Cold, blustery weather suspended northbound migration for many birds, but small numbers of Swallows, House Martins and Willow Warblers are around North Wales, and increasing numbers of Sandwich Terns pass our coasts. Scarcer spring migrants included a pair of Garganey on RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands’ Border Pool and an Osprey over RSPB Conwy. Lingering visitors include Lesser Yellowlegs on the Clwyd estuary, Water Pipit at Morfa Aber, Slavonian Grebes on the Inland Sea and another with a Black-necked Grebe off Aber Ogwen. Satellite data shared on Movebank's Animal Tracker app shows that a Merlin on Bardsey and the tip of Pen Llŷn since late October originated in Iceland. Although long suspected, this is the first proven movement of an Icelandic-race, subaesalon, Merlin to Wales. You can view the animated movement on my BlueSky account.

Almost as rare were four Tundra Bean Geese grazing near Anglesey’s Alaw estuary, the region’s first record since 2012. They are heading towards Siberian breeding grounds, having probably wintered somewhere in western Europe as part of a continent-wide movement earlier in the year that saw reports from Ireland, Brittany and even Spain, in response to cold weather.
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Wildlife Poisoning Research UK has recently published a map of deliberately poisoned birds, which it believes to be just a fraction of the true number. During 2012-23, 88 birds were killed in Wales and along the border, mostly birds of prey and Ravens; the report highlights the Dee Valley and multiple incidents in Powys as areas of particular concern. WPRUK remarks that “the enforcement regime… is not preventing this ongoing criminal activity” and considers that licensing the release of gamebirds would deter wildlife crime, prevent habitat damage caused by over releasing and limit the risk of disease spread. Welsh Government recently commissioned Environment Platform Wales, a collaboration of Welsh universities and government, to review the evidence of impact of releasing non-native Pheasants and partridges.

Spring weather, rudely interrupted from Monday, brought Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps to almost every lowland parish in North Wales, it seems. Wheatears also arrived in number, while a handful of other early summer migrants included Ring Ouzel on territory above the Conwy Valley, the region’s first Swallow on Bardsey and Willow Warbler at Penmon Point. Elen, Glaslyn’s female Osprey, returned to the nest site early on Friday, with several others in Wales last week. Black Redstarts stopped at South Stack and Rhoscolyn on passage.

The explosive songs of seven Cetti’s Warblers greet visitors to RSPB Conwy, though one since last September has not the usual chestnut plumage but an almost white body with black wings. Unlike most warblers, these are resident in the UK and most movements are relatively short. Since first nesting in southern England in 1973, they have spread north facilitated by climate change. The first breeding in Wales – at Oxwich Marsh, Gower – was in 1985 and in North Wales in 1997, although curiously, the first Welsh record was on Bardsey over 50 years ago.

The unusually marked bird at Conwy is not albinism, but leucism, a condition where the cells responsible for the production of melanin are absent, so it lacks darker colours. This individual may be the first leucistic Cetti’s Warbler in Wales; I am unable to find records of others in the UK. Readers may recall a leucistic Blue Tit that visited an Anglesey garden for several months over winter 2023/24.
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A Surf Scoter and Red-necked Grebe swim in Conwy Bay, viewed from Penmaenmawr, and another Red-necked Grebe was in Caernarfon Bay, where two dozen Great Northern Divers gather before flying farther north. Bitterns’ booming calls carry across reedbeds at RSPB Cors Ddyga, but one calling at a mainland site was more unusual. There is no historic evidence that Bitterns have bred in mainland Northwest Wales; it is more likely that this is a winter migrant late to return to its nesting area. Anglesey’s wintering flock of Cattle Egrets increased to eight near Porth Tywyn Mawr, a Lesser Yellowlegs remains on the Clwyd estuary, Smew on Llyn Alaw and a Crane visited RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands.

A survey of breeding waders began this week across Wales, with hundreds of sites to be visited in the coming weeks, organised by Natural Resources Wales. Surveyors will be looking and listening primarily for the presence of Curlews, and recording other wader species such as Lapwing, Golden Plover, Redshank and Dunlin. Most breeding waders have declined dramatically across the country, and this will be the first attempt to assess the occupation of farmland and moor for the ground-nesting birds for almost 20 years. More information about the survey is on the NRW website.

While surveyors will look for waders in up to 1200 1-km squares in the next month, farmers, gamekeepers, walkers and birdwatchers are urged to report their own sightings of Curlews and Lapwings in potential breeding habitat, using their Local Environmental Records Centre, or BirdTrack or eBird if you already use these. Understanding where waders call home is essential to supporting their remaining populations.

The weather is set to accelerate the feeling of spring this week. Summer visitors have been scarce to date, but the weekend brought the first Sandwich Terns to Penmaenmawr, Manx Shearwaters off Rhos-on-Sea and Llanfairfechan, and Wheatear on Ynys Enlli, where Bardsey Bird Observatory staff have returned for the season.

Anglesey’s drake Smew continues its stay at Llyn Alaw but must be getting itchy feet to fly northeast. White-fronted Geese near Llyn Coron and Long-tailed Duck in Beddmanarch Bay will be heading in the same direction. Some visitors have been visibly scarce this winter: the BirdTrack reporting rates for Brambling and Fieldfare in Wales have been half their typical levels in the first 10 weeks of 2026, with Redwing sightings also below par.

A Lesser Yellowlegs remains on the Clwyd estuary, Spotted Redshank at RSPB Conwy and Hooded Crow at Newborough, while Llangefni witnessed spectacular Starling murmurations last week.

A Little Auk found swimming close inshore at Trearddur Bay for a few hours last week is an increasingly rare visitor to North Wales. It really is a small auk: at 165g (6.5oz), it is less than half the weight of a Puffin; the now-extinct Great Auk was almost 30 times heavier at 4.8kg (10.5lb). Little Auk colonies are circumpolar, the nearest in northern Iceland and the majority in Russian waters. They feed close to pack ice outside the breeding season, some venturing farther south into the Atlantic that can be pushed into the Irish Sea in stormy conditions. They used to be regular on autumn seawatches in North Wales, the largest count being 176 from Bardsey on 2 October 1981, but the few records in the last decade have been in winter when, tired and struggling to feed, several have been found dead or dying on beaches.

Storm-induced mass deaths of seabirds are known as “wrecks” and it appears that a significant event has unfolded in the Atlantic in recent weeks, victims washed up in southwest Britain, Portugal, Spain and France. It is estimated that 20,000 birds washed up in France alone, perhaps only 10% of the birds affected. Postmortems show all were in poor condition, starving to death. Many of the Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills may be from breeding colonies in Britain & Ireland. Seabirds are particularly vulnerable to the rapidly-warming climate, of which winter storms are one symptom. RSPB Cymru has called on Welsh Government to implement and fund the recommendations in its recently published Seabird Conservation Strategy. The Little Auk in Trearddur Bay bird was blown inland after a couple of hours, its fate unknown.
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Mild weather brought February migrants to North Wales: a Wheatear on the Great Orme on 27th and Sand Martins at RSPB Cors Ddyga on 28th, where nine Ruff fed among more than 2000 Golden Plovers and 1000 Lapwings. Six Velvet Scoters and a Surf Scoter were off Old Colwyn, the long-staying Lesser Yellowlegs on the Clwyd estuary, and Black Redstarts at Kinmel Bay and briefly at Gogarth on the Great Orme.