Grebes and divers gather in sheltered bays

Red-necked Grebe (Pierre Montieth) - library image

Saturday’s bright sunshine and flat sea were perfect for watching birds offshore. Scanning from Penmaenmawr, more than 200 Red-throated Divers and almost as many Great Crested Grebes were in Conwy Bay, although many disturbed by jetskiers racing across to Anglesey. Several Black Guillemots in summer plumage were perhaps checking out local nest sites, and a wintering Slavonian Grebe remains. Most surprising, though, was a Red-necked Grebe devouring a fish close to shore and, I thought, a second at greater distance that was confirmed by another birder later when the two came together. Mike Pollard subsequently shared a videoclip of the two on social media site BlueSky. It’s unusual to see two Red-necked Grebes  together in North Wales, although March is the best month for multiple observations: three displayed off Harlech in 1987 and four were off Holyhead in 1979.

Later on Saturday, another Slavonian Grebe was off Trefor, with two dozen Great Northern Divers in Caernarfon Bay. Up to seven Slavonian Grebes remain in Beddmanarch Bay and the Inland Sea, with a Long-tailed Duck there and a Surf Scoter off Old Colwyn.

The Lesser Yellowlegs entered its third month on the Clwyd estuary, with a couple of European White-fronted Geese and Water Pipits also wintering nearby. Glaslyn Valley’s Whooper Swans numbered 59, the highest count of the winter, though soon to leave for Iceland no doubt. Llyn Alaw’s Smew was still present late last week, as were Black Redstart at Kinmel Bay and Twite on Flint marsh. A Wheatear was at RSPB South Stack late last week and Sand Martins at Conwy and Cors Ddyga RSPB reserves, with more at Pwllheli marina on Monday.

Five organisations have come together for Bird Atlas 2027-31, the fourth mapping of bird distribution in Britain and Ireland, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. It will be the third atlas of wintering birds and the fourth of breeding birds, enabling change to be charted over 60 years. Led by the British Trust for Ornithology, the partnership includes the RSPB and Welsh Ornithological Society for the first time. The Atlas will collect records at 10-km square level, but in North Wales it is hoped to repeat the effort made in 2008-11 to collect records in every 2-km tetrad square in the region; all 1796 of them. That will require a massive volunteer effort by birdwatchers, kicking off with the first winter season in November 2027 and the first breeding season in April 2028.