Ruff - winter

Ruffs have become more frequent in Pembrokeshire during the winter, December to February. Donovan and Rees (1994) noted three records up to 1993 but they have been reported 17 times since, all single birds apart from 2 twice and 3 twice, also 9 together at the Castle Martin ranges on the 17th January 2011.  

Graham Rees

Ruff - spring passage

One to six birds per year have been noted in the spring between the 3rd March and the 30th June (though late June birds could be males returning from their breeding grounds) but not in every year. However there were only five years between 1982 and 2012 when they were not recorded.

During an exceptionally heavy passage through south-west Britain in April 1987 several waves passed through Pembrokeshire, resulting in records of three at Dowrog, up to six at Skomer and Dale airfield, 12 at Skokholm, 17 at the Gann and up to 46 at Marloes Mere.

Graham Rees

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

Ruff - 2012 status

Scarce passage migrant.

The Ruff breeds in temperate to arctic regions of the Palearctic, those in the west wintering in southern Europe and Africa.

Mathew 1894 classed the Ruff as an occasional autumn visitor; rare. He based this on a single specimen seen at Cuffern. Lockley et (1949) listed three occurrences plus the statement "recorded on several occasions at Skokholm”. Donovan and Rees (1994) classed it as a passage migrant, principally seen in autumn, less regularly in spring and occasionally in winter. There has been little apparent change since.

Graham Rees

Dotterel - 2012 - spring passage

Spring records span the 18th April and the 4th June. Apart from the Dotterel shot at Castlemartin in the spring of 1888 recorded by Mathew (1894), single birds were noted in a further six years up until 2012. However “trips” of four were recorded at Foel Eryr (Preseli Top) on the 8th May 1981, five at Skokholm on the 7th May 1960, seven at St Ann’s Head on the 7th May 1995 (two remaining until the 8th), seven at St David’s airfield on the 7th May 2000, 11 at Skomer on the 15th May 1991 and 15 at Dinas Mountain (Bedd Morris) on the 16th May 1991 (four remaining until the 20th). At least two of these “trips” occurred during periods of low cloud and poor visibility.   

Graham Rees

Dotterel - 2012 - autumn passage

Dotterels were recorded between the 19th August and the 27th October on 47 occasions from 1984 to 2012. The majority were seen in September.

 

Most records involved single birds but two together were seen on seven occasions, three were at Ramsey on the 21st August 1981 and 21st – 23rd September 1993, with four at the Castlemartin ranges on the 23rd September 1999. The majority were specified by the observers as being juvenile birds.

A very late Dotterel was seen associating with Golden Plovers at the Castlemartin ranges on the 13th December 1998.

Graham Rees

Dotterel - 2012 status

Scarce visitor

The Dotterel breeds on extensive open flat uplands, mountain ridges and plateaux, with sparse vegetation of moss, short grass or lichens and bare patches of rock, in tundra and alpine zones across the northern Palearctic, as far south as the highest mountains in Scotland. Winter quarters are in the semi-arid belt of the Middle East and North Africa, with a few in Spain.

Mathew (1894) recorded one Dotterel, Lockley et al (1949) none and Donovan and Rees (1994) noted occurrences on seven occasions in spring and on 21 in autumn.

In Pembrokeshire Dotterels have been found in open treeless areas with bare ground interspersed with short heavily grazed or saline vegetation, or heathland, or on fallow or newly ploughed agricultural land. Localities were on the islands of Skokholm, Skomer and Ramsey, in coastal areas at St Govan’s Head, Castle Martin ranges, Dale, St Ann’s Head, Kete, Dale airfield and St David’s airfield and inland at Plumstone Mountain, “Preseli Top” (Foel Eryr), Foel Cwmcerwyn and Dinas Mountain (Bedd Morris).  

Graham Rees

Curlew Sandpiper - 2012

Scarce visitor.

Curlew Sandpipers breed on the tundra across arctic Siberia, ranging at other seasons to Europe and Africa. Those in the western sector migrate to winter in southern Europe and western Africa and it is birds from this population which occur on passage in the UK. The number involved varies. In summers when the Lemming population on the tundra is high, wader productivity tends to be high as predators like Arctic Foxes concentrate on the easily obtained rodents, to the benefit of the birds. However weather with predominantly easterly winds that drifts migrant Curlew Sandpipers west of their normal course is required to displace them as far as the UK in any number. The infrequency of the combination of these factors occurring at the appropriate time results in high totals being erratically recorded in Pembrokeshire.

Mathew (1894) stated that the Curlew Sandpiper was an autumn visitor but Lockley et al. (1949) knew of only two occurrences. Donovan and Rees (1994) considered it almost annual in occurrence in autumn but only occasional in the spring.

