Last week’s taste of summer enabled more migrants to reach their final destination, and it has been good to hear of Swifts screaming over rooftops across the region. After a slow start, the seabird colony at Cemlyn lagoon has become busier. North Wales Wildlife Trust wardens estimate there are 160 Black-headed Gull nests, with the first eggs due to hatch this week, and 750 Sandwich Tern nests with probably more to come. Visitors to the Anglesey site can also see 250 Arctic Terns and 150 Common Terns; tentative signs that bird flu has not caused significant further mortality over the winter. Other recent sightings include Great White Egret, Grey-headed Wagtail and three Blue-headed Wagtails.
An Avocet at Malltraeth Cob on Saturday had earlier been upstream at RSPB Cors Ddyga, where a Garganey and Cuckoo were seen recently. A Cuckoo was also at RSPB South Stack, along with several Spotted Flycatchers, Wood Warbler, Ring Ouzel, Short-eared Owl and Hooded Crows. A male Brambling at the reserve - singing like a sheep - turned out to be an escaped cagebird of Belgian origin, traced by its closed leg ring. The Great Orme hosted Black Redstart, Woodlark and a couple of Whinchats among other passage migrants. A male Ring-necked Duck on Llyn Brenig may be one that wintered on Llyn Tegid, a Black Kite was reported over Holywell on Saturday, two Cattle Egrets were at Valley and a long-staying Long-tailed Duck remains on Llyn Maelog. A Long-tailed Skua flew inland over nearby Rhosneigr last week, a Serin paused briefly near Trearddur Bay, a Quail called at Bettisfield Moss, and a Golden Oriole and Turtle Dove were on Bardsey. Garganeys were at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands and Llyn Llywenan, while a Black-throated Diver joined the dozen or so Great Northerns in Caernarfon Bay on Monday.
0 Comments
The two rarest birds of the week made the briefest of appearances. An RSPB warden on The Skerries, the important seabird colony off northwest Anglesey, photographed a Pallid Harrier circling over the island last Friday. It is the second seen in North Wales, after one on the Dee estuary in 2017. A major rarity in Britain until 20 years ago, records have increased as its global distribution has shifted northwest, with one or two pairs breeding as close as The Netherlands. However, that probably disguises a huge decline in the Pallid Harrier’s eastern European and Central Asian strongholds, thought to result from cultivation of natural steppe grasslands for crops. A Short-toed Lark at RSPB South Stack on Friday could not be relocated, but the site also produced a Ring Ouzel on Monday, bound for Scandinavia several weeks after Eryri birds arrived on their breeding sites. A late Fieldfare there is probably heading for the same destination, but a Snow Goose on nearby Tŵr Reservoir, a species kept in wildfowl collections, has perhaps not travelled quite so far. Elsewhere, up to 40 Great Northern Divers and several Scaup are in Caernarfon Bay, pausing en route to Iceland, while a Pomarine Skua off Dinas Dinlle will be heading for Russia. Garganeys were at Connah’s Quay, RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, RSPB Cors Ddyga and Llyn Llywenan, two late Waxwings at Eryrys, below Nercwys Mountain, and a Honey Buzzard flew up the Cefni Valley. Scarborough birder Nick Addey, holidaying in Beaumaris, spotted a pair of Starlings nesting in the base of a gondola on the town’s Ferris Wheel, posting a message on social media site X, formerly Twitter. It will be a race against the clock for the Starlings to raise a family, as the “Beaumaris Eye” is only at the Anglesey resort until 4 June. Starlings incubate their eggs for around two weeks, and the chicks will fledge around 20 days – and many hundreds of revolutions - later. How do the parents know in which of the 24 carriages to serve food? The results of last year’s Wetland Bird Survey show that the Dee estuary remains the fourth most important site in Britain for waterbirds, with at least 158,000 birds. Of course, with numbers turning over rapidly during migration, the real total is far higher. As a volunteer surveyor at one of 3,325 sites monitored, it’s valuable to see how my counts on the Conwy estuary contribute to the national picture.
