Bangor student commended in Welsh photo competition

Snow Bunting (Sophie Dorman) - highly commended, WOS Photo Competition 2022

The winners of the Welsh Ornithological Society photographic competition for 2022, announced last week, showcased a healthy crop of talent across Wales. Bangor University student Sophie Dorman was highly commended for her Snow Bunting image and runner-up in the Young Photographer category for her shot of an Osprey carrying a fish, both taken in North Wales. Third place overall went to Robin Sandham from Conwy for his Arctic Tern composition, while the winner was a fantastic interaction between a Jay and Great Spotted Woodpecker, by Linda Yeardley-Williams from Presteigne. To see more of the winners and shortlisted finalists, see the montage below and visit the WOS website.

Each morning’s additional two minutes of daylight encourages Robins and Song Thrushes to claim their territory with song. More signs of the breeding season were Fulmars sitting tight on cliff ledges and a very early Manx Shearwater off North Stack last Friday when most of its brethren will still be in the South Atlantic.

Slavonian Grebes are scarce, annual visitors to our coasts, but inland records are unusual, so one on Llyn Aled Isaf, the reservoir high in Mynydd Hiraethog, on Saturday was a surprise. Others were at Llandanwg, Beddmanarch Bay and Borth-y-Gest, at the latter with two Great Northern Divers. Another Great Northern Diver is far from the sea on Llyn Tegid, while a Surf Scoter is off Llanddulas and a Sooty Shearwater was reported off Porth Oer.

Ten European White-fronted Geese are near Holt in the Dee Valley, while another flock of Whitefronts are in Anglesey’s Cefni Valley, with 60 Pink-footed Geese at RSPB Cors Ddyga. It seems that Pinkfeet have spread around the Irish Sea this winter, with a flock on the Isle of Man also unusual. A single Snow Bunting forages among pebbles at Kinmel Bay’s Horton’s Nose, while two Long-tailed Ducks fed in the nearby Clwyd estuary south of Rhyl on Sunday and a Water Pipit is at Point of Ayr.

A selection of winners of the Welsh Ornithological Society 2022 photo competition (click to enlarge)