BTO EAST GLAMORGAN

Summer 2020

HAWFINCHES NESTING NEIGHBOURS LOCKDOWN IDEAS YOUNG CONSERVATIONISTS MONITORING GULLS NEST RECORDS MILESTONE

• Much has happened since our last newsletter. The Covid-19 outbreak has affected all of our lives, and will continue to do so over the coming months. We hope that this newsletter finds you in good health and looking forward to resuming birding and recording once social restrictions are eased. The lockdown has meant that almost all BTO surveys have been on hold or cancelled in Wales. There will be no Breeding Birds of Wet Meadows Survey this year; BBS and WeBS are on hold and ringing and nest recording can only be undertaken in your own garden until further notice. BTO is regularly reviewing its Covid-19 guidance to volunteers in response to government announcements, https://bto.org/community/news/202005-bto- and-covid-19. The good news however, despite current restrictions, you can continue to record birds and other wildlife by taking part in a number of BTO home-based surveys. Each one makes a valuable contribution to our knowledge of birds and their conservation. You can find out more about them in this newsletter. We have plenty to update you about other BTO activities in our region, as well as ideas about what you can do during this period of social restrictions and beyond. Please read on and thank you for SUMMER 2020 your continued support. BTO EAST GLAMORGAN A quarterly newsletter for members Wayne & Dan and volunteers in the Mid & South Glamorgan BTO regions.

CONTACT US

web: Contents https://eastglambto.wordpress.com twitter:@eastglambto Ideasforlockdown3

ProjectHawfinch4 Wayne Morris Chaffinchesdisappearing5 BTO Regional Representative email:[email protected] NestingNeighbours6

BBStraining7 Dan Jenkins-Jones Monitoring gulls 8 BTO Regional Ambassador WeBS Local Organiser Ringingreports9 email:[email protected] Microplasticsandbirds10

JoinGardenBirdWatchforfree10 Images are the copyright of BTO, except Hawfinch (Colin Harvey), Futureconservationists11 Mediterranean Gull (@Alannah), Yellow-legged Gull (Peter Howlett), Nestrecordingmilestone12 Robin (Dylan Foster Evans), students (USWOS). Ideas for lockdown

A free and convenient way of BirdTrack. Your data, new or Many respondents to our safely storing and managing historic, make a valuable questionnaire, sent to BTO bird records online in an contribution to conservation at members and supporters accessible and interactive local, regional and national last autumn, said they would format, BirdTrack remains open levels. On top of that, each year, like to take part in BTO during lockdown. your BirdTrack records will be surveys but felt they needed If you are spending more time uploaded to SEWBReC and to build confidence in their in your garden, or are on your Glamorgan Bird Club for bird identification skills first. permitted daily exercise, you inclusion in annual bird reports. Help is at hand with BTO can use the system to note Over 6.7 million records were online ID and birdsong birds that you see and hear. submitted to BirdTrack by workshops. A new ‘My Patch’ widget to birders in 2019. Taking part is With over 14,000 display species and list stats for easy and fun, can be used on a subscribers, BTO’s YouTube favoured area is available. For computer or mobile app for use channel offers a wealth of many, this will be our gardens in the field. informative videos. Of or local green spaces. All you need to know is available these, 74 short ID workshops help viewers Now might also be time to go online, with some useful videos identify various groups of through old notebooks to helping you get started,https:// birds. These cater for all make the most of your records bto.org/our-science/projects/ skill levels,e.g. separating by uploading them into birdtrack. Song and Mistle thrushes, Marsh and Willow tits or various species of gulls. During lockdown, BTO has created a series focusing on birdsong ID. They can be found on YouTube or on social media searching #BirdSongBasics. https:// www.youtube.com/user/ BTOvideo/videos

Summer 2020 | 3 Project Hawfinch

With its big steel grey beak, orange plumage and iridescent wings, the Hawfinch is beautiful bird. It is also elusive. Within East Glamorgan, the Hawfinch has had a limited and patchy distribution. Only a handful of records of the species are made each year from long established, regular sites.Rich Faceysets out details of a new project underway on the outskirts of Cardiff helping us find out more about this secretive bird.

