintered closer than the Sahel. Winter’s grip in northern Europe is evident in the continued presence of White-fronted Geese: 30 in the Clwyd valley near Bodfari and 25 alongside the Dee at Holt on Monday. From across the Atlantic, the Lesser Yellowlegs remains on the Clwyd estuary, up to three Surf Scoters off Colwyn Bay and smart male Bufflehead on Llyn Coron, drawing admirers from far afield judging by binocular-wearing customers in an Aberffraw café at the weekend. Six Slavonian Grebes were in Beddmanarch Bay and a Long-tailed Duck on the nearby Inland Sea, Yellow-browed Warbler and Firecrest at Morfa Madryn, and a Black Redstart on Kinmel Bay beach.  A European White-fronted Goose (right), with a Greylag Goose behind (Steve Culley) Widespread snow across Scandinavia and northern Germany last week led thousands of geese to cross the North Sea as their feeding grounds were covered; the Hamburg area saw 40cm of snow, the biggest fall this century. Most numerous were European White-fronted Geese, of which many thousands crossed eastern and northern Britain in a swathe from Fife to Kent. A small proportion made it into North Wales: a handful on the Dee estuary and behind Towyn were dwarfed by 73 near Burwen, the largest count on Anglesey since the mid-1950s, and 42 in the Glaslyn valley, the highest total in Meirionnydd since 1987. Around 30 White-fronted Geese in the Cefni valley were also presumed to be European birds, as the regular flock of Greenland-race geese numbers no more than a dozen.
Elsewhere, eight Barnacle Geese grazing at Warren Farm near Talacre may have a similar origin, as larger flocks occurred in eastern England. 6500 Lapwings and 5000 Golden Plovers making impressive aerial manoeuvres in the Cefni estuary were probably also moved by cold conditions. Pink-footed Geese are more regular in North Wales, commuting along the Dee Valley at dusk and dawn, but flocks are increasingly regular farther west: 400 at Towyn and 210 over the Cefni valley in recent days. The Bufflehead at Y Foryd since December was relocated on Anglesey’s Llyn Coron on Monday, while four Cattle Egrets remain at Porth Trwyn Mawr. Morfa Madryn, near Llanfairfechan, continues to host a Yellow-browed Warbler, Firecrest and Green-winged Teal; a male Smew remains on Llyn Alaw and a Lesser Yellowlegs on the Clwyd estuary. Counts of Purple Sandpiper increased to 21 at Cemlyn and 15 at Trearddur Bay; fewer than usual have been seen at Rhos Point this winter, perhaps finding new roosting places on the new sea-defences around Colwyn Bay.  Red Kite (Adrian Foster) A sell-out audience met in Aberystwyth at the weekend for the first Wales Raptor Convention, organised by BTO Cymru. Last spring, almost 400 sites were visited by 263 volunteers participating in Cudyll Cymru, setting the baseline for future monitoring of four species of bird of prey and Raven, which is ecologically similar.
Walking into the event, it was evident that the project, funded by Welsh Government’s Nature Network Fund, attracted a wide range of people: from teenagers to pensioners, women and men in equal number. The BTO hopes that the high profile of raptors will be a gateway for a broader community to contribute to its citizen science. A quarter of Cudyll Cymru volunteers had no prior experience of wildlife surveys. Alongside presentations from ornithologist Keith Offord, who has studied Hen Harriers and Merlins in North Wales for several decades, and Sophie-Lee Williams on plans to restore White-tailed Eagles to Wales, were talks by Rock ‘n’ Roll Birder Matt Spracklen and BTO Youth’s Liliana Tarrent Sneddon reflecting on ways to bring new audiences into birdwatching. The first year indicates that regional-level monitoring of Buzzard, Red Kite and Raven will be feasible in North Wales, but more participants are needed to track the fortunes of declining Kestrel and Sparrowhawk. West Anglesey and Eifionnydd are two areas that need more volunteers, with the BTO also keen to involve farmers across the region. Birders this week watched Yellow-browed Warbler and Green-winged Teal at Morfa Madryn, Velvet Scoters off Kinmel Bay and Abermenai Point, and Lesser Yellowlegs on the Clwyd estuary. The Scaup count at Llyn Llygeirian increased to an impressive eight birds, while seven Ruff were found at RSPB Cors Ddyga and a reedbed survey at RSPB Conwy revealed 23 Water Rails. A Smew remains on Llyn Alaw, Surf Scoters off Old Colwyn and a single Snow Bunting at Gronant. Long-tailed Ducks were off Benllech and on the Inland Sea, and a Firecrest fed outside a Rhyl supermarket. |
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February 2026
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