00:20, 10 MAY 2016
Bird Notes columnist Julian
Hughes of RSPB Conwy reveals what birds have been spotted in the past week and
where to go birding in the coming days
Tony White
The Continental airflow that
brought warm, humid weather over the weekend also brought rare birds from
south-eastern Europe, and beyond.
The most remarkable was a
Dalmatian Pelican found in Cornwall on Sunday, potentially the first wild one
in Britain. But North Wales didn’t miss out.
Several Woodchat Shrikes were
scattered across southern Britain, with one turning up in bushes west of Cemlyn
Bay on Anglesey.
Woodchats are uncommon in North
Wales, though seem to be arriving with increasing frequency. Nonetheless,
finding one must be a heart-stopping moment.
A putative Black-headed Wagtail
was found on the River
Clwyd at Rhuddlan on
Sunday, though these are notoriously difficult to identify with certainty since
“yellow” wagtails hybridise frequently.
Remarkably, given there have only
been four records ever in Wales, another Black-headed Wagtail was found in
Pembrokeshire earlier in the day.
And late on Monday afternoon, an
Eastern Subalpine Warbler was found on Bardsey, the same day that Turtle Dove
was spotted there, sadly a sight all too rare in Wales now.
What else is around at the
moment?
A White Stork remains on a farm
near Caernarfon for
its third week; the farmer reports he sees it regularly from his tractor!
RSPB Conwy recorded
some scarce visitors last week, with a pair of Garganey for several days (the
male was still there on Sunday) and the reserve’s first ever Wood Warbler.
A couple of Spotted Flycatchers
and Whinchats here coincided with their arrival across North Wales.
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