​Much of June has been spent in Finistère, the rocky western end of Brittany that translates as “the end of the earth” from Latin French, and also from the Breton Pen-ar-Bed. Amid the colourful heather and Thrift of the coastal path, much is familiar. The cultural and language links with home are strong. Many place names on bilingual roadsigns are recognisable, the anthem Bro Gozh ma Zadoù is sung to the same tune as Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and you can even visit Bangor - although it’s a boat ride to get there.

Most birds are familiar, but with some notable differences. Treecreepers are Short-toed; the tinkling song of Serins projects from almost every tall tree, it seems; and Swifts are abundant, groups screaming over every village square in numbers I sadly never see in Wales. Higher temperatures undoubtedly help, but so does the style of architecture that creates lots of crannies in which they can nest. Insect-life seems rich, especially butterflies, of which I raised clouds on every walk, including species we don’t yet see in North Wales – White Admiral, Marbled and Black-veined White – but almost certainly will in the coming decades.

Every coastal wetland held squabbling Avocets and Black-winged Stilts, Cattle Egrets fed among livestock and around the Golfe du Morbihan, Turtle Doves purred gently on almost every farm. The scratchy song of Melodious Warblers was encountered daily from scrub, woodland and hedges; it is a scarce visitor to Wales, but as the climate changes, perhaps British birdwatchers should learn its song. The monotone buzz of Zitting Cisticola – called a Fan-tailed Warbler in bird books of my youth – is also widespread here, the last we heard as we boarded the ferry at St Malo.

Cetti’s Warblers are everywhere. While we associate them with a small number of wetlands in North Wales, they are spreading fast: the latest UK Breeding Bird Survey results show they have increased by more than 1000% since 1995. Other species are absent, most obviously the falling cadence of Willow Warbler, a bird still widespread in North Wales but declining rapidly from the southern edge of its range. A Europe-wide atlas published just a few years ago showed Willow Warblers still abundant in Brittany, but I wonder if they have now gone as they have from some lowland parts of southern Britain. A study by the British Trust for Ornithology showed that Willow Warblers are faring worse than the similar Chiffchaff where it is warmer.
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It may be a postcard from northwest France, but is this a postcard from our future?

There has been mixed news from tern colonies in North Wales. High tides in late May washed out many of the nests at Wales’ only established Little Tern colony at Gronant, and the few that remained were unable to defend their nests from predation by Carrion Crows. Denbighshire Council wardens, helped by volunteers from the North Wales Little Tern group, report that many of the adults remain on the beach, and it is hoped that there will be renewed breeding attempts as the weather becomes more settled. Meanwhile, North Wales Wildlife Trust reports that Sandwich Terns at Cemlyn, in north Anglesey, are close to record breeding numbers and up to 10 Roseate Terns attended the colony last week.

A juvenile Black-crowned Night-heron, found in trees at Brickfield Pond nature reserve on the outskirts of Rhyl, was a surprise on Monday - and a Lesser Emperor dragonfly found later the same day is almost as rare in Wales. In Europe, Night-herons (which only have a black crown when they reach adulthood) nest mostly south of a line east from the Loire Valley to Ukraine, but some breed as far north as The Netherlands. It’s a rare visitor to North Wales, with little over a dozen records, and this is the first in northeast Wales since one at Caerwys in 1993.

Bardsey scored its second Blyth’s Reed Warbler in 10 days while other scarce visitors to the region at the weekend were a Little Gull on Anglesey’s Inland Sea, and a Curlew Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands’ Border Pool. A Quail called near Pengroeslon last week and another was reported near Glan Conwy.

Finally, many people associate birdsong with positive mental health, and now Bangor University, in partnership with the British Trust for Ornithology, is recruiting participants (including those with expertise in identifying bird song) to study the effects of avian soundscapes on human wellbeing. Participation involves a one-hour in-person session in Bangor, during which you will experience a simulated visual and auditory environment and its impact on simple measures of your wellbeing will be assessed. All participants will receive a £10 gift card for their time. If you are 18 years or over, sign up at https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/bangor/avian-soundscapes-screening or contact [email protected] with questions.

While spring migration in mainland North Wales is over, early June can bring scarce visitors to Ynys Enlli, and the team at Bardsey Bird Observatory had a busy week recording the visitors.
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First up was potentially the rarest, a probable Audouin’s Gull that alighted briefly onshore, but flew off and was not seen again. This globally-threatened species breeds no closer than the Mediterranean coast of Spain and has not been confirmed in Wales previously. Next came a smart male Red-backed Shrike, joined the following day by a singing male Common Rosefinch. On Thursday a Blyth’s Reed Warbler mimicked a suite of birds that it’s used to hearing in eastern Europe, central Asia and India, where it wintered. Observatory staff recognised at least 30 different species in its repertoire including Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Yellow-browed Warbler and Olive-backed Pipit.

It's a reminder of how special Ynys Enlli can be during migration; the Bird Observatory still has spaces to stay in September and October.

Last Friday a Melodious Warbler sang in the Observatory garden. It is something of a Bardsey speciality, with 120 records being almost half of the Welsh total. But while some spring migrants were arriving, a Cuckoo ringed on the island was almost certainly making its way south for the autumn! Other scarce visitors in the region last week included Quails at Doddleston and Cors Bodgynydd nature reserve, deep in Coed Gwydyr, and a Black Tern at Cemlyn lagoon.
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RSPB Cymru wardens on The Skerries, the islets off northwest Anglesey that host Britain’s largest Arctic Tern colony, counted 1212 burrows occupied by Puffins recently. This is more than twice the total in 2019, and the highest ever count – although no records exist from before the late 18th century, prior to the temporary occurrence of rats on the islands. The count makes it the most important site for Puffins in North Wales, and the third most important in the country.

After the ravages of bird flu, positive news from some of our seabird colonies. North Wales Wildlife Trust’s count at Cemlyn showed encouraging results: 2167 pairs of Sandwich Tern, 170 of Arctic Tern, 120 of Common Tern and a pair of Roseates, Wales’ rarest breeding seabird. The site also hosts 200 pairs of Black-headed Gull and two pairs of Mediterranean Gull. A couple of extra Roseate Terns appeared at the weekend, when Sandwich Tern and gull chicks explored the islands between the rain showers. Last week’s wind brought two Pomarine Skuas to Fedw Fawr near Llanddona and a couple of Storm Petrels past Porth Ysgaden.

A colony in Conwy Bay holds the highest number of red-listed Herring Gull nests since I began watching it as part of the UK Seabird Monitoring Programme in 2019. Fulmar nests were similar to last year albeit half the total of six years ago. Unexpected was a Black Guillemot, Wales’ second rarest breeding seabird, delivering a fish to a nest hole high above the beach. Black Guillemots nest at a handful of sites on Anglesey and on the Great Orme, but this is the first modern nest record in Caernarfonshire west of the Conwy estuary.

A White Stork was reported in fields north of the Dee, near Sealand, on Monday. A Quail was ringed on Pen Llŷn, another sang on Bardsey last week, and one was in Berwyn on Monday, just outside the Eryri National Park between Llanuwchllyn and Llyn Efyrnwy.

A sleepy Nightjar on a garden bench in Barmouth was not typical habitat, perhaps a late arriving migrant. The British Trust for Ornithology is calling for help with the UK Nightjar survey, with many sites in North Wales requiring two visits before 15 July, in the two hours after sunset or before sunrise. Sites around Coed y Brenin, Llandegla, Clocaenog, Gwydyr and the Mawddach estuary are hotspots that need volunteers. Details and registration at bto.org/get-involved/volunteer/projects/heathland-birds-survey.