Pigeons move in mysterious ways

Woodpigeon (Annie Haycock)

As I stepped into Sunday morning’s sunshine, a flock of several hundred Woodpigeons flew overhead, following the coast. It’s not something I see frequently, unlike on the South Wales coast where huge movements are recorded in late autumn. One day last October, for example, more than 230,000 passed a single watchpoint near the Severn Bridge. Such movements through the English Midlands were noted by amateur ornithologists prior to the First World War, but the scale seems to have increased in recent years.

No-one knows for certain from where these Woodpigeons originate - or where they are heading. They may be Scandinavian birds heading for the Cork Oak forests of Iberia, as there is good evidence of migration from ringed birds but perhaps their visits through southern Britain are so rapid that no rings are recovered. Just another of nature’s mysteries we have yet to unravel.

I imagine the sight of huge Woodpigeon flocks must be akin to the millions of Passenger Pigeons across the Great Plains of North America in the early 19th century, so huge they reportedly took several days to pass. A reminder that abundance is no guarantee of a species’ survival. The last wild Passenger Pigeon was shot in Ohio in 1900, and 14 years later, the death of the last captive bird in Cincinnati Zoo saw the species’ global extinction.

Clear, slightly breezy, conditions triggered the pigeon movement and encouraged late Swallows to feed in eastern Anglesey. Summer migrant Sandwich and Arctic Terns were seen at Black Rock Sands and Aber Ogwen respectively. Scarce visitors include a couple of Slavonian Grebes and Glossy Ibis in Beddmanarch Bay, Long-tailed Duck on Shotwick Lake, and Firecrests on the Great Orme, at Penmon and Bethesda. Richard’s Pipit and Snow Bunting were seen on Bardsey as Bird Observatory wardens pack up for the season. Snow Buntings were also on the Great Orme and Point Lynas last week.