Lesser Redpoll - 1994

Breeding resident and passage migrant

Mathew (1894) stated that the Redpoll was resident in small numbers and was a common winter visitor, while Lockley et al. (1949) recorded the Redpoll as a scarce resident in the east of the county, in semi-wooded and hilly country. The advent of conifer plantations has helped it to spread. It was first found breeding in conifers at Rosebush in 1969. Other plantations have since been colonised, though a few birds breed in other habitats, including parkland. From personal experience of most of the known breeding sites, an estimated 100 pairs were nesting in Pembrokeshire at the end of the Breeding Birds Survey of 1984-1988.

Small numbers pass through coastal Pembrokeshire between 15 April and 10 June. Two stayed at Skokholm through June and July in 1981, and again from July to mid-November. One ringed at Skokholm in May 1962 was recovered in County Wicklow, Ireland, in January 1963.

Redpolls are normally sparse in Pembrokeshire during the winter, sometimes being found in association with Siskins; however, they were unusually widespread in the winter of 1990/91, with flocks of up to 50 recorded as late as 31 March.

        

Fieldwork 1984-88 (based on 478 tetrads) 

Red = breeding confirmed = 8

Orange = breeding probable = 16

Yellow = breeding possible = 6

Total tetrads in which registered = 30 (6.3%)

Donovan J.W. & Rees G.H (1994), Birds of Pembrokeshire