Waders arrive in search of sanctuary

Curlew (Ben Porter)

Waders such as Redshanks and Curlews are starting to appear on our coasts in greater numbers. A count of 14 Common Sandpipers on the Menai Strait last week was notable, while the first Turnstone of autumn at Rhos Point is almost certainly a failed breeder. Ornithologists in Greenland report high predation of Turnstone eggs by Arctic Foxes, which indicates that it’s a ‘bust’ year for lemmings, rodents of the high north. When there are fewer lemmings, foxes turn to birds for their sustenance. The proportion of waders and geese flocks comprised of young birds in Europe and America this winter will provide a guide to breeding success in places that researchers rarely visit.

For these northern wetland birds, a network of sites to feed and rest outside the breeding season is critical. Many spend more than half their lives in northwest Europe. The British Trust for Ornithology recently reviewed the Wetland Bird Surveys for the UK’s Special Protection Areas, places that must be protected because of their importance. There are two SPAs in North Wales, and while most species are doing okay, Red Alerts have been issued for Grey Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit on the Dee estuary and Red-breasted Merganser at Traeth Lafan, the vast inter-tidal area at the east end of the Menai Strait. Numbers have fallen by more than half at these sites.

Alerts inform SPA condition assessments, a health-check published recently by Natural Resources Wales for its marine sites. It assessed the five species for which Traeth Lafan is designated and declared it in Unfavourable Condition for four, including Curlew and Oystercatcher. Human disturbance is identified as a major reason for failure, highlighting the reduction in numbers of both species since the Wales Coast Path was opened along the south side of the site. The question is what will NRW, responsible for both nature sites and managing the coast path, do about it…

An early autumn Little Stint has paused at Gronant, where a Caspian Gull was seen last week, and on Anglesey, a Quail has been calling near Cemaes in recent days.