How the Vulture lost it's head and other Wildlife tales from Zululand

This week at Bangor Birdgroup Tarik Bodasing will be talking about "How the Vulture lost it's head and other Wildlife tales from Zululand".

Tarik recently moved to the UK from South Africa after marrying a Welsh Girl. He was eased gently into to his first British Summertime with a two month heatwave, which was quite handy as he was working as one of the Cemlyn Tern wardens who normally have to withstand the wind and rain of a typical Welsh Summer, whilst standing on the shingle ridge.

Prior to moving to the UK he worked as a South African Wildlife Ecologist in Zululand, and this Wednesday he will be telling us some of his Wildlife tales. One not to miss!

At Bangor Bird-group we meet on Wednesday nights in the University of Bangor Brambell Building, Deiniol road opposite Asda just down from the Train Station. Costs are £2 per meeting (non members), or even better join as a member. Membership costs are as follows- Waged = £15, £12 for concessions and free for Bangor University students. 

Not bad for 22 talks!

Doors open at 7 for a 7.30 pm start. Talks last for around 1 hour. All members of the public are welcome. 

Bangor Bird Group is back!

  The 2018-19 Bangor bird-group season starts again on the 3^rd October. Ian Hawkins, RSPB site manager for Cors Ddryga will be talking about his trip to New Zealand. He was in search of the birds and wildlife in this country rich in endemics and famous for its seabird spectacles and amazing scenery who's landscape was carved out by fire and ice. Then we will be having a talk from Tarik Bodasing. Tarik was as one of the Cemlyn wardens this summer. He was originally from near Durban in South Africa until relatively recently when, he met a Welsh girl whom he married and is now living with, and their young child down in Mid Wales. He will be telling us how the Vulture Lost it's head and other Wildlife tales from Zululand. Then Wader Quest are coming to town. Wader Quest are a charity that was set up to raise funds for Shorebird projects and to raise awareness about the problems they are facing around the world regarding diminishing populations and threats to the world Shorebird fly-ways.

Elliot Monteith is a young Birder from the Wirral. He will be coming over to give us a talk on the Cornell laboratory of Ornithology. It provides the highest grade of ornithological research in the world and is a leader in the drive to engage, educate and inspire the future generation of ornithologists. Elliot was one of the three young British Birders that won a Scholarship to the labs young birder camp courtesy of their partnership with the Cameron Bespolka trust about how the lab is changing the face of conservation across North America and the World, along with how the lab is helping the next generation in methods that are just making their way across the pond.

Keeping on the North America theme Dennis Atherton is coming over from Bolton to talk about the Western USA and Pelagic birding. It was a rush flight that Dennis took to catch the last Pelagic of the season in the World Famous North Pacific Waters around Southern California. After 26 hours with no sleep and only aeroplane food he then went on a bumpy boat for 12 hour to see an amazing Seabird spectacle. Following that he spent 2 weeks going up and down the California Coastline looking for all the local special birds. From the Seas around San Diego to the to the Mountains of California, Dennis was searching for all the local specialities and was trying to see all the Californian named birds.

Then Marc Hughes will be giving us an update of how the Leica Red Kites got on in the Champions of the Flyway birdrace, raising funds and awareness for the plight of migrant birds across the Mediterranean and through the Middle East.

Fellow Leica Red Kite Robin Sandham will then be talking about Rare birds in North Wales. There's nobody better to talk on this subject as at the end of the day, he wrote the book. I'm sure he will have a few books at the talk available for people to buy, and its a must read for anyone interested in the birds of North Wales or rare birds in general.

Then we have Ben. After he finished University in Cornwall we've finally managed to tie down Bardsey's Ben Porter for a talk about a Message from the Arctic. Ben will be talking about his findings from Sail against plastic. A student led research expedition to the icy archipelago of Svalbard during June in the Summer of 2018. Then we finish the year with the Christmas Party with a buffet and Steve's Quiz, with assorted prizes and the chance to be the winner of the Birdbrain of Bangor Bird-group Shield!

In January Chris Jones is talking about Birding in Wellies: an Autumn week on Shetland, Chris, Robin, Henry Cook and myself experienced Shetland proper for the first time in October 2017 and Chris will be talking about what happened when Four North Wales Birders went to Shetland in the wind and the rain.

Then Henry Cook will be talking about Birding North Peru : A travelogue from an independent trip around the little known and mega-diverse area of North Peru, featuring Spatulate-tails, Cresent-chests and Inca-finches.

Then Kelvin Jones from the BTO will then be giving his new talk on Hawfinches in Wales before Mark James Pearson arrives to give his talk on Filey Internation. Mark is well travelled and well known on the UK circuit. He will be talking about the seasonal migration around Filey Brigg on the Yorkshire coast. He will be talking about hammering his patch constantly for five years showing us what common migrants and rarities have moved through the area over this time.

Then Ben Stammers from the wildlife trust will be talking about the wonderful life of our local Swifts before Julian Hughes from the RSPB talks about the breeding birds of Cyprus and migration of birds through this region.

