Gales bring Arctic visitors to North Wales

Sabine's Gull (Kevin Hitch)

​This month’s windy conditions has brought unprecedented numbers of seabirds close to Welsh coasts. It will take time to collate all the counts, but those of two species stand out. The national total of Grey Phalarope – the tiny wader that featured in last week’s BirdNotes – was the highest of the century. Among them were four swimming together on a pool beside Porthmadog Cob and singles at RSPB Point of Ayr and Abererch.

It’s also been the best autumn for Sabine’s Gulls in North Wales since 2017 and while most were fly-pasts for the most keen prepared to stand in lashing rain and gales at coastal watchpoints, one bird recovered its energy on a flooded field beside Porthmadog by-pass. These gulls travelling through the Irish Sea breed on the Arctic tundra in Greenland and eastern Canada, and are heading for wintering grounds off southwest Africa. Finding a Sabine’s Gull on a seawatch is a treat, and the trend is upward: at least 250 were recorded from the Welsh coast in recent weeks; more have been seen since 2020 than in any previous decade.

The seabird bonanza came in the week that BirdLife International and others celebrated the ratification by four countries to a global Treaty for the High Seas, consenting to a new international law to protect marine life. The latest ratifications triggered a 120-day countdown, after which the treaty will become a legally binding agreement. The UK has signed the treaty, but has yet to ratify it.

Other seabirds last week included Long-tailed Skua, Black Terns and European Storm Petrels, while calmer conditions since Saturday brought a Honey-buzzard over the tip of Pen Llŷn and Garganey at Glan-y-Môr Elias. A Glossy Ibis passed Bardsey at the weekend, where the first Lapland Bunting of autumn was among Skylarks, and a Common Rosefinch sang briefly near the Bird Observatory. Pink-footed Geese are another sign we are past the equinox, while a Black Redstart remains on the Great Orme and perhaps will winter here. Four Cattle Egrets are at RSPB Cors Ddyga, but a flock of seven Spoonbills at Foryd Bay last Friday were not seen again. Curlew Sandpipers at several sites are part of the biggest influx for years, numbering thousands across the UK.