Hundreds of dead birds found in mystery mass death

11 December 2019

Hundreds of birds found dead on a north Wales road are to be tested to discover how they died.

About 225 starlings were discovered with blood on their bodies in a lane on Anglesey, North Wales Police said.

Dafydd Edwards, whose partner found the birds, said it was as if "they had dropped down dead from the sky".

The Animal and Plant Health Agency has collected them for testing and will examine whether they could have been poisoned.

North Wales Police said it was investigating the "very strange" discovery and has appealed for information.

"We don't know how it has happened," said PC Dewi Evans.

Mr Edwards, 41, said his partner Hannah Stevens first saw the birds alive as she went to an appointment on Tuesday afternoon.

"She said she saw hundreds of them flying over and thought it looked amazing but on her way back around an hour later they were all dead in the road.

Ms Stevens reported seeing the birds eating something in the road.

"I counted 150 last night but I gave up as there's just hundreds of them littered everywhere.

"It's as if they just dropped down dead from the sky."

A spokesman for the RSPB said: "This is obviously very concerning for us and we will await the test results.

"It would be inappropriate for us to speculate as to how they have died."

Source

Spanish weather brings first ever Iberian Chiffchaff to North Wales

Bird Notes columnist Julian Hughes of RSPB Cymru reveals what birds have been spotted in the past week and list no fewer than 22 upcoming wildlife events

Andrew ForgraveRural Affairs Editor

11:55, 23 APR 2019

Sharp-eared birder Robin Sandham found North Wales’ first Iberian Chiffchaff while he cycled through forestry near Penmachno last week.

Although unable to see the bird, sharing a recording of its song on social media enabled speedy confirmation of the identification, and over the coming days other birdwatchers saw and photographed it.

With only subtle plumage differences from the millions of Common Chiffchaffs currently singing across Britain, it was recognised as a separate species less than 100 years ago.

Although numbers reaching Britain have increased markedly since the turn of the century, this is only the fourth recorded in Wales; remarkably, a pair raised seven young in Gower in 2015.

Continued

Swallows and Sand Martins arrive in North Wales weeks ahead of schedule

Bird Notes columnist Julian Hughes of RSPB Cymru reveals what birds have been spotted in the past week and lists 13 upcoming wildlife events

By  Andrew Forgrave Rural Affairs Editor

23:16, 18 FEB 2019

This week’s plume of warm air, originating in the Sahara Desert, looks set to bring early migrant birds to Wales.

A Swallow feeding last Friday over gardens in Morfa Bychan, near Porthmadog , was exceptionally early, almost a month earlier than the first records in 2018, when arrival was delayed by bad weather in Spain and the “Beast from the East”.

Further Swallows were spotted across the UK over the weekend.

Friday’s Swallow was followed by the first Sand Martin in North Wales on Saturday at Morfa Nefyn , joint earliest in Britain this year, along with one at New Brighton in north Wirral.

Sand Martins are usually mid-March arrivals, while House Martins typically get to North Wales in the first days of April, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one is reported here this week; several House Martins were seen in southern England over the weekend, with two making it as far as northern Scotland.

These early arrivals will need to track down early-emerging flying insects, so the best place to look is over freshwater pools where non-biting midges hatch from the water.

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What seabirds can tell us about the tide

Date:  November 29, 2018

Source:  European Geosciences Union

When the UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) set out to tag razorbills, their aim was to track their behaviour and movements along the coast of North Wales. The tag data revealed that, at night, these seabirds spent a lot of their time idle on the sea surface. "We saw this as an opportunity to re-use the data and test if the birds might be drifting with the tidal current," says Matt Cooper, a Master of Oceanography graduate from Bangor University in Wales. It turns out they were, according to a new study led by Cooper that shows the potential of using seabirds to measure ocean currents. The results are published today in the European Geosciences Union journal Ocean Science.

Using seabirds to tell us about the tide could be especially useful for the marine renewable energy industry. Generating tidal energy requires detailed knowledge of current speeds. Scientists and engineers traditionally measure tides by using radar or deploying anchors and buoys with scientific instruments. However, these scouting methods are challenging and expensive. If tagged seabirds could provide tidal data over a large area, they could help identify sites that would be good sources of tidal energy.

