Snow Bunting - 1894

Species account from M Mathew, 1894, "The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands"

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Reed Bunting - 1894

Species account from M Mathew, 1894, "The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands"

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Cirl Bunting - 1894

Species account from M Mathew, 1894, "The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands"

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Yellowhammer - 1894

Species account from M Mathew, 1894, "The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands"

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Snow Bunting - migration

The Snow Bunting has a circumpolar breeding distribution, inhabiting the treeless expanses of the Arctic, extending south to areas of Norway and Scotland. Partially migratory, many winter far south of the breeding range. Most occurring in Britain have been of the Icelandic race P. n. insulae but the nominate race P. n. nivalis has been recorded in lesser numbers.

Six single Snow Buntings are on record for Pembrokeshire between the years 1859 and 1914, indicating that the species did not loom large during the specimen collecting era, which is perhaps significant considering their striking appearance. Lockley et al (1949) noted that the Snow Bunting was “a regular visitor to Skokholm in October and November but only once seen in spring”.

For the whole county there followed records in 17 years between 1953 and 1969, in 14 years between 1970 and 1989 and in every year bar one between 1990 and 2007.The majority, 86 %, were recorded in the autumn, between mid September and December, the earliest being on the 11th September. Of these 50 % were recorded in October.

Mostly single birds were involved but parties of up to 10 were sometimes encountered, with up to 15 seen at Ramsey, up to 17 at Skokholm and up to 38 at Strumble Head. The mean county autumn total was 9 per annum, excluding exceptional numbers recorded in 1996 and 1999.

 A total of 172 was recorded in 1999, of which a passage total of 115 on 16 dates was logged at Strumble Head. A total of 209 was recorded in the autumn of 1996, 160 of them spread over 10 dates passing Strumble Head.

 Snow Buntings have been recorded in the autumn at Pen Morfa, Dinas Island, Strumble Head, Garn Fawr (Pen Caer), Pen Brush, Trefin, Abereiddi, Trwyn Llwyd, St David’s airfield, Treleddyn, St David’s Head, Porth Clais, Ramsey, South Bishop, Solva, Newgale, Nolton Haven, St Bride’s, Martin’s Haven, Wooltack Point, Skomer, Grassholm, The Smalls, Marloes Beach, Skokholm, Gann,  Dale airfield, Kete, St Ann’s Head, Freshwater West, Castle Martin ranges, St Govan’s Head, Stackpole, Greenala and Garron.

 It seems that Snow Buntings can be encountered anywhere in coastal areas during autumn passage. Single birds at Carn Ingli on the 24th October 2005 and at Foel Eryr on the 28th November 1985 are the only inland records at this time of the year, perhaps reflecting the paucity of observers away from the coast at passage time.

A small and erratic spring passage has been detected in coastal areas, with variously one to three birds at a time noted during March and April, in 14 years between 1958 and 2006. Single birds were also recorded at Manorbier on the 26th May 1991 and at Strumble Head on the 5th June 1959 and 19th August 2002, the latter “captured” on video.

References

LOCKLEY. R. M, INGRAM. C. S. and SALMON. H. M.1949. The birds of Pembrokeshire, West Wales Field Society.

Corn Bunting - 1894

Account extracted from M Mathew, 1894, The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands.

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Corn Bunting

Milaria calandra

Former breeding resident.

The Corn Bunting breeds across the middle latitudes of the south west Palearctic. Changing agricultural practices resulted in an 87 % decrease in the UK population between 1967 and 2006 and a 61% decrease across Europe between 1980 and 2005.

The Corn Bunting was a common breeding resident in coastal areas of Pembrokeshire up to the late 19th century. Writing in 1894 Murray Mathew considered them to be local inasmuch as he had never seen one more than five miles from the coast and his correspondents considered them to be plentiful at Pembroke and very abundant in the neighbourhood of Tenby. Their distribution coincided with the main barley growing area of that time. Bertram Lloyd (1939) found a similar coastal distribution in the 1920’s, his diary entries giving some idea of density by noting “all along the cliff hinterland from St Govan’s to Linney , I heard about 10 singing here on the 26th July 1927”. By the 1930’s Lloyd thought they might be decreasing, particularly in the north of the county, and by 1957 Ronald Lockley noted that they had become local and were rapidly decreasing. At this time he also noted that many farms had turned from tillage for cereal production to pasture for milk production. This conversion continued, resulting in the predominant dairy farming of today, with the resultant creation of habitat unsuitable for Corn Buntings.        

Breeding Corn Buntings probably disappeared after 1963 when there was still enough activity to produce winter flocks of up to 30 birds in the Gelliswick to South Hook area. Thereafter the species became so rare that individual occurrences were considered worthy of putting on record, viz: singles in 1967, 1968, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1993, two in 1965, 1977, 1979, 1992, three in 1980 and four in 1985. The last Corn Bunting to be recorded in Pembrokeshire was at Ramsey on the 26th August 1993.

It is interesting that a lone bird that frequented the Marloes peninsula from 1977 to 1981 regularly sang like a Yellowhammer. This seems to have been an individual development for single birds at Gilfach Cross in May 1987 and at Llanycefn in May 1992 sang normally.

Graham Rees.

(Covers records up to and including 2008)

References

LLOYD. B. 1929-1939 Diaries, National Museum of Wales.

LOCKLEY. R. M. (1957). Pembrokeshire, Robert Hale, London.

M Mathew, 1894, The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands.

Snow bunting - winter

Plectrophenax nivalis 

There were 25 January records and 17 in February, up to 2006. Most were transient, recorded on single dates or gone in two or three days.

Two first seen at Fishguard Harbour on the 22nd November 1993 remained until the 14th January 1994, one staying until the 16th February.

Nine found on the Castle Martin ranges on the 21st December 1996 had reduced in number to seven by the 31st December, which stayed until the 19th January 1997, six of them were still there on the 2nd February.

Three which arrived on the salt marsh at the Nevern Estuary on the 29th November 2004, remained until the 11th January 2005, two of them until the 28th February.

A group of 23 occurred at Ramsey on the 6th January 2000 but there is no information as to how long they stayed.

The status of Mynydd Preseli as a wintering ground for Snow Buntings has not been resolved. It would appear that active watchers seldom traverse the upper regions in winter. Local farmer J. G. Stewart-Peter when recording two birds on the 2nd January 1953, stated that he saw small numbers on the highest parts of the range in most winters.

About thirty were noted on “Preseli Top” on the 1st March 1970 and 10 there on the 25th January 1986, 15 were near Foel Cerwyn on the 18th December 1987, three at Foel Feddau on the 18th February 1988 and eight or nine on Foel Drygarn on the 16th December 1997.

Graham Rees

(Covers records up to and including 2007)