The 2017-18 influx year seemed site, based on analysis of the male was also reported at the a good opportunity to learn number of ringed and unringed site; again, one of Jerry’s birds more about the status of birds. but from Monmouthshire. We Hawfinch in Glamorgan; one of Tony Cross, a prolific Hawfinch had one within season recovery the few populations not ringer from mid-Wales, was kind - a male, initially ringed at regularly monitored in Wales. enough to give us some of his Fforestganol on 9 March, was Hawfinches are a difficult colour rings, so many of the found stunned having hit a species to catch, spending Glamorgan caught birds went window 3km away at Fforest much of their time in the away colour ringed. The 40th Farm in north Cardiff on 4 April. canopy, dropping to the floor to bird caught on 3rd May, with a Unfortunately, he died shortly feed in unpredictable places. To well-developed brood patch after being found. overcome this, we established a and accompanied by a male, Feeding commenced again in feeding site in early November was originally ringed by Jerry March 2019. Again, weekly 2017 in Fforestganol, a wood to Lewis in Gloucestershire. This catches took place resulting in the north of Cardiff. This was was exciting on two counts: the 22 new birds and 4 retraps from baited daily by a team of presence of a brood patch 2018 and two controls from volunteers from the local area. confirmed that this bird was Monmouthshire. For most Hawfinch were caught during 13 breeding locally - the first species, retraps are live birds re- ringing sessions that took place confirmed breeding record of caught by ringers within 5 km of at roughly weekly intervals from this species in the region for where they were ringed, and a 9th March to 3 May 2018 during some years; it also confirmed ‘control’ is when a ringed bird is which a total of 39 ‘new’ that that there is movement re-caught/ sighted more than Hawfinch were caught and between the Hawfinch 5km from its ringing site. ringed. populations in the north of Although we had applied for We estimate that over 150 Cardiff and the Forest of Dean. our own colour-rings, a severe individuals went through the A colour-ringed, second year delay with the order meant that

4 | Summer 2020 the these arrived in time for our site, not really having left. We since. With him was NP, another last session and only two birds, planned our first ringing session Monmouthshire bird, that had both female, were colour- but had to cancel due to the been ringed in April 2014. Then, ringed. Feeding continued on an weather and then … lockdown, and the end of the ad hoc basis until late June. coronavirus happened, which project for this spring. During this time one of the naturally kicked our fieldwork 2020 hasn’t turned out to be colour-ringed birds was seen into touch. the season we had hoped. But being fed by an un-ringed male, A couple of weeks before all is not lost. We still have a lot and later was seen with a lockdown proper, ringers had to of seed, so if restrictions ease juvenile. A second pair, both un- self-isolate (some may argue a and its appropriate we may be ringed, were also seen at the natural state of affairs…), so able to venture out in the feeding station. ringing was put on hold, but autumn or winter to try and 2020 dawned with a lot of feeding continued. find out more about this elusive excitement and promise for the Luckily it did, as Hawfinch species in Glamorgan. If not, Hawfinch season ahead. Would numbers began to increase. T74 then well, there is 2021 … we catch up with many of the appeared at the feeding station. And finally, thanks to all our birds we had ringed in previous She had been ringed on 5 April Hawfinchers: Karen Wilkinson, years? New Hawfinch projects 2018 but this was her first Andy Wilkinson, Colin Harvey, were planned, seed ordered sighting since then; she was Aneurin Minton, Rosalind and distributed, new feeding seen again on several other Watkins, Kim Kirkbirde, Mike volunteers welcomed, and dates. Then T83, a male ringed Shewring, Jez Smith, Anthony feeding began in earnest in late on 25 April 2018. Just like T74, Caravaggi, Dan Jenkins-Jones, February. The Hawfinches this was his first he’d been seen and Frank Sengpiel. returned quickly to the feeding

