Tales Of Herring-Do

It was through new eyes that I looked at the Herring Gulls breeding on a small island at Llyn Brenig yesterday. After hearing that these birds are now in decline, I was pleased to see three new additions had been made to the clan of chip-stealers. A quintessential sound of the British Coast, it seems inconceivable that these birds could disappear, but stranger things have happened.

There was more evidence of successful breeding yesterday: Meadow Pipits were ferrying food back to their nests; a female Cuckoo was prospecting for a victim; a Great Crested Grebe struggled back to its hideaway with a giant fish and a new family of Pied Wagtails probed the shoreline for lunch.

It is absolutely freezing on Mynydd Hiraethog today and I feel like Captain Scott as I leave the comforts of the lakeside hide to complete the survey of my tetrad for the British Trust for Ornithology Atlas.

If I’m truthful, the area I have selected has not been the most exciting. If anything, it has reinforced my low opinion of conifer plantations in relation to wildlife. Whilst birds such as Goshawk, Siskin, Crossbill and Lesser Redpoll have benefited, it is hard to ignore the birds that would be present if the land was returned to damp moor and natural woodland.

Nonetheless, I have recorded Red Grouse, Cuckoo, and Goosander and watched a male Hen Harrier on an adjacent tetrad. Not bad.

Until later.