Still hanging on - but for how much longer?

Good news first: Swifts are still around and it was nice to get confirmation this week of a pair nesting in what seems to be a new west side of Pembroke town location in an old Victorian House where they are still feeding young (young are heard calling when an adult scrambles into the nest site - a narrow crevice/space above the wall plate - a typical site in such dwellings. But how many such traditional nest sites will be lost in future house improvement/energy conservation renovations? This ones fate is well secured and the owner/reporter of the nest (NT teacher at Stackpole, Matt Lister who has not noticed them here in previous years) is considering putting up additional swift boxes to try and encourage them to prosper on his property.

The not so good news (indeed potentially dire news?):
We still have at least one green woodpecker at Stackpole - a male seen yesterday feeding on the ant hills. He was calling a lot and flying about but no sign of a mate or a family (yet).

The BTO have just sent us a very up to date UK map of green woodpecker distribution from the first 2 years of Atlas bashing. Range contraction is so evident in Wales - hardly any reported so far in Ceredigion (very patchy distribution) and none in West Carms yet. Stackpole's yaffles look about as isolated in Wales as St Kilda is from the mainland!

Right up a broad swathe of the western side of Wales seems to be much the same story for this species. Its population seems to be shrinking eastwards and at quite a fast rate - why? There are still two Atlas seasons to go and to find them, but will this year be the last year we see them in Pembs?