White-fronted Goose - 2018

Scarce winter visitor and passage migrant.

All records relate to birds of the Greenland race A.a. flavirostris: seven at Marloes Mere 26th Oct, presumably the same as at Dale Airfield 29th Oct, one of which was sporting a neck collar – put on at Wexford in March 2003. 14 at Trevine Common 26th Oct – 16th Nov.

From the Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2018

Tony Fox confirmed the bird at the airfield was CDZ, as seen by Brian and Paul G on Sunday. Tony gave a bit more of his biography and sightings:

This was first autumn male we caught at a place called Hvanneyri in west Iceland on 23 September 2017.  This site is the home of the Agricultural University of Iceland where they maintain a large area of hayfields adjacent to natural wetlands which are a magnet for the White-fronted Geese in both spring and autumn when they pass through.  We are not entirely sure of his parents, as he associated with two other collared individuals V3Y and a bird fitted with a telemetry collar (both adult females when they were caught in the same catch), as well as a unmarked adult that obviously escaped capture on that occasion whilst in Iceland following capture.  You will see on the attached list of all resightings of marked Greenland White-fronted Geese away from Wexford (where the vast majority are marked and resighted) your bird wintered last year on Wexford Slobs (as do many of the geese that stage in Hvanneyri), where it was also seen with the same marked/unmarked associates.  Interestingly, CDZ was not seen at Hvanneyri this autumn, which is somewhat unusual, since as well as being incredibly site loyal to their winter quarters, these geese also tend to use the same spring and autumn staging areas in successive seasons.

Andrew Simms, Pembs Bird Blog

Grey Partridge - historical

Ice Age

Bones of Grey Partridge, dating to just before and just after the maximum of the Last Glaciation, 22,000 years ago, have been discovered at two caves in Pembrokeshire: Hoyle's Mouth and Little Hoyle.

Eastham A. (2016) Goosey goosey Gander with Jemima Shelduck in attendance: two Stone Age occupation caves in South Pembrokeshire. Pembrokeshire Historical Society.

17th Century - Owen listed it as breeding in his 'Description of Pembrokeshire (1603).

In 1889 1,273 birds were shot at Stackpole Court (Matheson 190)

The following records and comments collected by GHR and transcribed from his files.

1889 - 80 shot Stackpole Estate, (Box I-239)

1890 - 101 shot Stackpole Estate, (Box I-239)

1908 - "I seen a P on the watering, the first I have seen on the island" Diary of Ivor Arnold, vide R.Howe11s,1968

1924 - Caldey: "An occasional covey is met with, but the bird is not a permanent resident. Attempts have been made to reintroduce it from time to time, but have failed through the neamess of the mainland, to which the birds are apt to fly if disturbed, when they fail to return."  Wintle 1924.

The following (1925-35) are extracts from Bertram Lloyd's diaries: 

1925 - 25 Dec. 3, Pennar Farm;  "seen" Litt1e Haven, 1 July

1927 - 13, Jan: "On the moors above Newport(at about 600 ft.) a flock of 6 not a common bird here, for these are the first I've seen in a month"

However, several near St, David' s, 17, 18 & 27, Feb.  21 June: "Some near Treglemais."

1928 - 20 May: "Scanty here, A pair near Kilpaison" (NB probably 'here' refers to a visit to the Angle area)

1929 - 18 May: A few about, Castle Martin area, more pairs in Stackpole and district owing to Lord Cawdor's game preserving habits.

1929 - 30, May: A few seen around St, David's as usual.

1930 - 28 April: Angle Bay: A good many pairs about; seemingly much commoner in the district than of yore, I've noticed,"

1930 - 8 July: "Pair with newly hatched chicks,on cliffs near Jefferston Wells,

1935 - 11 Sept: 3 near Hayscastle, were the first I've seen anywhere during this tour.  A pretty uncommon species in the county.

1947 - Common resident in Parish of Dale up to 1934, nearly extint after the Feb/Mar 1947 frost (Barrett, 1959)

1956 - Caldey: Attempts to introduce this species have failed as the birds invariably fly back to the adjacent mainland, stray coveys are occasionally seen however. B.L.Sage, Nature in Wales Vol 2, No 4

1963 - 10, Little Haven, 14 , Dec, Nature in Wales Vol 9, No 1

1965 - 1 Ramsey 29 Apl, Nature in Wales Vol 9, No 1

1965 - Pair present, Terfwrdan Isaf, nr Nevern, Mar-April "This species is far less common in Pembs than previously" Margaret Patterson, Nature in Wales Vol 9, No 3

1970 - 2, Stackpole ca 1970 (H.Garlide)

1970 - Bred at Rhosddu, Crymych, 1970 & 1971 (M A Bowen)

1971 - 24 May, Hodgeston Pembs, 2 together in lane, H E Grenfell

1971 - Max 18 wintered Moylegrove Farm Sept (Margaret Patterseon)

1976 - Resident Breeder.  Decreased since Mathrew's time.  Saunders 1976

Red Grouse - historical

Ice Age

Bones of Red/Willow Grouse, dating to just before and just after the maximum of the Last Glaciation, 22,000 years ago, have been discovered at two caves in Pembrokeshire: Hoyle's Mouth and Little Hoyle.