Chaffinches disappearing

A familiar species to all, it comes as a shock to hear that Chaffinch numbers have collapsed in recent years. Between 2007 and 2018, the UK population fell by 30% according to Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data. Long-term trends show not only trichomonosis outbreak first movements between a city the that numbers are in steep occurred in our Greenfinch size of Birmingham and the decline, but there is disparity in populations in 2006? surrounding countryside. the timings and rates of decrease BTO has developed a BTO’s aim is to raise £100,000 between the individual countries programme of research that to deliver the complete in the UK. will help to pinpoint the programme of research. Does this mean Chaffinches are drivers of this decline. This There has been a great facing different pressures in will include new analysis of response, with £35,000 already different places? existing survey data, as well raised, but there is a long way One potential cause of the drop as additional fieldwork across to go. the country, and in numbers is a disease called If you think you can help us disseminating the results. Avian trichomonosis. But why understand these declines, have Chaffinch numbers only It costs £6,000 to analyse the please visit BTO’s donation started to decrease dramatically data of one survey, and pages,https://bto.org/donate . in 2012, and not when the £30,000 to monitor Chaffinch

Summer 2020 | 5 Nesting Neighbours

Monitoring the fortunes of birds nesting in our gardens helps build-up a picture of bird breeding success and what may be affecting it. Many species nesting in our gardens also nest in the wider countryside, and monitoring them can help build a picture of how they are faring in different habitats. Local volunteer Dylan Foster Evans describes his involvement in a new BTO survey, Nesting Neighbours.

As spring approached this year, some excitement as we started from their sheaths. our garden in Canton, Cardiff, to get used to the repetitive Chicks tend to fledge in the had been set up with the usual routine of the lock-down. early morning and, and by the mix of hope and expectation. It was difficult to see into the time I checked on 18 April, they There were three nest boxes, box without causing too much were gone. Our neighbours’ though one of these – of wood disruption. The easiest way to garden has more cover than and with a tit-sized hole – had find out what was going on ours, and is just the other side been there for years with no when the parents were away of the wall where the nest was takers. Expectation lay in the was to take quick snaps on a hidden. I thought that the woodcrete box that had housed smart phone. One of these I chicks may have gone in that Blue Tits over the previous posted on a Welsh-language direction, a suspicion confirmed three years. Hope lay in an open birding WhatsApp group. It was when our neighbour saw one of wooden box that I’d put deep in picked up by Dan Jenkins-Jones them hiding in the shrubs. So some ivy, around a metre off who recommended I signed up the nest could be recorded on the floor and only a couple of for the BTO Nesting Neighbours the website as a success. I hope yards from the back door. scheme. Here, I could record that the others chicks weren’t This open box had been empty the details of the nest, eggs and far away, but I guess I’ll never last year and I was rather chicks as they developed. know. There wasn’t much time worried that it was too well It was all very easy and my only to ponder that, though, as by hidden. But in early March there concern was that my visits then the blue tits were busy was a great deal of coming and might cause an ‘explosion’ or building their nest. By 25 April going by our resident female premature fledging, so – there were ten eggs, so it was robin, and a quick peek at the following Dan’s advice – I back to the Nesting Neighbours box on 20 March showed a nest stayed away as soon as the website for round two. and five eggs. By 3 April, four of chick’s primary feathers were Having birds nest in our garden these had hatched, bringing us around a third of the way out is a real privilege. Being able to

6 | Summer 2020 be part of the larger Nesting before laying. I had never Neighbours project only added noticed or thought about this to that. It helped get the before. And the only reason I children involved, going beyond had learned this was because ‘oohing and aahing’ at the others before me had surveyed chicks to paying real attention their own nests. This is how to their development. It also science works and it was a great made me more aware. I noticed, feeling to be part of it. for instance, that the Blue Tits So next time you have nests in stayed away from the nest for a the garden, do take part in this few days after completing it. I survey. It is easy, fun and was initially worried that worthwhile, and a real something had gone wrong. But contribution to understanding a bit of research online showed The findings of a long-term our Nesting Neighbours, https:/ study of Swallows breeding that Blue Tits do this regularly, bto.org/our-science/.projects/ perhaps in order to reduce the nesting-neighbours. at a Cardiff Riding School number of parasites in the nest have been published in one of the world’s leading ornithological journals, Ibis.