Then we go back to the USA, where local birder Alex Jones will be talking about the Eastern United States this time. Summarizing his trips to New York, Michigan and Florida.

As we go into the home run in March, former Bangor Student Mathew Bruce will be talking about his work on Wildlife Crime at the Lodge for the RSPB investigations department.

Following this local Naturalist Richard Birch will be showing us the Second instalment of his film on Chile, after he returned to the country again to witness more of its amazing scenery and wildlife.

Finally I will be bringing the season to a close at the AGM with my talk on Himalayan Gold. In the Spring of 2018 I went with two other North Wales Birders, Rhion and Gareth to the North East Indian regions of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Its an interesting area bordered by Bhutan, China and Myanmar. We has a vast assortment of fantastic birds from Bengal Florican, Fire tailed Myzornis, Himalayan monal and Beautiful Nuthatch to the critically endangered and range restricted Bugun Leochicla, just to name a few. It was a really special trip!

As well as these talks, Birdgroup members can also see the North Wales Wildlife trust talks. This season they include Living Landscapes in action. Jonny Hulson (NWWT Project Officer) talks about the amazing diversity of wildlife found on Wrexham Industrial Estate, home to 300 businesses. Roy Tapping has been involved with our North Wales Local Records Centre since its start-up. He will be talking about it, in his talk Cofnod - making wildlife data count. Then Chris Baker, the NWWT People & Wildlife Manager talks about Our Wild Coast, on how young people are getting stuck in on the North Wales coast. Then the Wildlife Trusts final talk is by our very own Spiderman. Richard Gallon from Cofnod is the most enthusiastic spider man you will ever meet and he will be talking about Spiders on Welsh mountains and bogs!

So hopefully we will see you this season in the Brambell Building, Deiniol Road, just down from the station. Wednesday nights, doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm kick off.

Non members £2 per meeting. Annual Subscription £15, Concessions £12, Students (free)

Chris Packham

A good day at Cemlyn yesterday

I spent a few hours over at Cemlyn yesterday morning, and these are the photos I took whilst I was there. Sandwich Terns are doing well so far this year considering the colony deserted early last summer. 

Arctic Tern

Numbers were low initially at 300 pairs, but they have risen recently to over 1200 birds, which is fantastic news. Good views of Common & Arctic Terns (small numbers of each nesting) and a single Roseate Tern has been showing up sometimes. Passage waders are often around and a Black Guillemot is usually in the bay.

Sandwich tern

                            Check out the latest updates on the Cemlyn Wardens Facebook page.
Walks with a Warden: This year's wardens are Tim and Tarik. At least one of them is usually to be found                                 on the shingle ridge and will fill you in about the latest sightings. 

Adder

Hummingbird Hawk-moth

On Sundays at 2pm one of them will be leading a guided walk, starting from the West car park. This is every Sunday up to 22nd July. No booking needed, just turn up. Donation to NWWT would be welcome.

Ruby tailed Wasp

Little Egret

Sandwich terns

Sandwich tern

Anglesey and beyond: Early July update

Anglesey and beyond: Early July update

As we go into July a Quail has been heard singing on the 1^st and 2^nd near Cemlyn at Hen Borth in the Wheat fields. One of the first signs of Autumn is the first wave of waders that breed in the high Arctic starting to head back South. On the first of July between the Inland Sea and the Alaw Estuary there were 4 Common Sandpipers, 3 Greenshanks, 5 Bar tailed Godwits, 6 Black tailed Godwits and 26 Mediterranean Gulls near the Anchorage. A Cuckoo was seen in Trearddur Bay on the 1^st July. A Hobby flew in off the Sea at Cemlyn on the 30^th June which is a great record for this site.
Spring and Summer is a great time for wildlife locally. After a slow start at Cemlyn the Sandwich terns started to settle and although numbers are down on previous years there were still over 300 pairs nesting which appear to have risen to over 1200 birds as we've gone into July, plus Common and Arctic terns so there's still plenty to see and photograph. Roseate's have been seen on several occasions with 2 on the 26^th June and a single the following day. Also, if you pop onto the ridge the Wardens Tim and Tarik will give you the latest up-to-date information. Two fine breeding plumaged Ruffs were a welcome sight on the lagoon at the start of June. Further afield 2 Hooded Crows were between South Stack and the Range and a single bird was at Carmel Head throughout May.
In June there was a few dozen Eiders around Puffin Island with the peak count being 32 on the 17^th June. The female King Eider that over wintered at Aberdyfi was a bit further north on the 19^th June. It had been photographed at Criccieth in early June. However it was also reported on the Alaw estuary on the North Anglesey coast on the 10^th June by a visiting birder. It. couldn't be relocated that day or the next, but a female Common Scoter was an unusual record at the Alaw Estuary on the 11^th June

