Hen Harrier numbers revealed, as Storm Kathleen makes life tough for Rooks

Hen Harrier (Bob Garrett)

The 2023 Hen Harrier survey published this week showed mixed fortunes for Britain’s most persecuted bird of prey. Numbers increased in northern England and parts of Scotland, but fell hard in southern Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Welsh count, undertaken by the RSPB and Natural Resources Wales, was up by four pairs since 2016 to 40 territories. Almost all were in North Wales, with the Berwyn Special Protection Area holding 40% of the total.

Out before the stormy weekend, I watched four summer-plumaged Slavonian Grebes off Aber Ogwen and a flotilla of over 100 Eiders from Penmaenmawr, having seen 40 earlier from Penmon. Those Eider numbers are far higher than known to breed in the whole of Wales, so presumably these are migrants stopping to feed before heading farther north. Storm Kathleen brought a Storm Petrel, Arctic Skua and Arctic Terns off Criccieth and a Hoopoe to Bardsey, the island’s first since 2015, but the winds were disruptive for early nesting birds such as Rooks and Grey Herons.

First migrant arrivals included Redstarts at Pont Croesor and Pensychnant on 1 April, Whitethroat at Morfa Nefyn on 4th, Reed Warbler at RSPB Conwy on 5th, Pied Flycatcher in the Conwy Valley and Grasshopper Warblers at Shotwick and Ynys on 6th, Sedge Warbler at RSPB Conwy and Little Tern at Cymyran on 8th. Ring Ouzels were at several sites, the highest counts being five at Penycloddiau and on the Great Orme. An Avocet was at Malltraeth last week, a Dotterel on Cadair Idris and 12 Waxwings dropped briefly into Colwyn Bay’s Parc Eirias. A Black-necked Grebe remains in Beddmanarch Bay, a Little Gull is at RSPB Cors Ddyga and 62 Great Northern Divers in Caernarfon Bay.

Several readers have reported Siskins in their gardens for the first time, following last week’s report in BirdNotes. A ringer handled more than 650 Siskins in his garden above Bagillt in the month to mid-March, including birds previously ringed in Norway, Estonia, Russia and northern Scotland, while others had come no farther than across the Dee estuary. Another ringer caught 33 in Dolgarrog last week, including one ringed in Belgium, and reported that some were almost twice as heavy as others, stacked with fat for onward migration to northeast Europe.