Eastham A. (2016) Goosey goosey Gander with Jemima Shelduck in attendance: two Stone Age occupation caves in South Pembrokeshire. Pembrokeshire Historical Society.

The following records and comments collected by GHR and transcribed from his files:

1955 J.G.Stewart—Peter reports up to 3 about Preseli top occasionally since Dec, 1952, but does not think they breed there.  Nature in Wales, Vol 1, No1

1975 1, Ramsey, 15th Oct.  Nature in Wales, Vol 15, No 3

1976 "Vagrant, The Red Grouse formerly occurred on the Preseli Hills, but the heather moor which these birds require is now too highly grazed and fragmented by forestry plantations for more than casual wanderers to survive."  Saunders, 1976,

Rookeries survey 2013/2014

In 2011/12 it was commented on by several observers that some rookeries had either disappeared, or declined considerably in parts of Pembrokeshire.  In 2013 and 2014 birdwatchers were asked to count the nests in any rookeries they came across in the county.  No attempt was made to find all rookeries, or to visit all tetrads where rookeries had previously been recorded.

A minimum of 3,776 apparently occupied rook nests was recorded in 2013/14 from 138 rookeries surveyed. The largest rookery (at Dale) contained 178 apparently occupied nests (AON). The average rookery size was 27 AON.

Rookeries were recorded within 110 tetrads, which represented about 50% of the tetrads where rookeries were found during the 2003-07 Pembrokeshire breeding birds atlas survey (Rees et al. 2009). During the 2013/14 survey, rookeries were recorded from an additional nine tetrads where there was no evidence of breeding reported during the 2003-07 atlas survey period. However, all bar one of these had previously been confirmed to have breeding rooks in the first Pembrokeshire breeding atlas survey (1984-88) (Donovan & Rees, 1994).

At least fourteen rookeries were found to have 'disappeared'. These had ranged in size from 9 to 102 AON in a census of south Pembrokeshire rookeries undertaken in 1996 (Little and Level 1996). No alternative sites were found in the vicinity of these rookeries in 2013/14, although there was anecdotal evidence of two of them having attempted to relocate in the five years subsequent to their last being occupied.

If the population of 3,776 AON, from about 50% of the tetrads with confirmed breeding rooks in 2003-07, is a typical of the population across the remaining 50% of un-surveyed tetrads in 2013/14, then a total county population of at least 7,550 AON is possible. This assumes that the average rookery size in the un-recorded parts (e.g. in the northeast) is similar to that for the surveyed rookeries in the remainder of the county.  

Data from three previous censuses of the rook population (a BTO census of 1944-46, a Dyfed Wildlife Trust census of 1971 and a BTO census of 1975/76) suggested a population of between 8,000 and 10,000 pairs. Limited local surveys conducted over a period of 15 years in the 1980’s and 1990’s showed fluctuations in annual totals but stability overall. It was suggested that the population was still likely to be in this range in 2003-07 (Rees et al. 2009). Data from the 2013/2014 survey suggests a population closer to the lower estimate.

Orange squares show tetrads where rookeries were recorded in the 2003-07 atlas

Black circles show rookeries counted in 2013-14

Yellowhammer - breeding atlas change map

Orange = distribution in 1984-88 survey

Large dots = confirmed breeding 2003-07

Medium dots = probable breeding 2003-07

Small dots = possible breeding 2003-07

Percentage change = 50% reduction

Pectoral Sandpiper - 1950

One at the Gann, 11 August 1950.  (Barrett, 1959)

Little Grebe - 1936 Breeding

Extracts from the diaries of Bertram Lloyd, 1936.

14th March: 1 Llanbed Pools, Mathry

26 June:  L1anbed Pools, "We saw 2 well grown young persistently uttering the peep—peep hunger call, though for an hour or more left by their parents, Later we saw one parent feeding a young bird. The parents were particularly furtive here, apparently avoiding the open parts of the not very large pond by Lambed farm. This is the first sight have ever had of nesting Little Grebes in the county and possibly this was the first nesting pair—though I have never been at this pond before in the breeding season."

