I’m writing to the bird clubs, RSPB groups, BTO representatives and county recorders in Carmarthenshire, Gower, East Glamorgan and Gwent to seek your help with giving cirl buntings a chance of securing a foothold in South Wales.

As you’ll doubtless know, a group of 6-7 cirl buntings was reported at Oxwich Burrows in late October, although they were not seen there again, and there is now a male near Marcross in the Vale of Glamorgan. The last breeding record in Wales was in Gwent in 1968, and although it was never common in Wales, breeding was widespread until the 1920s. Thanks to work by farmers, volunteers and the RSPB, the cirl bunting population has gone from near extinction (less than 130 pairs in 1989) to a more healthy 1000+ pairs. Although still relatively range-restricted, they have recolonised east Devon during the last 20 years and are on the way to becoming established in north Devon. With records from west Dorset and north Somerset in recent years, birds are exploring and if they find suitable habitat can establish themselves. So, perhaps it’s not surprising that they are starting to explore across the Bristol Channel and Severn estuary. Obviously, we want to give them a warm reception if/when they arrive, and that’s where I hope that birders and bird club/RSPB/BTO members in South Wales can help.

Although this initial arrival might fizzle to nothing, it could also be a sign of things to come, since this is the pattern seen in southwest England in the last decade – and presumably in the early 19^th century when cirl buntings were first found in Britain. In order to establish any patterns, RSPB Cymru would like to ensure that sightings end up in the same place. We would be grateful if you could alert members in your area to become familiar with cirl bunting song, to check yellowhammers carefully and to keep an eye open to the possibility of cirl bunting in suitable breeding habitat – for ID and habitat requirements visit the Cirl Bunting Action Hub. We will check BirdTrack and eBird for records, but would also ask birders to report sightings (ideally with a six figure grid reference) directly to our dedicated email address, CirlBunting@rspb.org.uk, which will enable us to see any patterns emerging. Similarly, if county recorders receive reports directly, please could you pass them on. We don’t plan to do any big communications about this at the moment, let’s see what happens. If records continue into the breeding season, please do treat records confidentially and ask members to avoid putting news on local blogs etc – cirl bunting is a Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife & Countryside Act.

We are in touch with National Trust and NRW about the potential of cirl bunting range expansion, and talking to the Nature-friendly Farming Network in Wales, but if you have existing farming contacts in suitable areas, please do raise awareness of the birds. There is some useful information about the birds and their needs on the RSPB website.

While colonisation may not occur quickly, we may need to respond quickly if more birds arrive, so if you or any of your local members are interested in doing a bit more to help, such as receiving training from the RSPB England cirl bunting project to co-ordinate monitoring, liaise with farmers and provide supplementary feeding if the opportunity arises, please do let me know.

Fingers crossed that this is the start of something very exciting…