Perfect weather for global waterbird count

Three Velvet Scoters and two Surf Scoters off Llanddulas in 2023, a regular wintering site for small numbers of both species in the last decade (Tony Pope)

Benign conditions enabled Wetland Bird Survey volunteers to count waterbirds across the region on Sunday, contributing to the 60th International Waterbird Census, a truly global monitoring scheme. My regular patch, the outer Conwy estuary, held 67 Eider ducks, almost seven times the previous highest in over 30 years of WeBS monitoring there. Calm seas also enabled birders to confirm continued presence of up to three Surf Scoters off Old Colwyn/Llanddulas, with four Velvet Scoters here and another 10 off Kinmel Bay, where a Black Redstart winters on the beach.

A male Smew and a couple of Slavonian Grebes on Llyn Alaw, Black-throated Diver off Penrhyn Bay and Lesser Yellowlegs on the Clwyd estuary were among the pick of the other sightings in North Wales. Elsewhere, a Scaup is on Llyn Tegid, and Long-tailed Duck on the Inland Sea, while the wintering Shorelark remained on the Great Orme and Snow Buntings at Gronant. Just outside the region, a White Stork feeds near Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain, north of Welshpool.

Number-crunching by the British Trust for Ornithology, from the effort of bird-ringers at 100 Constant Effort Sites around the UK, provides insights into the breeding success of some of our commonest birds. In contrast to the previous year, 2025’s dry and sunny weather meant that the majority of species nested more successfully than the average of the previous five years. Resident species monitored had a productive season, except for the rapidly-declining Willow Tit and Greenfinch, while all the warblers did well, including those that winter south of the Sahara. Goldfinch, Coal Tit and Blue Tit were especially successful. This is positive news, because the number of adults recorded by ringers was lower for most species. Curiously, numbers of adult Marsh Tits, a Red-listed bird, bucked the trend by increasing. How these results compare to the national picture will be evident when last year’s Breeding Bird Survey results are revealed. More details here.

This weekend, 23-25 January, is the annual Big Garden Birdwatch, when the RSPB asks us to spend an hour recording the birds that land in our gardens. House Sparrow, Blue Tit and Starling were the commonest species in Wales last year, but average counts were more than 10% lower. Sign up at rspb.org.uk/birdwatch.