One to five birds per autumn were put on record in 13 years between 1894 and 1980 also 13 in 1963, when there were few active observers in the county. Observer cover was sufficient thereafter for records to be considered representative of occurrences and this is shown graphically.

Records fell between the 15th July and 31st October, peaking in September when mostly juveniles reported. Peak county numbers of over 20 birds occurred in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996 and 1999, the 1996 incursion being unprecedented in scale, with a total of at least 112 birds accounted for, the site maxima being 26 at the Nevern Estuary on the 29th September, 28 at Carew Mill Pond on the 26th September and 29 at Angle Bay on the 22nd September. Curlew Sandpipers were reported from the estuaries of the Teifi, Nevern and Cleddau (many sites as far upstream as Hook Reach), from the islands of Ramsey and Skokholm, from Dale airfield and Blucks Pool.    

Curlew Sandpipers were recorded in 21 years in springtime, between 1959 and 2012. Extreme dates were 16th March and 29th June, with 52% occurring in May. All were single birds apart from 2 at Skokholm on the 16th March 1959 and 2 at Angle Bay on the 13th May 2001.  

The only winter record was of one at Pembroke on the 9th December 1919.

Graham Rees

Little Stint - 2012

Scarce passage migrant and rare winter visitor.

Little Stints breed on the tundra from northern Scandinavia to eastern Siberia. Those in the western sector migrate on a broad front to winter in southern Europe and Africa and it is birds from this population which occur on passage in the UK. The number involved varies. In summers when the Lemming population on the tundra is high wader productivity tends to be high as predators like Arctic Foxes concentrate on the easily obtained rodents, to the benefit of the birds. However weather with predominantly easterly winds that drifts migrant Little Stints west of their normal course is required to displace them as far as the UK in any number. The infrequency of the combination of these factors occurring at the appropriate time results in high totals being erratically recorded in Pembrokeshire.

Both Mathew (1894) and Lockley et al. (1949) described the Little Stint as an occasional autumn visitor to Pembrokeshire. Donovan and Rees (1994) assessed it as principally a scarce autumn visitor the majority seen in September but also as infrequently recorded in the spring and rare in winter.

A total of 40 birds were recorded in Pembrokeshire between 1911 and 1982 being noted in 16 of those years. This was likely to have been an under representation due to the paucity of observers over that period. This is perhaps emphasized by only 5 being recorded in 1960 when at least 3,000 were noted in the UK, over 300 of them in Wales. However, observer cover was sufficiently widespread in the county to present representative autumn returns for the years 1983 – 2012:

Mostly autumn totals lay between one and 14 but there were notable influxes in 1993 when 220 were recorded in Wales, 36 of them in Pembrokeshire, and in 1996 at least 172 were noted in the county, over 600 being accounted for in Wales as a whole. They have been noted in autumn from the 14th July to the 21st November but the bulk of occurrences have been in September, when juveniles have predominated.

Small numbers of Little Stints over winter in southern Britain as may have singles at Milford on the 20th January 1963, at the Gann from the 11th November to the 13th December 1969 and Lawrenny on the 30th January 1993, 2 at the Gann on the 6th February 1977 and 10 at Fishguard Harbour on the 14th January 1929.

Single Little Stints have been recorded in spring in nine years, between the 27th April and the 27th May, with two together at the Nevern Estuary on the 5th June 2005.

Little Stints have been seen in most coastal districts including the main offshore islands, with just one inland record at Llys y fran Reservoir on the 20th August 1996. The largest concentrations have been on the estuaries of the Teifi, Nevern and Cleddau, the maximum at one site being 34 at Angle Bay on the 22nd September 1996. They have also been seen on pools on the islands, by puddles at Dale airfield and on beaches at Newgale, Broad Haven (N) and Broad Haven (S).

Graham Rees

Corncrake – post breeding era

The Corncrake still has a breeding range that stretches across the Palearctic from Siberia to Britain and Ireland but there has been a marked decline in numbers, especially in northern and western parts of Europe, the result of changing farming practices, Along the western edge of its range it is now confined to a limited number breeding, with about 1200 territory holding males in Scotland by 2009.

From the early 1980s onwards the Corncrake in Pembrokeshire had become a less and less frequent migrant visitor, briefly stopping off en route from African wintering grounds to northern breeding localities. The graph indicates how few have been recorded and indicates a trend towards less frequent occurrence. Notably none were reported from farmland.

