Ruff - Autumn passage

Using records from 1983 onwards as representing the period with countywide observer cover, one to 18 birds per autumn were recorded, with an average of about nine but there were 23 at Skomer on the 15 September 1969.

Records span 6th July to 18th November, peak numbers occurring in September.

Ruffs were seen in coastal areas, on or near the estuaries, by ponds on the islands and mainland and in coastal fields. One seen accompanying Lapwings inland at Pentre Goch, near Felindre Farchog, from the 22nd to the 24th of August 1998 suggests that others were probably missed because of the coastal bias of observer activity.

Graham Rees