Bird-watching in South Wales

Skomer Island – From April until October, visitors can take the 20 minute boat trip from Martin’s Haven, on the Pembrokeshire coast, out to Skomer, one of the most important puffin colonies in the UK. There are over 10,000 breeding pairs of Atlantic puffins on Skomer and neighbouring Skokholm, drawn there by the abundance of sand eels. As well as puffins, Skomer is a great place to spot shearwaters, guillemots, common kestrels and many other breeds of seabird and birds of prey.

Gower Peninsula – In 1956 Swansea’s Gower Peninsula was designated Britain’s first ever Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and with good reason. What’s more, visitors have described it as a “birdwatchers’ paradise”. Less than half an hour’s drive from Swansea City Centre, Oxwich Bay, to the south of the peninsula, is a great place to watch bitterns. Further west, 20 minutes from Oxwich by car, you’ll find the truly spectacular scenery of the Worm’s Head, overlooking the Bristol Channel, where you can spot auks, shearwaters and sea ducks. If you’ve left the car behind, and want to stretch your legs, an hour’s brisk walk out of Swansea will get you to Blackpill Beach, where Britain’s first ring billed gull was sighted in 1973. To this day it’s a great location for spotting rare seabirds.

Brecon Beacons – The Brecon Beacons National Park covers an area of almost 520 square miles in the heart of South Wales, from the Swansea Valley to the English border. Needless to say, in an area this vast there are too many breeds to count, but keen birders are likely to spot red kites (particularly in the west), red grouse, skylarks, pipits and buzzards. The Beacons’ many streams and rivers are also home to kingfishers, dippers and sand martins, while winter visitors can witness the spectacular aerial displays of migrating starlings, particularly in the area surrounding Llangorse Lake.