Buntings at home in the snow

Snow Bunting (Dan Gorton)

​Sunday’s blanketing of snow across much of North Wales was sufficiently short-lived that few movements of birds were evident, although some Redwings came into gardens in search of food. Larger Fieldfares have been scarce since the initial wave of migration from Scandinavia in November - check out the map below that shows how much scarcer they were in December 2024 compared to the previous year.

​Small flocks of Meadow Pipits and Chaffinches were among other species that dropped from hills to coast in search of snow-free feeding areas. A flock of Bramblings in Gwydir Forest will have moved in from Scandinavia, while Pink-footed Geese inland from Abergele may have responded to frozen fields in Lancashire or the Dee Valley.

Snow Buntings on the Great Orme and at Horton’s Nose nature reserve, Kinmel Bay, felt no such imperative to move, seeming content to spend the whole winter on the Welsh coast. A Common Sandpiper is also wintering, around Church Island on the Menai Strait, when most of its compatriots are somewhere south of the Sahara Desert.

A Red-necked Grebe in Red Wharf Bay was the first in North Wales for several years, one of two dozen that occurred across Britain last week. Two Black-necked Grebes and three Slavonian Grebes were on the Inland Sea, with single Long-tailed Ducks there and off Benllech. Another Long-tailed Duck is off Llanddulas, with four each of Surf and Velvet Scoters among the rafts of seaduck. Slavonian Grebes and a Scaup were off Borth-y-gest.

Hawfinches are around churchyards at Caerhun and Llanrwst, up to eight at the latter, with a small flock in Vale of Clwyd. Four Short-eared Owls and a Green Sandpiper were around Anglesey’s Alaw estuary, 20 Twite at Flint Castle, four Water Pipits in Foryd Bay and a Firecrest near Mochdre. Two Ruddy Shelducks on the Dee estuary and a Snow Goose near Morfa Dinlle probably have a feral or captive origin. 

Fieldfares reported across Europe in December 2024 (left) compared to the same week in 2023 (right). Map from EuroBirdPortal - click on the image to see the animation by week (opens in new window).