5 July "now well grown."

Curlew - 2019 WeBS

It has been well-reported that the curlew is a declining species on a Europe-wide level, to the point that in 2008 it was upgraded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources to near-threatened status (BTO, 2008). Analyses of the European breeding population suggest that it declined by 24% during the 1990s, with further declines in at least the UK breeding population since 2000.  In Pembrokeshire, it still attempts to breed on Skomer, but has been lost elsewhere.

The curlew is better-known here as a wintering species, but even so, there is a downward trend in numbers.

Mid-winter (November to February) counts show a steady decline since the mid-1990s when up to 1500 were counted on the Cleddau Estuary, and up to five hundred on other sites in the county, most notably the Nevern Estuary in the north, and Castlemartin Corse/Freshwater West in the south.  The latter birds may also commute to and from the estuary. 

The slow decline on the Cleddau estuary system is matched by a similar decline on the Burry Inlet.

However, the mid-winter counts tell only part of the story. 

 

As the wintering numbers started to fall, the migration numbers shot up.  The maximum counts made in July-August on the Cleddau Estuary used to be similar to those in mid-winter, but with few birds present in September as the waves of migrants has passed through.  Since the late 1990s, there have been about two to three times as many birds on migration as in mid-winter.  But even these are now declining, so that the Cleddau Estuary is no longer of national importance for its curlew population at any time of year.

(This may change when the next round of threshold levels are published) 

No counts were undertaken in August and September between 1990 and 1993.  June-July (and occasionally August) counts since then have been compiled by Jane Hodges while doing an annual breeding shelduck census on the estuary for the PCNPA.  All other counts have been done as part of the Wetland Bird Survey (formerly Birds of the Estuaries Enquiry) by a dedicated team of volunteers.

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Haycock A (2019). A review of the status of wetland birds in the Milford Haven Waterway and Daugleddau Estuary, 2019. A report to the Milford Haven Waterway Environmental Surveillance Group.

Baird's Sandpiper - 2018

Two at the Gann from 13-16 September.  This is the only Welsh record of more than a single bird.

Red-breasted Merganser - Breeding records

1995 - Female noted at the Gann 18 June.  Reappeared on 6-7 July with 2 large flightless young (GHR et al), the first breeding recorded in Pembs. 

2005 - Female with 4 ducklings Eastern Cleddau, 24 June

Records from Pembrokeshire Bird Reports for those years.

Common Scoter - 2010 ringing recoveries

"Sea Empress" scoter ringing recoveries - what have we learned so far?

Back in those dark days of Feb 1996, some 4,571 common scoters were found dead/dying in and around Carmarthen Bay as a direct result of the "Sea Empress" oil spill. However many oiled scoter were rescued, cleaned and released, even though the sceptics said it was a waste of time - they were unlikely to survive long.

Back in 1996, next to nothing was known of the origins of scoter wintering in the Bay. By ringing the cleaned birds (later released from rehab centres in cleaner waters off the Welsh coast and in southern England) it was hoped that at least something positive would come out of this disaster. So what have we learned so far?

About 70 scoters were recovered shortly after being released around the coast of south-west Wales and southern England. But one unlucky victim was oiled again by the "Tricolor" spill off the Dutch coast in late January 2003 having survived seven years after release (this one was among 60 scoters found oiled).

Now, almost 14 years on, it is interesting to note that there have been three "Sea Empress"-ringed scoter recoveries in Russia (one west of the Urals and two further east in the province of Yamalo-nenets) the most recent of these being found (shot) in June 2009 - thirteen years after being cleaned and then released.

So all the effort put in by volunteers in Milford Haven and around West Wales and elsewhere, to try and help these birds recover from their ordeal, was certainly worth it. More information on the BTO ringing blog from where the following map was borrowed.

Bob Haycock, Pembrokeshire Bird Blog

Common Rosefinch - 2015 Skokholm

Carpodacus erythrinus Llinos Goch

Rare 24 previous records including 11 in spring and all singles except for three on 11th October 2001

Earliest 3rd May 1970 (11th June 2015) Latest 12th October 1995

1 trapped

1936-1976: 4 trapped, 2011-2014: 4 trapped, 1 retrapped

A brown bird found outside of the Cottage on 11th June was the first spring record since 2013 and maintained the annual status of a species which has been logged in each of the last five years (RDB, GE); there were recent singles between the 5th and 10th September 2014, on 8th June 2013, between the 27th and 29th August 2012 and between the 2nd and 11th September 2011. Prior to these the most recent record was on 25th May 2003. Interestingly the last three spring records have all been one day birds whereas the last three autumn records have all lingered. This year’s bird was subsequently trapped in the Wheelhouse Heligoland and became the fifth to be ringed in five years, one more than marked during the first incarnation of Skokholm Bird Observatory.

Photos on Skokholm blog

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Skokholm Bird Observatory Annual Report 2015 (Richard Brown & Giselle Eagle)