Llanelli Naturalists Newsletter - March 1985
Ian Morgan
The early winter was exceptionally mild with many garden plants such as Kaffir Lilies, Fuchsias and also wild plants continuing to flower well after Christmas. The winter had followed a long wet autumn which had brought to an end the hot and very dry summer with hardly any rain since early 1984, But by 2nd January the weather was beginning to change, with hard frosts turning the previously damp soils into a granitic hardness and finally bringing to an end any late flowering. These hard frosts continued and ground feeders such as Song Thrushes and especially Blackbirds turned more and more to the still abundant berries of both wild hawthorn and cultivated Cotoneasters, there was a small influx of Song Thrushes at this period augmenting the local residents and the already arrived winter-visiting (and resident) Blackbirds. The berries quickly began to disappear with Redwings and Fieldfares starting also to reap this rich harvest, sometimes they were joined by the more unusual, such as the Blackcaps, a male and a female, that avidly fed on Cotoneaster berries in my garden for a few days; they cannot be called a pair for the male repeatedly chased away the female from his bush. Perhaps these toughest of warblers would have perished in the severe weather that followed, I wonder what the numbers of Blackcaps will be like next winter? Though two reports of Blackcaps, one at Felinfoel and another at Penyfai indicate that they were capable of surviving, for these birds were seen after the cold spell.
Snow fell on 7-8 January and lasted for a few days at the coast but mostly remaining inland. On Saturday, 12th January, the Tywyn Burrows area was alive with Redwings - at a conservative estimate 2650+, feeding on sun-warmed sand dune slopes and working through the leaf-litter below Sea Buckthorns, but only a handful (7) of Fieldfares were feeding on the over-ripe soggy berries, About 62 Song Thrushes hunted for snails amongst the rolling dunes at Tywyn Point, using drifted bottles ar anvils. This period saw a large passage (c. 4000) of Redwings at Kenfig also.
Snow fell again on Sunday 13th and the ground below was frozen solid; things were getting more desperate for the birds and the bitterly cold Arctic weather continued, giving in parts of the country the lowest temperatures since the infamous winter of 1962-1963. On the 14th, the Secretary of State imposed a ban on the shooting of wildfowl, due to the serious weather. The next day saw the sea frozen at several places along the South Wales coast and casualties began to mount among the birds, with the nomadic Redwings figuring high on the list of dead or dying birds brought to me. These beautiful, very wild thrushes come to us in autumn from their breeding grounds in North Europe (Scandinavia, Iceland etc.) and it is strange to consider that during times in this cold spell it was warmer in Reykjavik than in Llanelli!
Then on the night of 17th January and throughout most of the following day, another great mass of snow fell (8 inches+ measured in my garden) and drifting covered any clear though still frozen patches - under bushes etc. - that were left. Conditions were worsening and birds come gratefully for any food, but as usual it was the confident Starlings (though they have to feed too!) that dominated any feeding area. The timid Redwings and shy Song Thrushes kept to the margins of my feeding points and only apparently sometimes fed; the same was true for the single Pied Wagtail and elegant Grey Wagtail which spasmodically frequented my free-meal service; though they could be seen to feed on the smallest of fend particles left behind by the larger birds. Wagtails, together with other insect feeders such as Wrens, Robins, Goldcrests etc. will he substantially diminished next spring. The Green Woodpecker - not yet recovered in numbers since the 1981-1982 cold spell - will have been another great sufferer, and what about the smaller freshwater birds - Kingfishers, Water Rails, Snipe (they some¬times visited gardens) and even the large Heron?; though the heron would have resorted to estuaries, Ground-feeding seed-eaters such as Reed Buntings and Linnets would have had a hard time too. No Stonechats were seen en Tywyn Burrows on 3rd February, where prior to the cold spell 2 pairs were regular and many wings of Blackbirds and Redwings could be seen on the paths.
The birds that visited my garden all greedily devoured bought finch food or canary seed, fat (provided free by kindly butchers), and cut-up rotten apples (charged for by a shop-owning ex-R.S.P.B. member)! The fat was chopped up very small and with larger lumps on the ground tied to a bush for pecking etc. and to prevent any magpies/crows (best to chase them off!) hogging the lot. When buying bird seed remember to have a variety of sizes - small enough for dunnocks and chaffinches and not as one net shop offered mc, pigeons sized maize!
Then suddenly on Sunday, 20th, steady rain instead of snow fell, a quite rapid thaw set in and this continued during the following day. The surviving birds were no doubt pleased!