This year there was quite an influx of Rose coloured Starlings into the UK.
One was at the Plantation at South Stack on the 4^th June, another was at Aberffraw on the 2^nd June and a pair were at Trearddur bay on the 27^th May.
A Honey Buzzard drifted over Cemlyn on the 30^th May, it then headed over to Wylfa before drifting over Cemaes windmill and football pitch before following the pylons to Rhogoch and away.
Other less scarce Raptors seen moving through the area included Red Kites passing over Llanerchymedd on the 5^th May, over Llangefni then Benllech on the 19^th May, 1 Bryngwran 4^th June,1 Cors Goch 18^th June, 4 Alaw estuary 24^th June, 1 Cemaes 24^th June, 2 Inland Sea 24^th June, 2 Cemlyn Jam Factory, 26^th June, 2 Benllech 25^th June and 1 was over Llanfechell on the 27^th June. An Osprey was photographed on the estuary at Malltraeth on the Newborough forest side on the 17^th June

Photo by Daniel Owen

However on Anglesey, bird of the month was surely the female Snowy Owl that appeared along the coastal footpath between Amlwch Port and Point Lynas on the 15^th June. It showed well all afternoon but was last seen that evening flying North towards Bull bay Golf course. It is thought to be the same bird that was in Pembrokeshire and the Isles of Scilly earlier on in the year.
This followed on from another exceptional record, 2 Orcas lingered off South Stack for two hours, the previous weekend on the 9^th June. What an amazing sight for the lucky observers who were at South Stack that day!


On the 28^th May A Marsh warbler , a rare relative of the Reed Warbler from further East in Europe popped into the marshy field near Cemlyn at Cafnan. It's probably best know for its song as it is great at mimicking other birds. We heard it copy the calls of Quail and Rosefinch, birds commoner in Eastern Europe during it's brief stay. Although there was a Rosefinch seen at Soldier's Point Holyhead briefly on the 15^th May.

Wading birds of note included 2 Curlew Sandpipers at Dulas at the end of May, a Little Stint was on the Alaw estuary on the 26^th May, a Wood Sandpiper was at Malltraeth RSPB on the 23^rd but the most striking waders we had visiting our area this Spring were Dotterel.
There was a very confiding beautiful bird on the 10^th May on the Range at South Stack and a further 3 birds had previously passed through that site on the 30^th April. They nest on the mountain tops in Scotland and Scandinavia and spend the winter in the Atlas mountains of North Africa.
Offshore a pair of Pomarine Skuas passed the Range on the 16^th May.

Yellow wagtails of various races passed through the Cemlyn area in May. A male Grey headed Yellow Wagtail from Scandinavia was seen on the 18^th May after a fine male Black headed Yellow Wagtail had visited Hen Borth Briefly on the 6^th May. The chap who spotted this bird from Eastern Europe also had an Arctic Iceland Gull from Greenland nearby on the same day. I saw the Iceland gull again on the 8^th May flying over Cemaes Bay out to sea.

If you have any interesting sightings post them on twitter on the  Anglesey bird news twitter page @AngBirdNews, alternatively email me at SteCul10@aol.com or phone  01407 710542 ,  all the best Steve Culley.

                                     

Cemlyn, Anglesey and beyond

After a slow start Cemlyn is starting to pick up. I had a cracking summer plumaged Golden Plover and Sanderling yesterday, but more importantly the colony is starting to come to life. After predation problems last year a predator fence went up earlier this year and seems to be working- fingers crossed. The Black headed Gulls are breeding and more importantly the Sandwich terns are back on territory and getting down to breed. So it was good photo opportunities all round yesterday with Sandwich, Common and Arctic terns whizzing past my head to the background noise of the  Sandwich terns, great to hear at Cemlyn as you know Summer is on its way!
Recent records have included the following. 2 Pomarine Skuas passed the Range at South Stack on the 16th May. A Rosefinch was at Soldiers Point, South Stack briefly on the 15 th and 4 Snow Geese (1 white and 3 Blue phase) were reported briefly by the wardens at Cemlyn on the same date. A female Yellow wagtail was at Cemlyn on the 12th. On the 10th of May a cracking female Dotterel showed well on the Range at South Stack and 2 pure Hooded Crows were new in in nearby, in freshly tilled fields with Carrion Crows, White Wagtails and Wheatears. I had an Emperor Moth emerge on the 9th May. An Iceland gull flew over Cemaes Bay on the 8th May, possibly the bird seen nearby in Hen Borth on the 6th. Also on the 6th Matt Hazelton hit lucky with a cracking Black headed Wagtail at Hen Borth, a bird from Eastern Europe or beyond. He was the lucky single observer but got a nice photo of the bird. The long term escaped Golden Eagle was seen over Tregaron Bog on the 6th, so its worth keeping your eye open for that if your'e down in mid Wales. I had a Hooded Crow at Carmel head on the 6th May. On the 5th 3 Dotterel were on Foel Fras, Osprey, Marsh Harrier and Swift were at Cemlyn, and a Red Kite was between Llanerchymedd and Carmel. A drake Garganey was at Conwy on the 2nd and 3 Dotterel were on the Range at South Stack on the 30th April. Also if you are down in mid Wales, a trip to Aberaeron for the Leucistic Herring Gull is worth while, it's a cracking looking bird!