By monitoring nests from April to September, 2008-14, a team of Cardiff University researchers and BTO members examined the interactive effects of temperature, rainfall and wind speed on young Swallows during their BBS training development. The study provides evidence of In early March, just before lockdown, we joined forces the complex, interactive with BTO Gwent to host a free Breeding Bird Survey effects of multiple weather variables on an individual’s (BBS) training event at Rudry Parish Hall near Caerphilly. development, which may vary It was a sell-out and eleven postponed but we are sure from nestling to fledgling. A potential new BBS volunteers our new volunteers will be discussion about the effects of joined us on a slightly damp day raring to go in 2021. parental foraging, local for an introduction to this If you are interested in weather conditions and important survey in the hall, taking part in BBS and longer-term climate is offered. followed by a field session to put would like to find out more Facey, R.J., Vafidis, J.O., Smith, the theory into practice. about the survey and, J.A., Vaughan, I.P. and Thomas, We were delighted when all perhaps, sign up now for R.J. (2020) Contrasting eleven participants volunteered 2021, details are available sensitivity of nestling and to join the survey and to take on online,https:// fledgling Barn Swallow BBS ‘squares’ across East eastglambto.wordpress.co Hirundo rusticabody mass to Glamorgan and Gwent. With m/surveys/bbs/. local weather conditions. Ibis. lockdown imposed a week or so https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12824 later, BBS has naturally been

Summer 2020 | 7 Monitoring gulls

A number of individuals and groups, across Europe and the UK, colour-ring gulls. Of these, two operate long-term schemes within our region. The Flat Holm Ringing Group has been systematically colour-ringing gulls on the island since 1995 and Bristol-based Peter Rock, rings gulls across south-west England, and visits Cardiff annually to colour- ring the gulls on the city centre’s rooftops. Both schemes focus primarily on Lesser Black- backed Gulls, but they also colour-ring Herring Gulls when the opportunity arises. Through this work, we know Roath Park Lake, Cardiff • The Barrage, especially that Lesser Black-backed Gulls (ST15795) towards Penarth (ST190726). breeding on Flat Holm and Very good for colour-ringed As well as large gulls, look out Cardiff are two distinct and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, for colour-ringed Black-headed separate breeding populations, especially from the scheme led Gulls here too. with individuals only very rarely by Peter Rock. Birds from Flat Taff’s Mead Embankment, switching from one to another. Holm occasionally turn up here, Cardiff (ST17957) Birds from both schemes have as well as birds ringed by a Large gulls tend to hang around been recorded in countries such Gloucestershire-based scheme. on the Brain’s Brewery roof as France, Netherlands, Spain, It is also a good place to see tops on the other side of the Portugal and Morocco. colour-ringed Black-headed river here, but they are often Sightings closer to home are Gulls ringed in the both the UK tempted down to the also extremely valuable and we and in Europe. Embankment when members of encourage all birders to look Cardiff Bay (accessed from the public feed bread to the out for and report any colour- various points) resident herd of Mute Swans. ringed gulls they see on their The most productive sites are Cosmeston Lakes travels. those with various structures (ST178692) Colour-ringed gulls, of course, and pontoons where the birds Again, just wait for somebody can turn up anywhere, anytime, can be seen loafing around out to start throwing the bread but there are a number of hot- of the water. These include the around and this tempts the gulls spots across our region where areas in front of: out of the lake allowing you to they are regularly recorded, • Pierhead building check their legs. You may see especially in late summer and (ST192743) colour-ring Mute Swans and autumn. • Channel View (ST181743) Coots here too.