Read on 

Bird Notes: North Wales firecrest sightings on the increase

13:20, 3 NOV 2015

BY JULIAN HUGHES

RSPB Conwy's Julian Hughes reveals what birds have been spotted over the week and where to go birding this week

Weighing just six grammes (one-fifth of an ounce), reports of Firecrests stepped up a gear this week: at least eight were on the Great Orme, five at RSPB Conwy, three on Bardsey and singles at Anglesey’s Breakwater Country Park and Church Bay, and on the Little Orme.

There must be many more, so if you hear high-pitched squeaking from a bush or tree, it’s worth a closer look.

I’ve heard Chiffchaffs singing this week, which often happens when summer visitors stay beyond their autumn moult. Much rarer are Siberian Chiffchaffs, seen on Bardsey and theGreat Orme, which also each hosted a Yellow-browed Warbler.

Two Bitterns are at Anglesey’s RSPB Valley Wetlands, along with a Short-eared Owl, one of several seen this week.

The most impressive count was from Bardsey where 19 owls were counted. Hen Harriers flew in off the sea at North Stack and the Little Orme, perhaps from the successful Isle of Man population.

Read on …

Rare little terns site at Gronant sees 77 chicks fledge

5 September 2014 Last updated at 11:36

A rare seabird colony on a north Wales beach has seen its highest number of chicks for four years.

The sand and shingle dunes at the Gronant on the Dee Estuary host Wales' only breeding colony of little terns.

The site, near Prestatyn, produced 77 fledglings from 128 pairs this year, the most since 2010.

Denbighshire council said increased volunteer warden patrols had helped keep down human disturbance and predators such as foxes and kestrels.

The birds, which feed on sand eels, make the 4,000-mile (6,500 km) trip from west Africa in order to nest on the shingle ridge, amongst the sand dunes in Gronant.

A five-year EU partnership aims to make sure the bird has a long-term recovery in Wales.

Two years ago Denbighshire council put up a one-and-a-half mile (2.5 km) fence which is electrified at night to protect the birds from foxes.

In addition to natural predators, the birds also face loss of habitat through development as well as winter storms.

Continued ...

Peregrines found dead

Section Community | Published on 28 Jul 2014

Police and the RSPB are appealing for information after four peregrines were found dead.

The birds were found on their nest at a quarry in Dyffryn Nantlle. The peregrines were last seen alive on Thursday, 3rd July, and they were discovered dead on Thursday, 10th July.

PC Dewi Evans explained: “The nest is situated high up on a very steep cliff and it has not been possible to recover the bodies.

“From the photograph it appears that one of the four is an adult, with the other three being chicks, which were only a week or so away from fledgling.

“According to the RSPB it would be highly unusual for the four to die, and foul play is highly probable."

Simon Hugheston-Roberts from RSPB Cymru said: “We have had a number of incidents of peregrine falcons being illegally persecuted in North Wales. The circumstances are highly suspicious and we are concerned that perhaps poisoned bait has been brought back to the nest by one of the parents resulting in the tragic death of all four birds.

"We would urge anyone with information about this or similar incidents to contact North Wales Police.”

Anyone who may have information relating to the death of the birds is asked to call PC Evans on 101 quoting reference R105499.

Source...

Emu escapes! Runaway bird Zig on the loose after disappearing from home

Jul 24, 2014 11:07

By Eryl Crump

Zig the emu went missing from his North Wales home while his owners were out

The search is on for an emu called Zig after it escaped from its home.

The bird is one of a pair hatched from eggs which made an unusual birthday present from Lindsey Wright to her husband Peter.

Both Zig and Zag disappeared from their remote Llangywer home in North Wales on Monday while the family was out.

Although Zag showed up at a neighbour's house on Tuesday her brother is still at large and his owners are hunting for him.

Mrs Wright thinks the emus had been missing for three hours when the family discovered they were gone at about 6.30pm on Monday.

They searched all evening without success, but had more luck the following morning.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/emu-escapes-runaway-bird-zig-3905467#ixzz38b1lwkZ9

Bird notes: Sandwich tern numbers on the up at Cemlyn reserve

Most of us have forgotten the incessant storms of last winter, but seabird enthusiasts will remember the thousands of seabirds washed up dead onto beaches in France, Wales and England.

