At about the same time spring migration begins in earnest, the destination of many coastal wintering birds is to the uplands.Many birders throng the coast during this period, and although I spent a fair amount of time there too, I prefer to concentrate most of my efforts on the hills.
There are now very few places in our over-populated country where one can experience true wilderness and the Welsh Uplands is one of them.
Sections of The Berwyns, the Migneint, and Mynydd Hiraethog can still feel remarkably remote and afford us the luxury of another rare commodity in today’s world: silence.
The true joy of stravaiging around the moors though is the occasional chance encounter with some of our most enigmatic birds.
Last year I was fortunate enough to watch a male Hen Harrier skydancing and to listen to the wonderful mournful call of a Golden Plover.
Whilst seeing raptors is always a memorable experience, it is discovering nesting wading birds that I find most satisfying; perhaps my most rewarding moment in birding was chancing on a pair of breeding Dunlin on the Berwyn Mountains.
Sadly, the odds on such a chance meeting are getting fewer and fewer as mans’ insidious impact stretches to even the most far-flung areas.
Over-grazing, habitat destruction, pesticides, disturbance and acidification are all reckoned to be having a negative effect on these fragile ecosystems.
The number of Curlew, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Snipe, Redshank and Common Sandpiper nests do wax and wane considerably, but the overall trend is definitely downwards.
One study carried out by D.Lamacroft in the summer of 1999 found that there were just 3 pairs of Golden Plover, 7 pairs of Lapwing, 3 pairs of Dunlin, 10 Pairs of Snipe, 20 pairs of Curlew and 1 pair of Common Sandpipers in the huge Mynydd Hiraethog SSSI.
Help is at hand however, as many conservation bodies and governmental organisations have woken-up to what is happening and started to take action.
Only time will tell if these undertakings spark an upturn in fortunes, ameliorate the current situation or do nothing to mitigate the decline.
So, my advice is: one day over the next few months, lace up your boots, get your map out and go walkabout...you may just get lucky...and it beats looking through thousands of gulls on a minty rubbish tip any day of the week!
Until later.
I wonder if the dunlins were the same pair I saw on June 23rd 2009. They were just off a section of boardwalk between Cadairs Berwyn and Bronwen and they saw me off good style, not that I needed much encouragement! There were also golden plovers close by and a pair of ring ouzels on the steep escarpment. There were dunlins in the same area the year before too!
ReplyDeleteAlan Young.
Hi Al,
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I think I probably saw the same pair! The record I have dates from around then and was also along the path between Cadair Bronwen & Berwyn.
Ring Ouzel or Golden Plover are practically the only two upland breeding birds I’ve not recorded on the Berwyns – I’ve often scoured the scree slopes on the escarpment, but with no success...maybe this year.
I think Ring Ouzel is getting harder and harder to find each year, although I am reliably informed that Arenig Fach still holds a good population.
So too Golden Plover. I found a pair on Moel Siesiog (Denbigh Moors near Nebo) last spring, but they were the only two birds I saw last year. The area of blanket bog to the west of the summit of Carnedd-y-Filiast has supposedly supported a few pairs in the past, but was unoccupied last spring as far as I could tell.
I have been put onto another area though called Gors Dopiog – an area of moorland south-west of the village of Gwytherin. Apparently, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Snipe, Lapwing and Curlew all breed there in small numbers.
A passage Dotterel is still the Holy Grail though...
Cheers,
Paul.
Hi Paul
ReplyDeleteThe Great Orme in early Autumn has had Dotterel's in the past I believe,usually up on the Limestone Pavement,although every year when I go up there,I completely blank.
Cheers Denzil
Hi Paul,
ReplyDeleteEvery spring/early summer for the last 7 or 8 years(except for last year owing to a torn ankle ligament) I walk at least once along the Berwyn Ridge from Milltir Gerrig near Llangynog to Cadair Bronwen or just beyond and so far I have never failed to see golden plovers, but I see them only between Moel Sych and Cadair Bronwen. Twice I have seen ring ouzels on the steep escarpment, three times dunlin in the same areas as the goldies, and never once a snipe or curlew. A few years ago peregrines also nested on the escarpment.
Every year I find ring ouzels in the Llangynog area but, as you say, every year it gets harder.
I have found one singing twite, but on August 1st and too late for the Bird Atlas!
Al.