December diver draws crowds to South Wales

A showy Pacific Diver in Glamorgan was one of the finds of the midwinter period.

DECEMBER was livened up by the surprise appearance of a juvenile Pacific Diver in Glamorgan. The bird, discovered on 11th, was an excellent find at the private Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir, the site of a famous Bobolink

Pacific Diver: Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir, Glamorgan, from 11 December

record back in 2010. The diver is just the second for Wales after one at Llys-y-Fran Reservoir, Pembrokeshire, between 2007 and 2009 – itself the second British record at the time.

Identification awareness has seen records of this species increase considerably in recent years, with regular wintering birds in Cornwall and Co Cork also recorded in 2021. ■

The Welsh Pacific Diver could be aged as a juvenile by the pale fringing to the upperpart feathers.