It also shows that numbers of 21 species in Wales have increased over the last 25 years, including Canadian Pale-bellied Brent Geese, Little Egrets and Black-tailed Godwit. For the last species, with warming temperatures more juveniles from Iceland are wintering in Britain rather than Iberia. However, 18 species have decreased including Scaup (-89%), Pochard (-88%) and Goldeneye (-58%). Along with Bewick’s Swan, which is now too rare to monitor in Wales through the scheme, all have a European distribution that has shifted northeast with climate change. You can read more about the results on the BTO website. A Wood Sandpiper was found at Cemlyn on Monday, where 150 Black-headed Gull nests are occupied and counts of Sandwich and Common Terns are increasing. Other migrants include the first region’s first Garganey this spring at RSPB Cors Ddyga and Burton Mere Wetlands’ Border Pool, and Spotted Flycatchers at Talacre’s Warren Farm on Sunday. Hobbies were in Mynydd Hiraethog and at RSPB South Stack, where three Hooded Crows were seen on Monday. Whinchats paused for a few days at Gronant, and a good number were already on moorland territories during a Black Grouse survey in the Migneint last week. Wood Warblers started to arrive at the weekend, although I heard only one above Trefriw on Sunday. Aberffraw’s Purple Heron was seen until Saturday, but two White Storks over Shotwick didn’t stick around and a Bee-eater near Bodorgan station remained for only one evening last week. A Cattle Egret was on the Clwyd estuary, while Bardsey recorded a Siberian Chiffchaff and a Waxwing there was only the eighth island record. Rangers from Denbighshire Council and volunteers from North Wales Little Tern Group spent this week putting up the fences that should protect Wales’ largest Little Tern colony from beach users, dogs and predatory mammals when the birds return from West Africa to Gronant soon. The RSPB has been undertaking similar work at its Point of Ayr nature reserve in neighbouring Flintshire. Recent storms demolished the Gronant viewing platform and remodelled the beach, and seasonal wardens hope that northerly winds don’t coincide with high tides in the coming months. A Snow Bunting and Whinchat were at Gronant on Saturday.
It was good to see a Pied Flycatcher and hear Cuckoo at Pensychnant above Conwy on Sunday while doing a Breeding Bird Survey. Both species arrived on territories across North Wales last week, as have more Ring Ouzels; more than 20 were seen in the Carneddau at the weekend, with 11 on passage at Penycloddiau in the Clwydian range and five over Llanfair DC. Several dozen Swifts flew up the Cefni Valley with House Martins on Monday, when two Cattle Egrets were found at Ffynnongroyw. Several Purple Herons were in Wales last week, including at Cors Dyfi nature reserve and near Aberffraw. Four Cranes that flew up the Dee estuary were seen from Connah’s Quay but headed east across Wirral. Hawfinches are at a couple of sites in the Conwy Valley, a summer-plumage Spotted Redshank remains at RSPB Conwy and a Corncrake called on Bardsey all week. A Turtle Dove purred briefly near Edern and a Spoonbill was at Dinas Dinlle. A Redwing over Penrhyn Bay may be one of the last of the winter and Waxwings were at Halkyn and Colwyn Bay. Two Ring-necked Parakeets have been in Llandudno gardens, with sightings from the Great Orme to RSPB Conwy. The vivid yellow male Golden Oriole must be among the most highly-prized birds to find in Britain. One in Holyhead’s Breakwater Country Park on Saturday was a popular draw for local birders, since migrants have a reputation for not staying long. Small numbers used to breed in East Anglia, but they are now birds of mainland Europe, common in deciduous woodland where summer temperatures are high and rainfall low.
