It’s not over until the last Gannet flies

Gannets (Michael Thackeray)

​The breeding season for Welsh birds is long. It started before Christmas, when the first Fulmars occupied favoured ledges on seacliffs. Through February, some Ravens and Grey Herons sat tight on nests, and young Crossbills fledged from nests by the end of March; small groups of Crossbills have been reported across the region recently, often a long way from their usual coniferous haunts.

Although most songbirds were nestbuilding in April and May, some have second or even third broods late into summer, hence hedgerow cutting restrictions remain until the end of August. Some waterbirds are hatching now: I saw broods of tiny Eider ducklings in the Menai Strait last week, and on freshwater pools, Tufted Ducks and Pochards hatch this month. I’ve seen House Martins feeding young at nests into October, while Woodpigeons and Collared Doves can nest in any month.

On Ynys Badrig, the only Gannet colony in North Wales is still in its early days of establishment. Scanning across the bay, among 200 adults, I counted at least 15 white, downy chicks that won’t fledge until late September. The accompanying Guillemots and Kittiwakes will long since have departed to sea by then. Male Gannets continue to furnish nests with seaweed through the summer, which helps to insulate eggs and chicks during bad weather.

Autumn migration is getting into gear: a flock of Whimbrels called as they flew towards Africa while I walked at Porth Swtan on Sunday, with a few Common Sandpipers heading in the same direction. Sandwich Terns from around the Irish Sea feed off the Welsh coast, roosting on the Clwyd estuary and Rhos Point. A Green Sandpiper was at RSPB Conwy and 11 Common Sandpipers at Porthmadog at the weekend, more than 500 Sand Martins fed over Gronant and Yellow Wagtails were seen there and near Llanfairfechan.

The United Nations’ Convention on Migratory Species has welcomed Welsh Government’s announcement that it will, with England and Wales, end the sale and use of lead shot and large-calibre ammunition for live quarry. Evidence from the Health and Safety Executive shows lead poses a risk to at least a million birds over the coming decades if usage continues at its current rate, while around 40,000 birds of prey such as red kites and white-tailed eagles are at risk from ingesting lead through carrion. Shooting organisations had committed to phasing out lead shot by 2025, but a Cambridge University study reported earlier this year that the initiative had failed.