8 | Summer 2020 Porthcawl A number of colour-ringed Ringing reports Mediterranean Gulls have been reported along the seafront in town and Rest Bay. It is fascinating to learn where birds found in our region Barry Docks and seafront travel and how long they may live. Here are some recent A potentially good site and ringing recoveries from local observers. worth a look if you’re in the Peter Howlett Leipzig. 1st report of this mood for a bit of pioneering individual, but out of 150 • Yellow-legged Gull (R:0J3) work. ringed, 49 have been on the pontoons near the reported so far already”. In our neighbouring West Pierhead building, Cardiff Glamorgan BTO region, the car Bay: 29 & 30/10/2019 Dan Jenkins-Jones park at Bracelet Bay (SS627871) bearing a French colour-ring and rocks at Port Eynon • Black-headed Gull (9RK) at having been ringed on Ile de Roath Park Lake: numerous (SS470845) are excellent spots Re 11/06/2019. for colour-ringed dates between 05/09/2019 Mediterranean Gulls. • A Croatian-ringed Black- and 21/02/2020. Ringed in headed Gull (SE6C) was Copenhagen, Denmark on If you find a colour-ringed gull pretty good too, seen on 26/03/2019. (or any other colour-ringed 26/09/2019 and ringed Martin Thomas species), please make a note of 12/03/2017. There are less the numbers and/or letters on than 20 records of this • Siskin ringed on 27 May, 2017 the ring, the colour of the ring species from Croatia. in Durris, Aberdeenshire as a and lettering, and on which leg second calendar year, i.e. it the ring has been placed. Alannah on Twitter hatched in 2016, was caught Details of where to send this • “Mediterranean Gull in the by Martin Thomas in his information can be found by car park at Rest Bay garden in Tonypandy on 1 visiting the European Colour- Porthcawl on 11/11/19. It was May, 2020 - 606km/376.5 ringing Birding,http://cr- ringed in July 2019 as a chick miles south of where it was birding.org. at Rehbach Gravel Pit in initially ringed. This in itself is fascinating, but it raises other questions. Since this bird was in its second year when it was ringed in Scotland, did it hatch locally and then travel down to south Wales? Or did it hatch in south Wales, then travel up to Scotland and then back again? Or it could be neither of those scenarios? We will never know. Thanks to all observers for sharing these details with us. Please keep sending them in to us to share here.

Summer 2020 | 9 BTO has some excellent special offers currently, Microplastics and birds with discounts on books, includingBird Atlas 2007- 2011, Bird Photographer of A new study of Dippers along local water courses has the Year, Gardening for found the first clear evidence that plastic pollutants in Birdwatchers and Garden rivers are finding their way into wildlife and moving up the Birds and other wildlife. food chain. By collecting droppings and fragments. The latter includes fascinating regurgitated pellets from Calculations suggest Dippers information about the garden Dippers, researchers at Cardiff are ingesting around 200 tiny birds and wildlife you are likely University found microplastic fragments of plastic a day to see while recording for fragments in c50% of 166 samples from the insects they Garden BirdWatch (GBW), and taken from both adults and consume. time of year species are most nestlings at 15 study sites. likely to be seen. D’Souza, J.M; Windsor, F.M.; The greatest concentrations Sanitllo, D. & Ormerod, S.J. If you received a different were in urban locations, with (2020) Food web transfer of book when you joined GBW, or most being fibres from textiles plastics to an apex riverine would like to buy a copy for a or building materials. predator, Global Change friend, pick up a discounted Earlier research shows that half Biology. copy today using the code of the insects in south Wales https://doi.org/10.1111/ 'GBW£5OFF', rivers contain microplastic gcb.15139 https://bto.org/shop. Join Garden BirdWatch for free In addition to our ideas earlier, We are thrilled that so many Unitary Authority Before Now BTO is giving everyone free of you have taken up this Bridgend 12 14 access to BTO Garden offer and are taking part in Caerphilly 11 16 BirdWatch during lockdown. GBW. Cardiff 38 49 This is a great way to stay It is not too late to join, so Merthyr Tydfil 0 0 connected to nature, learn why not sign up and get RCT 9 18 about your garden wildlife and involved too? Vale of Glamorgan 17 21 contribute to important https://bto.org/our-science/ Total 87 118 scientific research without projects/gbw. leaving your home. GBW participants in East Glamorgan

