Welsh wonders
To mark the release of a major new avifauna for Wales, Dan Rouse delves into the country’s avian history.
To mark the release of a major new avifauna for Wales, Welsh birder Dan Rouse delves into the country’s avian history, uncovering some surprising records and breeding successes, as well as more sobering declines.
From the glorious rocky coasts of South Stack to the Celtic rainforests and numerous islands teeming with life, Wales is full of hidden gems. It is a country with a history of large-scale conservation efforts, including saving Britain’s last Red Kites – Wales’s poster bird. It has also hosted spectacular rarities such as Black Lark and Little Curlew.
Due to be published in July, the forthcoming The Birds of Wales avifauna tells the stories of all birds, common and rare, that have been recorded in the country – and also looks forward, anticipating what might happen in the coming decades. It is almost 30 years since the first Welsh avifauna was published and a lot has changed. Improved monitoring and a greater number of birders has enhanced our knowledge of the status of many species, while we have a better understanding of how humans have impacted the nation’s birdlife.
Red Kite might be Wales’s most iconic bird, but Manx Shearwater must run it close. The Welsh islands host more than half of the global breeding population: there are an estimated 120,000 pairs on Skomer alone, with a further 45,000 pairs on its sister island, Skokholm. Ramsey, another island off the Pembrokeshire coast, had 4,796 pairs according to the last survey in
2016 – a considerable increase on the 850 pairs in 1998, the year before a rat-eradication programme began there. Bardsey Island, off the Gwynedd coast, holds a further 21,000 pairs and is home to the longest-lived ringed bird in Europe: a ‘Manxie’ ringed as an adult on Bardsey in 1957 was recaught there in May 2008, almost 51 years later!
In the woods
Wales’s broadleaf and mixed woodlands are home to half of the UK’s breeding populations of Pied Flycatcher, Hawfinch and Northern Goshawk, as well as more than a third of the UK’s Common Redstarts. These woodlands have provided outstanding data in the conservation efforts for Pied Flycatchers and Hawfinches in particular, with numerous colour-ringing projects and re-trapping of adults for survival surveys establishing possible reasons for decline, movements between populations and breeding success rates. Unfortunately, many of these areas remain unprotected – only 5% of Welsh woodland is designated for conservation.
Chough is another species that is strongly associated with Wales, yet it is also one that has suffered at the hands of humans. No fewer than 40 clutches of Chough eggs were stolen from Welsh nests between 1991 and 2008.
Countless hours of work have been invested in monitoring the species. This has clearly helped, with 79% of the UK’s breeding population and 94% of the wintering population now occurring in Wales. These beauties – named Bran Coesgoch (‘red-legged crow’) in Welsh – can now be found not only on Anglesey, but elsewhere along the Welsh coastline, including breeding pairs spread as far south and east as the Gower.
Much like Britain as a whole, the status of breeding birds in Wales has continued to fluctuate. Of the 49 breeding species considered abundant in 1900, 16 are now locally common, three are scarce and Corncrake has been lost entirely. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of declines are in farmland birds. Between 1970 and 2020, Corn Bunting numbers fell by
86%, European Turtle Dove by 79% and Grey Partridge by 46%. If current trends continue, Eurasian Curlew is predicted to become lost as a breeding bird in Wales by as soon as 2033.
Ups and downs
Of the 168 birds that bred in Wales regularly between 1960 and 1990, 33% of these are expected to lose some (23%) or all (10%) of their range by the end of this century. On the other hand, 22 species that did not breed regularly during that date range are predicted to start nesting in Wales.
The rise of Little Egret has been momentous, while Common Crane successfully bred on the Gwent Levels in 2016, becoming the first known breeding record in Wales in more than 400 years. The same location produced two pairs of nesting Eurasian Bitterns in 2020 – the first for 200 years – while
Savi’s Warbler bred for the first time ever in Wales at Cors Ddyga, Anglesey, in 2019. Mediterranean Gulls continue to grow in number, particularly around the saltmarsh at Llanelli, Carmarthen. There are changes in non-breeding distributions, too. The situation is bleak for Common Pochard: some 1,000 were at Glamorgan’s Rhymney Estuary, Glamorgan, in February 1987, yet 30 years later there wasn’t a single Welsh site that recorded more than 100. Russian White-fronted Goose has also undergone a major decline in recent years. In the 1940s, flocks in excess of 2,000 wintered at Margam Moors, Glamorgan, and in the 1970s up to 2,500 could be found in the Tywi Valley, Carmarthenshire. Nowadays, counts rarely exceed single figures.
The wintering population of its close congener, Greenland White-fronted Goose, is now also at a low ebb. In contrast, the now-abundant Greylag Goose was not always so widespread, with several translocated to Anglesey from Loch Insh in the Scottish Highlands in the 1960s to restore the population. A much more historical introduction concerns Mute Swan. The first Welsh record of the species dates back to 1304, when a millpond was constructed at Caernarfon Castle with an island for a
swan’s nest. Nowadays, the species is much commoner: a high of 278 was recorded at Cardiff Bay in August 2019, for example. Also introduced and now well established in many areas of Wales is Mandarin – a high of 195 was noted at Garreg-ddu Reservoir, Radnorshire, in November 2020.