Historic records show that Corncrakes have appeared as early as the 14th of March and stayed on as late as the 10th of December. Passage times since the cessation of breeding have been from the 24th of April to the 3rd of June and from the 27th of July to the 1st of November.

Stuart Devonald became fatally ill before completing the account for Corncrakes in Pembrokeshire. Graham Rees, who discussed the subject with him on many occasions, has completed the process and hopes the result will stand as a small memorial to Stuart’s input to the ornithology of Pembrokeshire.

Corncrake - breeding

Formerly a common and widespread breeding summer visitor to Pembrokeshire, as noted by George Owen in 1603 and Murray Mathew in 1894, the Corncrake has subsequently decreased and then disappeared as a nesting species.

The decline in the breeding population was underway by the beginning of the 20th century, accelerating after World War II when the introduction of mechanical mowers and the application of drainage and fertilisers permitted early cropping of hay, all of which resulted in low chick survival. The later widespread conversion from hay to silage further made farmland no longer suitable habitat for nesting Corncrakes.

Lockley et al. (1949) noted a decline in numbers from about 1916. B. Lloyd still found them in widespread localities in 1927, noting that at that time they were commoner in Pembrokeshire than they were in south-east England where the decline had set in earlier. By 1930 he noted that they were decreasing, only one or two being recorded each year, usually in September, with about equal frequency from the islands of Skokholm and Skomer and mainland sites such as Carreg Wasted, Llangloffan Fen and Pwllcrochan.

The decline continued, though K. J. S. Devonald could still encounter them around St Ishmaels in the late 1940’s and early 1950s, hearing them calling in the fields and becoming exposed at hay making time.

Nesting became increasingly sporadic: four or five clutches were revealed during silage cutting at Thomas Chapel in May 1962, from which the farmers reared three young that were released at Dale airfield. They were present in the breeding season at Uzmaston in 1965 and 1966 and at Pembroke in 1973. The BTO breeding bird atlas for 1968-72 noted confirmed breeding in 10Km squares SS 1090 and SN 1000, probable breeding in SN 1010 and SN 0040, with possible breeding in SN 0030 and SM 7020. No subsequent records have suggested breeding.

Stuart Devonald became fatally ill before completing the account for Corncrakes in Pembrokeshire. Graham Rees, who discussed the subject with him on many occasions, has completed the process and hopes the result will stand as a small memorial to Stuart’s input to the ornithology of Pembrokeshire.

Spoonbill - 2011 status

Platalea leucorodia

Near annual visitor in small numbers.

The Spoonbill has a wide breeding range in the Palearctic, those from northern Europe tending to winter in the west of Africa.

George Owen (1603) noted that the Spoonbill bred in Pembrokeshire during the Elizabethan era, but by Mathew’s (1894) time it was “an occasional visitor in the winter; not very rare, sometimes arriving in flocks”, of up to seven at a time. Lockley et al (1949) added four additional records of up to three birds. Donovan and Rees (1994) noted occurrences of one or two birds at a time in 12 years between 1949 and 1993.

 

Plotting the number of dated individuals present each month seems to indicate passage from March to June and from September to December, but some birds staying through the winter and to a lesser degree through the summer results in no sharp seasonal divisions.

Occurrences post Donovan and Rees (1994) have involved either single birds or two together, except in 2005, when a group of 11 juvenile birds were seen resting on the salt marsh at Uzmaston on the morning of the 18th September. They departed northwards half an hour later and presumably the same birds were involved when 12 settled in the Nevern Estuary that afternoon. This group included two which had been colour ringed as nestlings in Holland, were seen in Gwent prior to arrival in Pembrokeshire and by October had moved on to County Mayo in Ireland.

Spoonbill – habitat

The Spoonbill frequents wet areas such as flooded lands, marshes and water bodies. In Pembrokeshire this has included ponds at Skokholm, Skomer, Marloes Mere, Mullock Marsh and Dowrog,

In the winter it also occurs in sheltered coastal habitats, tidal creeks, estuaries and coastal lagoons, locally at Fishguard Harbour, the Teifi and Nevern estuaries and within the extensive Cleddau Estuary at the Gann, Sandy Haven, Angle Bay, Pembroke River, Castle Pill, Llanstadwell, Pembroke Dock, Carew/Cresswell, Uzmaston, Picton Ferry and Slebech.

Spoonbill – origins

A total of seven nestlings colour ringed in Holland were recorded in Pembrokeshire during their first autumn, between the years 1974 and 2007. A Dutch colour ringed bird in adult plumage was seen at Skomer on the 11th May 1992.

Over 2,000 pairs were breeding in Holland by 2011 and this population might well account for all modern Pembrokeshire records.