Black Guillemots move into Conwy Bay

Black Guillemot (Pete Bellew)

​I’ll confess a real soft spot for Black Guillemots. Arguably the smartest-looking European auk, their summer attire black plumage is offset by white wing patches. In autumn, it turns a mottled smoky grey, the white wing patch still visible from a distance. The Welsh breeding population was estimated at just 38 individuals a few years ago, all nesting around Anglesey.

Several pairs now nest on the Great Orme, and I am almost certainly they nested below the Pen-y-clip rail tunnel at Penmaenmawr and may have bred near Llanddulas too, although it’s hard to prove as they slip into a gap in the rocks at the base of cliffs. Black Guillemots do not winter so far offshore as other auks but are only occasionally seen from land once the chicks fledge. So I was surprised to see more than 60 in Conwy Bay throughout August, topping the count at 88 over the Bank Holiday. Either we are being visited by birds from the Isle of Man, or the Welsh population is doing better than we knew. The previous highest count in Wales was 44 in Holyhead harbour, the only place they nest in west Anglesey, using holes in the wall of the port.

Sunday’s winds pushed other seabirds close to shore, including Sabine’s Gulls off RSPB South Stack, Great and Sooty Shearwaters past Porth Ysgaden and Bardsey, along with three skua species. Black Terns were at Point Lynas, Porthmadog Cob and Traeth Lligwy, and Balearic Shearwaters and Grey Phalaropes at several watchpoints.

It's been a good week for scarce waders, with RSPB Conwy hosting several Curlew Sandpipers, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank and a Little Stint. Curlew Sandpipers were also on the Clwyd estuary and Morfa Madryn, and a Little Stint at Pwllheli. Ruffs numbered five at Malltraeth Cob, four in Foryd Bay and three on the Alaw estuary. Six Cattle Egrets remain at RSPB Cors Ddyga and a Black Redstart is around the Great Orme copper mines.

Exciting news for two valued local wildlife sites. Pensychnant Conservation Centre and Nature Reserve above Conwy had been managed by a charitable trust since 1989, and now the Stott family – who built much of the current house in the 1870s – has given it and most of the estate to the trust. The gift secures the future of the site, which is known for its special varieties of moth and oak woodland that is home to the most northerly Pied Flycatchers in Wales.

Also hoping to provide a permanent benefit to nature and the local community is Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife, best known for looking after the original Welsh Osprey nest near Porthmadog since 2013. The charity has launched an appeal, backed by tv naturalist Iolo Williams, to buy 16 acres of floodplain pasture, including the Osprey visitor site. It aims to restore the land, known as Traeth Bach, to a thriving haven for wildlife with wetland scrapes and managed grazing in collaboration with local farmers. They need £35,000 from a public appeal to buy the land and begin restoration: visit their website to find out more.