First in line
The Welsh list definitely packs a punch, with more than 450 species recorded in this small nation. This is largely thanks to its ability to attract a wide range of exciting vagrants. Fifteen British firsts have been found in Wales, while 45 species have occurred here on only one occasion.
Among these are some particularly famous or well-twitched birds. Who could forget the South Stack Black Lark of June 2003? Although many would perhaps prefer to forget the all-too-brief Moussier’s Redstart at Dinas Head in April 1988!
Other standout records include Britain’s only Summer Tanager on Bardsey Island in 1957, a Grey-tailed Tattler on the Dyfi Estuary, Ceredigion, in 1981, a one-day Rüppell’s Warbler at Aberdaron, Gwynedd, in 1995 and the infamous Grey Catbird at South Stack, Anglesey, in October 2001.
That’s before you mention the likes of Glaucous-winged Gull, Whitethroated Robin, Rock Bunting, Song Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird and Blackburnian Warbler …
What’s more, Britain’s only breeding record of Iberian Chiffchaff comes from the Gower in 2015. A male was initially located in song, and when the observer returned to try to secure a sound recording for the record submission, the bird was observed feeding seven young. Further megas that were never accepted include an old record of
Cape Petrel, purportedly shot on the Dyfi Estuary in 1879, while the Northern Mockingbird photographed on the Worm’s Head, Gower, in 1978 also didn’t make the grade (this was particularly gripping as this is my patch and a home away from home!). A Bald Eagle was noted on Anglesey in 1978 and there are five records of Redheaded Bunting.
By the beginning of the 20th century, 280 species had been recorded in Wales, with 171 added since. Number 300 occurred in the aftermath of World War Two: an Olive-backed Pipit was found on Skokholm in April 1948. Number 400 was a Lanceolated Warbler on Bardsey in 1990. These two islands have played a huge role in the formulation of the Welsh list, adding 27 and 37 species respectively since the establishment of bird observatories on each island.
Skokholm became Britain’s first bird observatory – as well as Wales’s first nature reserve – when it opened in
1927; the island was leased from Dale
❝Red Kite might be Wales’s most iconic bird, but Manx Shearwater must run it close❞
Castle Estate by R M Lockley at a cost of £26 per year, paid by the RSPB in lieu of a salary. Daily monitoring work by the island’s wardens has proved invaluable, with conservation work providing and improving habitats for a range of species, particularly seabirds. One of the main attractions of Bardsey Island is the beautifully white lighthouse. In the past, its light proved an irresistible – and sometimes fatal – draw to migrating birds. For example, between 30,000 and 40,000 Redwings were attracted to the beam overnight on 10-11 November 2002. Thankfully, for the birds at least, the bulb has since been changed to a less attractive tone.
Mass movements
Big movements of birds during migration seasons are a favourite of many birders. One spectacular sight I was fortunate to witness was a mass of 225,000 Woodpigeons moving over Newport Wetlands, Gwent, on 27 October 2017.
Many such spectacles are charted in
The Birds of Wales: 350 Little Stints at Shotton Pools in September 1960 seems scarcely believable by modern standards, while 1983 produced an exceptional movement of Eurasian
Jays in South Wales. Hundreds were seen daily, including 200 over Martin’s Haven, Pembrokeshire, on 6 October.
Work by naturalists and archaeologists has yielded some interesting insights into prehistoric Welsh avifauna, with fossil and bone remains giving a good idea of what the country’s birdlife once looked like. On the Gower, a cave at
Port Eynon has produced the bones of 43 bird species in deposits dating from around 6,000-9,000 years ago. The remains of a Cory’s Shearwater found at Bacon Hole Cave on the Gower was dated to 125,000 years ago, in the Ispwichian interglacial period – is this an historical Welsh breeder? Barnacle Geese are thought to have once bred due to the discovery of bones dating back around 23,000 years.
Trivia is a big feature of The Birds of Wales, and among its pages there are plenty of quirks. Bird identification is always at the forefront of discussion and debate in the present day, and it appears this has always been the case: the journey of Gerald of Wales around the nation in 1188 includes the earliest documented bird identification dispute, when an argument broke out about whether a bird heard near Caernarfon was an oriole or a woodpecker.
I couldn’t conclude without mentioning my favourite piece of Welsh birding trivia. There are no trees on Grassholm Island, Pembrokeshire – the home of Britain’s fourth-largest Northern Gannet colony – yet the island has two records of Eurasian Treecreeper. The first dates back to June 1957, when a very lost bird was seen clinging onto the only wooden post on the island.
Wales is home to a fantastic array of wildlife, despite often being undervalued and underappreciated for its biodiversity. While it continues to face ongoing threats, predominately from humans, there are many conservation success stories that offer hope for the future. The uplands of Wales remain alive with Hen Harriers and Black Grouse, while Wood Warblers, Common Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers adorn the oak woodlands. Bustling seabird colonies continue to thrive, while Wales’s iconic bird observatories produce far-flung waifs from distant lands. Plenty more can be found in the forthcoming The Birds of Wales – so why not order a copy and inspire yourself for a visit to this diverse and beautiful birding nation? ■