Tuesday, August 13, 2013 at 9:09AM Saxicola torqata hibernans
Common resident on all rough furze commons and escarpments, moving towards coast in cold weather. Sometimes breeds on the islands, to which it is a regular winter visitor. Numbers much reduced in hard weather and almost wiped out by snow and frost early in 1947.
R.M.Lockley, G.C.S.Ingram, H.M.Salmon, 1949, The Birds of Pembrokeshire, The West Wales Field Society
Friday, May 11, 2012 at 9:37PM The perky male Stonechat with its black head, ruddy breast and “tack–tack” call, accompanied by its browner mate, is frequently encountered in the county at all times of the year. Its distribution is mostly linked to that of gorse, be it associated with heather, bracken, grass or bramble. It has also demonstrated an ability to use new conifer plantations but this has proved to be a transient inhabitation, the habitat becoming progressively unsuitable with tree growth. Nests are usually sited low down in dense growth at the base of a bush or in a tussock.
Comparison of the two surveys indicates a spread from the coast in the St David’s area and in the Preseli Hills. Distribution at the coast tended to be linear, with a lower density than found at the more extensive heathlands. Donovan and Rees (1994) postulated a county breeding population of 200 pairs based on the 1984-88 survey plot, coupled with extensive experience of the areas involved. This estimate has generally been accepted as realistic for that time, bearing in mind the deflating effect of the cold winter of 1982. They concluded that the population was below optimum at that time.
The BBS has indicated that the Stonechat population increased in Wales by 338% between 1994 and 2007, in response to a period when there were no severe winters, conditions which have favoured this triple brooded species. As the Pembrokeshire population has expanded its distribution during this period and increased density was apparent in many localities, it seems reasonable to apply the BBS findings to Pembrokeshire. This suggests a population of 650 – 700 pairs by 2007, equating to an average of four pairs per occupied tetrad.
Graham Rees
Fieldwork 2003-07 (based on 490 tetrads)
Red = breeding confirmed = 96
Orange = breeding probable = 58
Yellow = breeding possible = 13
Total tetrads in which registered = 167 (34.1%)
Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 3:57PM Breeding resident
Mathew (1894) said "this little species is so numerous, to be seen everywhere by the roadside, perched on the furze on every common, on the coast as well as far inland, that it is likely to be considered one of our characteristic county birds". Lockley et al. (1949) found the Stonechat to be a common resident on all furzy commons and escarpments in the county and noted that they sometimes bred on the offshore islands. The Breeding Birds Survey of 1984-1988 found that they were very local inland but were well distributed around the coast. The survey began after the population had been reduced by the cold winter of 1982, which would probably have affected the inland birds more severely than those on the coast. There is also less suitable habitat remaining in inland Pembrokeshire than there was in 1949. By the end of the survey about 200 pairs were estimated to have bred (see map), but this level is below optimum.
Numbers have been decimated by many severe winters in the past. The winter of 1947 almost wiped them out (Lockley et al. 1949) and that of 1962/63 also left very few survivors (Donovan 1963). Numbers recover rapidly in subsequent summers largely because of high productivity, with some pairs rearing three broods in a year. A pair at Cwmbrandy, Fishguard, was suspected of rearing four broods in 1962. Breeding is still sporadic on the offshore islands of Skomer and Ramsey, with Stonechats disappearing after severe winters and recolonising again when the general population is at a high level.
They occur on the islands, including Grassholm and the Smalls, after the breeding season, when they also become more widespread in the county generally, occupying more diverse habitat than during the summer. It is likely that some of our breeding stock moves out of the county. Apparent falls on headlands suggest that some movement takes place and one ringed at Skokholm in September 1960 was recovered in Spain that November. Siberian Stonechats subspecies maura or stejnegeri were noted at Strumble Head on 12 October 1986 (G.H. Rees et al.) and at Skokholm from 11 to 15 October 1990 and 20 October 1992.
Fieldwork 1984-88 (based on 478 tetrads)
Red = breeding confirmed = 71
Orange = breeding probable = 24
Yellow = breeding possible = 31
Total tetrads in which registered = 126 (26.4%)
Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 2:32PM 
Red = breeding confirmed
Orange = breeding probable
Yellow = breeding possible
Sunday, October 9, 2011 at 9:23PM 
The BTO winter atlas showed that Stonechats were present in all coastal 10km squares during the winters of 1981-82, 1982-82 and 1983-84.
The darker the colour, the higher the relative total count for each 10km square. The darkest blue represents over 5 birds seen in a day.
Winter distribution was a little less widespread than in the breeding season indicating a withdrawal from most inland squares.
Graham Rees
Sunday, September 26, 2010 at 12:31PM Species account from M Mathew, 1894, "The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands"