The one-day visitor was part of a weekend influx, 16 recorded between Friday and Monday, almost all in southwest Britain; but the Golden Oriole in Holyhead was the only one north of Gower. More than 130 have been seen in North Wales since the first confirmed record in Ruthin in 1870. Only one on Bardsey on 11 April 1981 was earlier in the season, since the majority are found in May and June. Greater numbers of common summer visitors arrived in recent days, with more than 200 each of Blackcap and Willow Warbler last Saturday on Bardsey, where a Nightingale has been present for four days and a Corncrake was the first ringed at the Bird Observatory since 2015. Whinchats and Wood Warblers are back on their breeding sites, and the first Garden Warbler was at Cwm-y-glo, near Llyn Padarn, on Friday. Winter birds are shipping out, with Redwings reported in several places, including birds likely to be Icelandic breeders. A dozen Waxwings on a Brymbo housing estate may prove to be the last of the winter. Ospreys at Cors Dyfi got down to egg-laying at the weekend, while last year’s female at Llyn Brenig appears to have been replaced; the regular male mated with a three-year old female that hatched in Scotland and was released in Dorset in 2021. Meanwhile, a female (KS1) that hatched beside the Afon Glaslyn in 2018 has returned to the Yorkshire Dales where she has bred since 2022. January’s RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch results, released last week, showed House Sparrow retaining top spot, but Blue Tit overtook Starling as the second commonest species, with numbers of the latter down 18% in just one year. Great Tits also did well, up from eighth to fifth place, but eight of the top 10 species were seen in fewer gardens than in 2023. Full details are on the RSPB website. The 2023 Hen Harrier survey published this week showed mixed fortunes for Britain’s most persecuted bird of prey. Numbers increased in northern England and parts of Scotland, but fell hard in southern Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Welsh count, undertaken by the RSPB and Natural Resources Wales, was up by four pairs since 2016 to 40 territories. Almost all were in North Wales, with the Berwyn Special Protection Area holding 40% of the total.
Out before the stormy weekend, I watched four summer-plumaged Slavonian Grebes off Aber Ogwen and a flotilla of over 100 Eiders from Penmaenmawr, having seen 40 earlier from Penmon. Those Eider numbers are far higher than known to breed in the whole of Wales, so presumably these are migrants stopping to feed before heading farther north. Storm Kathleen brought a Storm Petrel, Arctic Skua and Arctic Terns off Criccieth and a Hoopoe to Bardsey, the island’s first since 2015, but the winds were disruptive for early nesting birds such as Rooks and Grey Herons. First migrant arrivals included Redstarts at Pont Croesor and Pensychnant on 1 April, Whitethroat at Morfa Nefyn on 4th, Reed Warbler at RSPB Conwy on 5th, Pied Flycatcher in the Conwy Valley and Grasshopper Warblers at Shotwick and Ynys on 6th, Sedge Warbler at RSPB Conwy and Little Tern at Cymyran on 8th. Ring Ouzels were at several sites, the highest counts being five at Penycloddiau and on the Great Orme. An Avocet was at Malltraeth last week, a Dotterel on Cadair Idris and 12 Waxwings dropped briefly into Colwyn Bay’s Parc Eirias. A Black-necked Grebe remains in Beddmanarch Bay, a Little Gull is at RSPB Cors Ddyga and 62 Great Northern Divers in Caernarfon Bay. Several readers have reported Siskins in their gardens for the first time, following last week’s report in BirdNotes. A ringer handled more than 650 Siskins in his garden above Bagillt in the month to mid-March, including birds previously ringed in Norway, Estonia, Russia and northern Scotland, while others had come no farther than across the Dee estuary. Another ringer caught 33 in Dolgarrog last week, including one ringed in Belgium, and reported that some were almost twice as heavy as others, stacked with fat for onward migration to northeast Europe. Several readers report Siskins in their gardens for the first time recently. Records of these compact black-and-yellow finches peak in March and October, but larger immigration has been evident in recent weeks. Numbers reported to the BTO Garden BirdWatch in Wales last month were the highest ever, beating the previous record in winter 2012/13. Users of recording app BirdTrack report occurrence at almost double the usual rate, and large numbers have been ringed in some areas. Belvide Ringers in South Staffordshire handled almost 2,500 Siskins last month, including individuals previously ringed in Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Czechia.
