Thomson Ecology are currently conducting breeding bird surveys on behalf of Natural Resources Wales in Planted Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) throughout the country.
This is to determine baseline bird populations so that any impacts of changes in management or habitat can be determined.
We have just completed the first survey visit and a wide range of common woodland species were recorded. Of particular interest were high numbers of singing mistle thrushes and song thrushes as both of these are red-listed as Birds of Conservation Concern (BoCC). There were also good numbers of goldcrests, coal tits and siskins which are conifer specialists.
The highlight of the week was spotting two pied flycatchers in Dyfi Forest. Both were male birds and one was singing. Pied flycatcher is a Welsh broadleaf woodland speciality species and a summer migrant from West Africa. We hope and expect to see more on the next survey visit along with other summer visitors, potentially including redstart and wood warbler.