It will be several years before the population effects will be known, because the birds killed may not yet have been old enough to breed. 

However, early counts on Skokholm in Pembrokeshire indicate lower numbers of Razorbills, with Guillemots also down.

Wardens at North Wales Wildlife Trust’s Cemlyn reserve were also counting nesting seabirds at the weekend.

They found 2,567 pairs of Sandwich Terns, a 19% increase at Wales’ only colony. These birds were in west Africa when the Atlantic storms hit Europe.

The survey also found 73 Common Tern, 36 Arctic Tern and 370 Black-headed Gull nests, and a single Roseate Tern.

Continued

Bird notes: Birdwatchers take over Twitter in protest against hunting

May 01, 2014 14:10

By North Wales Daily Post

Julian Hughes explains why birdwatchers have been taking to social media as well as providing an overall round up from North Wales

Birdwatchers took over Twitter last Friday to protest about the illegal hunting of spring migrant birds in Malta.

They did it again on Saturday when TV naturalist Chris Packham was questioned by Maltese police for five hours about his videos of the massacre.

The #freechrispackham hashtag was trending at number one, the latest example of birders using social media to make their voices heard.

Two Welsh MEPs have called on the EC to act against the flouting of bird protection laws.

Elsewhere, two garganeys are in a flooded field along the road to South Stack; others graced the new Llyn Fens near Nefyn and Aberdysynni’s Broad Water.

Our smallest duck, these summer migrants seem to be turning up less frequently in North Wales in recent years;

Whimbrels are heading north in small groups: 10 at Rhoscolyn, 28 at Rhosneigr, and an impressive group of 51 at Aberdysynni.

There was an arrival of Whinchats on Monday, with birds at RSPB Conwy and Gronant, and Tree Pipits at Gronant, the Great Orme, Bangor Mountain and Bardsey.

Bardsey bird observatory also recorded Black Guillemot, Iceland Gull and Hooded Crow.

Continued

Work starts to protect rare little terns at Gronant

Work is under way to protect one of the UK's rarest seabirds.

Little terns breed on a shingle beach in north Wales, they return each April from Africa to nest at the Gronant dunes on the Dee estuary but there is a warning the birds are threatened by climate change.

A five-year EU partnership aims to make sure the bird has a long-term recovery in Wales.

Beach visitors, in particular, are being urged to give the birds space.

The RSPB says other UK little tern colonies - on the Tees and in Lincolnshire - have already been lost because of changes to the UK coastline, and predictions of increased coastal flooding and sea level rises could spell further disaster for these elegant tiny seabirds.

Colin Wells, site manager for the RSPB on the Dee Estuary Reserve has helped erect and maintain a predator exclusion fence, and monitor breeding numbers at Gronant.

Continued

Unusual redshank seen in North Wales

Leucistic redshankDennis Bannister

February 2013. One of our readers, Dennis Bannister, recently sent us this unusual looking redshank that he spotted in North Wales. 

Leucism (or Leukism)
Leucism is a very unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. This can result in unusual white patches appearing on the animal, or, more rarely, completely white creatures.

Albinism is a different condition. The easiest way to tell the difference between the two is that in albinism the eyes are usually pink or red, and albinism affects the entire animal, not just patches.

This occassionaly causes very excited biologists to think they have discovered a new species, when in fact leucism is the cause of the unusual markings they have seen.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/redshank-wales.html

Desert wheatear also in North Wales

A desert wheatear was spotted in North Wales in October- Photo courtesy of Dennis Bannister.

A rare avian species to the UK is spotted beside RSPB nature reserve

December 2012. After last weeks sighting of a Desert wheatear in Scotland by staff at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg, another (or possibly the same one?) has been reported in Rhyll in North Wales (in Ocober). The desert wheatear, an old world flycatcher, is believed to have become lost travelling to the Sahara desert.

This image was sent to us by Dennis Bannister and we believe it was taken at the end of October. 

The desert wheatear

The desert wheatear (Oenanthe deserti), thought to be a female, or less likely a juvenile, is the same size as a robin with distinctive all black upper tail feathers. Males are buff in colour with white underparts and females have a greyer colour with buffer appearance below.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/desert-wheatear2.html