Many of these Siskins wintered in southwest Europe and are on their way back to forests in Russia and northeast Europe, having taken a longer arc through Britain rather than across central Europe. Siskins visiting Wales in winter usually originate in Scotland, Norway and Sweden, although one ringed in Llandygai, near Bangor, in February 2013 was found near St Petersburg the following summer. Last week saw Ospreys return to their North Wales breeding sites: pairs to Cors Dyfi, Glaslyn and Hafren Forest. At Llyn Brenig, the male of last year’s returned, and as of Monday, the nest had been visited by two different females, including one released in Poole Harbour in 2021. Ospreys were also at RSPB Conwy, the Great Orme, Llyn Tegid and Llandderfel. Other summer migrants to arrive before the end of March included Little Ringed Plover on the Clwyd estuary and House Martins at RSPB Cors Ddyga, Rhuddlan and Gresford Flash. A Ring Ouzel was on the Great Orme, a Cattle Egret on the Conwy estuary and a couple of Snow Buntings at Cemlyn last week. Black-necked Grebe and Slavonian Grebes remain in Beddmanarch Bay, Surf Scoters at Llanddulas, and eight Long-tailed Ducks and a Little Gull were off Criccieth on Friday. Common Scoters are on the move. Thousands of these seaducks wintered in Liverpool Bay, and smaller numbers in Cardigan Bay, head east across England and the North Sea to breed in Russia and northeast Europe. Poor weather during their overnight flight forces some to seek shelter at inland lakes, such as a female on Shotwick Lake on Monday.
The departure of winter migrants is a sign of spring as much as arrivals from southern Europe and Africa. More than 100 Pale-bellied Brent Geese on the Foryd, west of Caernarfon, yesterday will be among the last to arrive in their breeding areas; these high Arctic birds must wait for the snow to clear in eastern Canada in late May before they can nest. Summer migrants last week include House Martins at RSPB Conwy on Saturday and Aberdyfi on Sunday, the earliest this century in the recording areas of Meirionnydd and Denbighshire (which includes much of North Wales east of the River Conwy). The first Willow Warblers were ringed on Bardsey and at Bagillt last week, and Tree Pipits were recorded over Penrhyn Bay. A Turtle Dove flying south over South Stack with a couple of Collared Doves was an intriguing record. Now a scarce visitor to Wales in the face of a 99% decline in UK breeding numbers since the 1960s, the early date might suggest it overwintered in Britain. Sand Martins and Wheatears have been more widespread this week, and an early Redstart was reported near Flint. An Osprey fished at Aled Reservoir last week, and North Wales’ nesting birds should arrive this week. A Snow Bunting is at Cemlyn, Black-necked Grebe with at least three Slavonian Grebes in Beddmanarch Bay, and Black-throated Diver in Holyhead harbour. Six Waxwings in Flint last week could well be back in Scandinavia by now. How good to be out in the sunshine at the weekend, with Wood Anemones bursting into flower and our resident birds into song. If you’ve promised yourself that you’ll improve your birdsong knowledge, now is the time to do it. Our resident songsters have control of the airwaves for a few weeks before most summer warblers arrive from Africa. There are some good smartphone apps that can help, but don’t assume that they are always correct with their identifications. Much better to get help from the experts, and BTO Cymru is the place to go. In April, they have organised Bird Identification training events at Morfa Aber, near Bangor, and Alyn Waters Country Park, near Wrexham, and two online refresher sessions on bird songs and calls for BTO surveys. Visit their website for details and to book.
