Saturday 8th January – Friday 14th January 2022

 Intro:

 … one swallow doesn’t make a summer …

Passerines and others:

‘One swallow doesn’t make a summer’, so the saying goes.  It urges caution not to place too much emphasis on early and positive signs as there could still be bumps in the road ahead. 

It works well with the fact that we generally don’t see the return of our earliest swallows until the last week of March; but are we starting to see the first signs of a change?  Whilst Anglesey has had an occasional record of late departing swallows remaining into the month of December, there doesn’t seem to have been any records of birds remaining into the New Year – that is, until this week.  Following on from one seen and videoed near Ynys Llanddwyn on the 25^th December, the same or another was seen this week at the centre of the village of Newborough (11^th).  Is this the start of a new migratory strategy with a few birds in the vanguard of a move to see if they can tough it out through milder British winters?  It does seem that there are more records across the UK this January and it will be interesting to see if this becomes an increasing trend.

It has now become fairly routine to have a small number of Chiffchaffs over-wintering, particularly around a number of water treatment plants and various willow beds.  2 were seen this week in willows along the stream between RSPB Cors Ddyga and Pentre Berw water treatment plant (9^th), with another in hedges opposite the Cob Pool at Malltraeth (10^th).  A female Blackcap was seen in roadside hedge at Valley (13^th) and 2 singing Cetti’s Warblers were at RSPB Cors Ddyga (13^th) with another noted north of RSPB Cors Ddyga by the disused railway bridge (11^th).

The Black Redstart was seen again at Benllech seafront, on this occasion favouring the ‘wendon’ building next to beach car park, Benllech (9^th), while the wintering male remains in and around the former Octel plant at Amlwch Port (9^th-13^th).  Several Brambling remain in and around the brassica crop north of the Braint estuary car park (8^th-14^th), a Kingfisher was at Pont Bulkeley, Afon Cefni (9^th&12^th) and there was an unattributed report of a Snow Bunting at Cemlyn (12^th).  Hooded Crows were seen at Henborth (8^th&14^th), the Alaw estuary (9^th) and at South Stack (10^th).  5 Chough were at Aberffraw dunes (14^th).

Waders:

A Green Sandpiper was seen on the Alaw estuary (9^th&12^th), with another on wet fields near Cors Crigyll (11^th).  A Common Sandpiper was seen off Salt Island, Holyhead Harbour (11^th).  11 Purple Sandpipers were at Trearddur Bay (8^th).

There were 2 good counts of Dunlin with c. 1000 birds on the Laird’s Beach, 1 mile east of Beaumaris (8^th) and 977 birds on the Alaw estuary (13^th).  Sightings of Knot included 450 birds on the Braint estuary (12^th) and 114 on the Alaw estuary (13^th).  There were up to 350 Black-tailed Godwit at RSPB Cors Ddyga (350 on 11^th, 300 on 13^th), while counts of Bar-tailed Godwit included 30 birds off Penrhos coastal park (11^th) and 41 birds at the Alaw estuary (13^th).  Sightings of Greenshank included up to 7 birds at the Alaw estuary (7 on 13^th, 6 on 9^th), 1 on the Braint estuary (12^th), 1 at Traeth Dulas (13^th) and 1 at Malltraeth (14^th).  Counts of Grey Plover included 35 birds off Penrhos Coastal Park (11^th) and 90 birds at the Alaw estuary (13^th), while tallies of Golden Plover included 395 birds at Llyn Maelog (12^th) and c. 800 birds on the Bodorgan fields close to Aberffraw dunes (13^th).  There were 136 Lapwing at Llyn Maelog (12^th), 235 birds at the Alaw estuary (13^th) and c.750 birds on the Bodorgan fields (14^th).  30 Snipe were seen to leave the marsh by Llangefni sewage works at dusk (11^th) and 4 Woodcock were seen at RSPB Cors Ddyga (13^th).

