Terns assemble!

Sandwich Terns (Mel Hughes)

Europe’s migratory seabirds are gathering as the breeding season ends, before heading to Africa. I was moments too late to see a Little Tern in the Conwy estuary on Sunday morning, a scarce visitor west of the Orme. Its coloured leg-ring suggests that it originated from the breeding colony at Gronant. A couple of Roseate Terns were an excellent record on the Clwyd estuary where roosting Sandwich Terns include some ringed as chicks in Belgium, Northern Ireland and Cumbria. Others were ringed as chicks at Cemlyn lagoon on Anglesey, some just a few weeks ago but some are now adults that were ringed there in 2022 and not reported since. Individuals from that year’s cohort of young have also been seen in France, the Netherlands and Devon in recent weeks.

Mediterranean Gulls show up among Black-headed Gulls in late summer, with moulting birds at Rhos Point and RSPB Conwy. Crossbills and Redstarts on the Great Orme at the weekend were migrating as was a Wood Sandpiper reported from Malltraeth Cob pool. A Quail sang its wispy “wet-my-lips” from a field between Sealand village and the River Dee, the over-summering Ring-necked Duck was on Llyn Brân, Hooded Crows were at RSPB South Stack and the Clwyd estuary, and a Ruddy Shelduck on mudflats off Connah’s Quay nature reserve.

It was great to see and hear dozens of Swallows feeding on insects above fruit-pickers near Llanedwen on Anglesey at the weekend, including a good number of this year’s fledged youngsters with their shorter tail-streamers. Insect-eating birds have had a tough summer with cool temperatures and wet, windy weather. The Wales co-ordinator of the Garden Moth Scheme reports that during April-June, numbers of the 20 commonest species were down, on average, by 65%, and 11 of those were down by 75%.