The first wave of summer migrants is already here. The disyllabic song of Chiffchaffs seems to be everywhere and Sand Martins have been at several wetlands across the region. A Sandwich Tern was in Pwllheli harbour on Thursday, the first Wheatears at South Stack and the Great Orme on Friday, and Swallows over Bardsey on Friday and RSPB Conwy on Saturday. A Ring Ouzel was on the Great Orme at the weekend, and others may already have arrived on breeding territories in Eryri. I enjoy hearing the dawn chorus through the bathroom window, picking out Wren, Great Tit and Dunnock, but the highlight has been the chirrup of House Sparrows, a species doing rather better in Wales than elsewhere in the UK. I first heard them, distantly, from the garden during the 2020 spring lockdown, when there was barely any traffic noise with which to compete. Each year they have moved slightly farther into the village and now they have arrived in our garden. Scarcer visitors to North Wales this week include a Black-necked Grebe, in smart black-and-yellow breeding plumage with a scarlet eye, has been with up to eight Slavonian Grebes in Anglesey’s Beddmanarch Bay. Four Cattle Egrets were at nearby Valley over the weekend, Black Redstarts at Penmon Point and 10 Mediterranean Gulls are at Portmadog’s Llyn Bach. Wintering Surf Scoters remain at Llanddulas, but will soon leave with the seaduck flock. Once you’ve seen a Black Grouse lek, you never forget it. Arriving before sunrise at a field, moor or forest clearing, their soft bubbling calls hang in the mist, interspersed with fierce hisses. As daylight grows, smudged blobs materialise into male Black Grouse, sparring in a flat open area, trying to impress females crouched, out of our view, in surrounding rush. A ‘lek’ is a gathering that determines the alpha male who will mate with the majority of females. Black Grouse and Capercaillie are the only British breeding birds that lek, but species as diverse as Atlantic Cod, birds of paradise, and some bats, butterflies and moths have evolved this approach to sexual selection.
It's nearly 40 years since I saw my first Black Grouse lek, in Clocaenog Forest, and I still get a kick from the experience, now as part of a scheme that monitors birds at ‘focal leks’ in Northeast Wales. Numbers had been declining, but last year’s results were a shock: a 45% decline since the last full survey in 2019. Their range has contracted dramatically too, away from the south and west. Now almost all Welsh Black Grouse can be shown on a single Ordnance Survey map, either side of the Dee Valley and stretching into the Clwydian Hills. The decline has spurred a new project from RSPB Cymru, which last week secured funding from the Welsh Government Nature Networks Fund. It will work with landowners and government agencies to manage farmland and woodland in key areas to benefit Black Grouse as part of a long-term sustainable management plan, that will include grazing patterns, peatland rewetting and managing predation by foxes and crows. Black Grouse are easily disturbed at the lek, so if you know of a site, stay in your car throughout, and drive away only after the birds have dispersed. Always follow the Grouse-watching Code. In the same area, another threatened species to receive NNF funding is the Curlew, and potential volunteers are invited to a sign-up evening at Llandegla village hall tomorrow evening (12 March) - see the graphic below. BTO Cymru will also receive money from the same fund to launch a Welsh Raptor Monitoring Scheme. Building on a project that has run in Scotland since 2002, it will improve monitoring of birds of prey on protected areas and should produce Welsh trends for widespread species such as Kestrel and Peregrine. Volunteers will be a crucial part of data collection, which should start in 2025. Subject to funding, longer-term goals include monitoring productivity and developing population trends for scarcer species. The first migrant Chiffchaffs arrived at the weekend, with singing birds across the region. I watched a dozen in a copse near Llanfairfechan on Saturday, focused more on feeding than announcing their arrival. Sand Martins were at RSPB Conwy and RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, and doubtless more will arrive this week on southerly winds. Greenland White-fronted Geese remain in the Cefni Valley, Surf and Velvet Scoters off Llanddulas, and two dozen Waxwings were on Halkyn Mountain at the weekend, but a flock at Garden City has moved on. A Black-necked Grebe joined four Slavonian Grebes in Anglesey’s Beddmanarch Bay. |
Bird notesA weekly update of bird sightings and news from North Wales, published in The Daily Post every Thursday. Archives
May 2024
Categories |