Saturday 6th February - Friday 12th February 2021.

Intro: GPS tagged Geese and a Robin to get the heart pumping!

Swans, Geese & Ducks:

Following on from last week’s news that there had been 18 Greenland White-fronted Geese in the Cefni Valley, presumably the same birds relocated to the near Rhosgoch (6^th).  At least 6 of the 18 birds present were noticed to have orange-red neck collars.  Further enquiries led to news that the flock had been frequenting the Llyn Alaw area, with birds often roosting on islands on the lake.  3 of the birds have short collars which are GPS tags and 5 have tall, ordinary, collars.  More on the Greenland White-fronted Goose and the tagging programme can be found at: https://greenlandwhitefront.org/.

5 Whooper Swans were also at the Rhosgoch site (6^th).  The cold weather has caused some movement of Pink-footed Geese and Anglesey got in on the act with the sighting of 50 Pink-footed Goose flying up the Cefni valley (10^th).  The Long-tailed Duck continues to be seen at 4-mile bridge, Holy Island (6^th, 9^th, 11^th, 12^th).

Herons, Egrets and allies:

The Cattle Egret was still 1mile NE of Valley (6^th,13^th) and Great Egrets were at Rhosgoch (6^th) and RSPB Cors Ddyga (date not noted).  Eurasian Bittern is a new addition to the 2021 year list and it’s a particularly good week with multiple records; 1 was on a small private wetland at Llanddaniel (7^th), 1 was at RSPB Cors Ddyga (8^th) and 1 was heard ‘booming’ at Llyn Cerrig Bach (11^th).

Passerines:

The male (6^th) and female/immature (6^th, 10^th) Black Redstarts continue to be seen at the former Octel site, Amlwch Port.  A further female / immature Black Redstart was on the coastal footpath, SE of Porth Dafarch, Holyhead (9^th).  The Rose-coloured Starling has not seen by usual observer, but is understood to still be in the area according to neighbours.  The Lesser Whitethroat was still at Carreglefn (6^th) and a Chiffchaff was in the plantation at South Stack (7^th).  The 2 Snow Bunting were still at Soldier’s point at start of Holyhead Breakwater (7^th, 9^th, 10^th, 12^th), a Dipper was on the Afon Cefni at Llangefni (8^th) and 2 Hooded Crow at Roadking, Holyhead (9^th).

A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has been heard and seen briefly in flight at a wood near Pentraeth between Wednesday 3rd February and Sunday 7^th.  It has since gone absent with the cold weather, but will be looked for again.  Whilst an excellent find, and a new addition to the 2021 year list, it is in my mind just pipped for pride of place amongst the passerines by a leucistic European Robin found at Porth-y-felin, Holyhead (10^th) which had the finders heart beating faster for a few minutes.  Striking bird!

 

Leucistic European Robin found and photographed by Andrew Clarke

Waders:

A Common Sandpiper was at Church Island, Menai Bridge (6^th) and was a new bird for the year list.  The Green Sandpiper continues to be seen on the flooded field between Valley cemetery and A55 (6^th), whilst a Jack Snipe was at RSPB Cors Ddyga (10^th).  A Greenshank was at Church Island, Menai Bridge (6^th) and a Sanderling was at Benllech (12^th).

Divers & Grebes: 

No Divers or Grebes have been reported this week, despite a couple of updates from sites such as the Inland Sea.

Raptors:

A Red Kite was seen between Llangefni and the A55 (6^th) and another at RSPB Cors Ddyga.  Marsh Harriers have been seen to be displaying at RSPB Cors Ddyga (10^th) and a female/immature was at Llyn Cerrig Bach (11^th).  Merlins were seen at RSPB Cors Ddyga (10^th) and off the cob at the Inland Sea, Holyhead (12^th).

Gulls and Terns:

3 Mediterranean Gulls were on coastal fields at Holyhead Bay (11^th) and 1 was on the sea in the bay beyond the Holyhead breakwater (12^th).

Seabirds:

A Black Guillemot was in Holyhead harbour (11^th).

Other:

A Common Kingfisher was at Church Island, Menai Bridge (6^th).

 

Species – year to date:

The addition of Great Bittern, Common Sandpiper and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker to the 2021 cumulative year list takes the running total to 147.

How does that compare to last year I hear you ask?  Well, the running total didn’t commence on the blog until the post on the 13^th March 2020, when the total stood at 146.  So, we are a whole month ahead in respect of the number of species seen on the island.  Let’s hope for some easing of restrictions and a good spring to keep the sightings ticking over.

 

The forthcoming week 13^th – 19^th February?

The quietest week in the calendar for scarce and rare birds with no previous records.

 

YouTube talks:

If you are searching for an outlet for your birding interests, the Bangor Bird Group’s YouTube page currently has 11 videos recordings of a number of recent talks. 

A little further afield, I would recommend a look at a video recording of a talk to the Ontario Field Ornithologists entitled ‘Moving Beyond Seagulls: An introduction to Gull Identification by Justin Peter’.

If you are new to birding and want to better understand the aging of gulls etc or are an experienced birder who will appreciate the opportunity to look at images of the Smithsonian form of Herring Gull, plumage variation in Ring-billed Gulls etc then there is something for everyone.   For Gull aficionados, just make sure that there is nothing a good 2 feet below your jaw when you see the photo of the Iceland Gull in the quiz – the colour of the primaries is truly jaw droppingly dark.