I was asked by Daniel Jenkins-Jones (Head of Public Affairs for RSPB Cymru) a couple of weeks back, if I would accompany him to the Welsh Ornithological Societies Annual Conference in Llandovery. All I had to do was man the RSPB Stand during the times there was no talks on. I have to be honest I had no idea what I was letting myself in for, but I was chuffed to be asked to go. It was quite a line-up of speakers for the day. Iolo Williams (who I must admit is a hero of mine) is the President of WOS, and opened the day with the state of play with bird numbers and breeding success for the year. It was quite a depressing listen, with the weather claiming large numbers of fledglings. It was also interesting to note that the weather had equally hampered this year’s survey work, with areas becoming inaccessible due to the conditions. It was not all doom and gloom, nine pairs of Hen Harriers raised twenty two young on the Denbigh Mountains, but there was no escaping that it was a poor year for your birdlife in Wales. This was highlighted by the fact that no Avocets managed to breed successfully on the Gwent Levels this year. Incredibly it appeared the entire Anglesey Yellowhammer population were dependent on one garden feeding station! Iolo ended his speech by bemoaning the lack of youngsters engaging in wildlife these days, something Chris Packham and Sir David Attenborough have also mentioned in recent days. This was followed by a talk by Jon Green, on the work of the rare migrants committee, who adjudicate on whether a rarity sighting can be confirmed as official, and added to the national bird list. It was fascinating to hear how the process of a bird being accepted onto the official national list was performed. The talk ended with an appeal by the Welsh Rarities Panel for any photographs of any rarities you may have in your collection. They intend to build a photographic database in the future. The guest speaker in the morning was Roy Dennis, who a lot of you will know from Springwatch and Autumnwatch and his work on satellite tagging of the Ospreys from the Dyfi Estuary and Scotland. It was an incredibly interesting talk on the interpretation of the data and how it is changing their understanding of how these birds migrate. It was a passionate talk, as you would expect from someone with fifty years of working within conservation. His drive to try and build up more conservation co-operation along the migration flyway to Africa, and anger of the continued “national disgrace” of raptor persecution in this country very evident during several parts of his presentation.
Lunchtime allowed me to stretch my legs and go and look through some very expensive telescopes and binoculars that were being displayed by the conferences sponsor. The venue, Myddfai Community Hall, is right next door to the Llanddeusant Red Kite feeding station. My usual skill of just missing something is still very much honed, although I did see four of these magnificent birds circling overhead. I was informed by the assembled crowd that I had just missed about a dozen and at a much lower altitude! I did see a large flock of Ravens settle in the treeline opposite the centre, no doubt getting ready for the daily feed. I’ve never been to a Red Kite feeding station, and it was on a list of things to do this year, I will be most certainly be ticking it off after Christmas.
It had been a fascinating morning, and with the afternoon line up looking equally impressive, I returned to the RSPB Cymru stand. I shall tell you what happened then in part two of this blog later this week.
© All Images – Anthony Walton