10 | Summer 2020 Future conservationists

In recent months, we have been building a relationship with the University of South Wales (USW). Towards the end of 2019, we led a couple of bird ID walks with student members of a brand new USW Ornithological Society (USWOS) who, in January, signed up to become the latest recruits to join our team of Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) volunteers in East Glamorgan. Led by second-year Natural 100. These boxes, primarily The enthusiasm of the students, History student and BTO targeting hole nesting species USW academic and Cardiff Student Ambassador, Hannah such as tits and Nuthatches, will Council staff has been brilliant Westhenry, the Group has taken be monitored annually by USW and we look forward to bringing on responsibility for monthly Natural History Department you updates from both the WeBS counts at Clydach Vale students and staff as part of an Forest Farm project and USWOS CP, near Tonypandy. ongoing project studying the activities in future newsletters. Working alongside USW ecology if this local bird USWOS: population. academic staff, David Lee, Facebook:https:// Anthony Caravaggi and Jez The project will help develop www.facebook.com/USWOS Smith, as well as Alec Stewart of students’ field skills, data Cardiff City Council’s Rangers analysis and benefit BTO Instagram:https:// Team, we have also helped science too, as all nest records www.instagram.com/ facilitate the creation of a new from these boxes will be uswos.birds USW led nest box monitoring submitted to the Nest Record Twitter:https://twitter.com/ scheme at Forest Farm LNR. Scheme. uswos Earlier this year, a number of boxes, kindly donated by BTO Cymru, Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru and local nest recorder, Trevor Fletcher, were placed around the reserve by the USW team. More boxes will be erected in the future to bring box numbers on the reserve up to around

Summer 2020 | 11 Nest recording milestone

A notable nest recording milestone was reached in 2018. The total number of nest records submitted to the Scheme from Glamorgan (VC41) has topped the ten thousand mark, with 10,242 nest records of 104 different species. Here we look a little more closely at some of the species recorded. Following a strict Code of distributed in the county We had two other notable Conduct, Nest Record Scheme then, as it is today. Stock nest records in 2018: (NRS) volunteers find and follow Dove nest records from Glamorgan’s third Marsh Tit the progress of individual nests, Glamorgan have been few nest record and our first ever noting when and how many eggs and far between since then Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. are laid, how many chicks hatch although, remarkably, 16 were We eagerly await 2019 NRS and fledge or whether a nest has submitted in 2018. This is, by totals which should be failed for any reason. These data far the highest ever total of available online soon. is used to assess the impacts Stock Dove nest records from There has been a recent that changes in the environment, Glamorgan in one year and welcome increase in local such as habitat loss and global brings the total number of participation in NRS. Of the warming, have on the number of records submitted from the ten thousand nest records fledglings that birds can rear. county up to 40. from Glamorgan (1939-2018), Launched in 1939, NRS is the In 2018, some other species 50% of them were submitted longest-running scheme of its hit their highest ever annual between 2012-18. Glamorgan is kind in the world, but it wasn’t total of nest records now very close to breaking the until 1943 that the first two nest submitted locally: Coot (54); ‘1,000 barrier’ of nest records records were submitted from Dipper (16); Song Thrush (56); submitted annually. Glamorgan. Curiously, both were Redstart (15) and Dunnock Perhaps you can help us for Stock Dove, a species which (12). surpass that milestone? must have been as thinly

Blue Tit 1,902 Great Tit 1,317 Blackbird 616 Swallow 509 Kittiwake 503 Pied Flycatcher 501 Song Thrush 362 Nuthatch 268 Wren 237 Robin 237

Top Glamorgan NRS species, 1939-2018 Nest records for Glamorgan, 1998-2018

12 | Summer 2020