Lesser Redpoll - 1894

Linota rufescens

A resident in small numbers, and a common winter visitor.

A pair were seen, evidently nesting, by the late Mr. Stokes, of Cuffem, in the spring of 1887, at Ferny Glen, near Roch, in a larch tree. Small flocks regularly appear in the autumn, and one of about a dozen birds generally visited our gardens every winter, remaining with us until the spring had well advanced. Mr. Dix states : " I have seen one flock of about twenty this winter, on 3rd January ; they were feeding on some alders near Cardigan."

Mr. Tracy considered this small species "rare," adding, "a few frequent the mountainous part of the county." Mr. Jefferys, of Tenby, has informed us that among some eggs sent to him from Boncath to be named, was one marked : "Found here in May, nest like Goldfinch," which proved to be an egg of the Lesser Redpoll.

Mathew M.A. 1894, Birds of Pembrokeshire and it's Islands