Herons, Egrets and allies:

There was a late report of 3 Glossy Ibis in a field north of Llyn Maelog (14^th).  The Cattle Egret was again seen in a cattle field north of Valley (8^th -10^th), but it can at times be a little elusive.  The same field has held up to 22 Little Egrets (8^th).  Up to 2 Great Egrets continue to be seen at RSPB Cors Ddyga (2 on 12^th, 1 on 13^th).  6 Water Rail were at RSPB Cors Ddyga (13^th), with 1 at Soldier’s Point, Holyhead (13^th).

Swans, Geese & Ducks:

Sightings of Whooper Swans included 3 at RSPB Cors Ddyga (8^th), 4 on the Alaw estuary (9^th) and 2 at Llyn Coron (14^th).  50 Pink-footed Geese were seen on fields on north shore of Llyn Alaw (10^th).  238 Pale-bellied Brent Geese were at the Alaw estuary (9^th), while Penmon pool had 68 Pale-bellied Brents and 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose (8^th). 

The drake Long-tailed Duck was seen again off Benllech seafront (9^th), where there was also 20+ Eider (9^th) and 100 Common Scoter (9^th).  Counts of Wigeon included 300 birds at RSPB Cors Ddyga (9^th) and 176 at Llyn Cefni (12^th).  There were 300 Shoveler at RSPB Cors Ddyga (9^th), 185 Shelduck on the Braint estuary (12^th), 261 Pintail on Malltraeth cob pool (12^th), 190 Tufted Duck at Llyn Cefni (12^th) and 127 Coot at Llyn Cefni (12^th).  There were 11 Goldeneye at Llyn Cefni (12^th) and 9 at Llyn Coron (9^th). 

Divers & Grebes:

Great Northern Divers continue to be seen around the coast with 2 off Benllech seafront (9^th), 2 on the Inland Sea (8^th, 11^th), 1 in Beddmanarch Bay (10^th) and 1 in Holyhead Harbour (10^th).  6 Red-throated Diver were off Benllech seafront (9^th).  Up to 5 Slavonian Grebes were on the Inland Sea (5 on 11^th, 1 on 8^th), with up to 4 birds in Beddmanarch Bay (4 on 13^th, 2 on 11^th, 1 on 10^th) – there is known to be some movement between the 2 sites.  20 Great-crested Grebes were off Benllech seafront (9^th) and 48 Little Grebes were on Llyn Cefni (12^th).

Raptors:

A ring-tailed Hen Harrier was at RSPB Cors Ddyga (12^th&13^th), as were 2 Marsh Harriers (13^th).  A Red Kite was seen over Talwrn (13^th).  Sightings of Merlin included 1 on the Alaw estuary (9^th) and 1 on the Braint estuary (12^th).  A Short-eared Owl was seen at RSPB Cors Ddyga (11^th).

Seabirds:

1000+ Common Guillemots were back on the ledges at RSPB South Stack (11^th).  6 Mediterranean Gulls were on the Inland Sea (11^th).

 

NWWT, Cemlyn Wardens, ABN Annual Reports

Many thanks to everyone who has accessed the 2 annual reports recently and made a donation to the North Wales Wildlife Trust’s ‘Cemlyn Appeal’ for monies towards the cost of wardening.  Feedback from the NWWT has been that there was an increase in donations to the appeal over the early part of the year and that there had also been a number of new applications for membership of the NWWT.

If you are interested in membership, the NWWT have a ½ price offer on membership at the moment, details of which can be found at:

https://www.northwaleswildlifetrust.org.uk/support-us-landing-page/half-price-membership-sale

For ease of access, the appeal page for the funding of Cemlyn Wardens can be found at:

https://www.northwaleswildlifetrust.org.uk/cemlyn-appeal

Ben Stammers, NWWT, made a presentation to Bangor Bird Group this last Wednesday, so if you want to know a little more about Cemlyn and its wildlife the recording of the talk can be found on YouTube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MyLgwP4pgg

PDF copies of the 2021 and 2020 annual reports of bird sightings on Anglesey can be downloaded at:

https://sites.google.com/view/anglesey-bird-news/annual-reports/2021-annual-report

https://sites.google.com/view/anglesey-bird-news/annual-reports/2020-annual-report