We’ve had over 100 photos for the 2026 WOS Photo Competition and entries are now closed. Judging is now starting.

WOS is supportive of Natural Resources Wales’s proposals for a gamebird release licensing system in Wales to regulate the industry. Read more for our detailed position statement.

The Summer 2026 Newsletter has been emailed to all members – as usual, it’s packed with news, reviews and reports,

Don’t feed seeds and peanuts to your birds between May and October – this can lead to a spread of finch trichomonosis.

The British Trust for Ornithology, BirdWatch Ireland, the RSPB, Scottish Ornithologists’ Club and Welsh Ornithological Society have announced a new partnership to begin work on Bird Atlas 2027–31, a project that will provide complete and unrivalled information from every part of Britain and Ireland, telling us which birds are where and how they are doing.

The latest edition of the list of birds recorded in Wales has been published, but it’s more than a list. It also reminds us how the environment is changing, writes Welsh Bird Report editor Julian Hughes.

The annual report on scarce and rare birds in Wales in 2024 has now been published and is available to WOS members at https://birdsin.wales/scarce-and-rare-birds-in-wales/.

We sold a good number of the 2026 WOS calendar at Conference, but we still have some available for purchase by post for £10, which includes p&p. The calendar features all the thirteen prize winning and highly commended pictures from the 2025 competition. 

There are some really cracking photos in the calendar, so make sure you get hold of your copy before they sell out! If you’d like to purchase one (or more), just follow this link and you can pay by card.

If the Co-op at Machynlleth can put Swift boxes up, all new build houses can have them.

If you’re a WOS member you’ll have received the Autumn Newsletter towards the end of September. Read more to see the article we’ve selected for open publication.

Clare Ryland, our superb current Secretary, comes to the end of her term of office on Council at the 2025 AGM and we are looking to find a replacement to keep the smooth running of WOS going.

The SFS (Sustainable Farming Scheme) will be introduced across Wales in 2026 – act now to help that it’s properly funded by signing the RSPB e-action petition.

The Spring 2025 newsletter is on its way to WOS members and Affiliate Groups. Once again, it’s a bumper 26-page edition, packed with articles on several different types of bird recording, community and project grants, with news of the first award from the President’s Grant.

We’re bringing quite a few dates and deadlines forward this year and this is the case with the Lifetime Achievement

2024 may well have been one of WOS’ most productive years to date. Here are some of the headlines and highlights from a busy year.

Tir Natur have set up a Crowdfunder to purchase 1000 acres of land for rewilding.

The loss of half of the Welsh breeding population of Gannets sees them added
to Wales’ Red List.

Thank you to all the WOS members who completed our survey questionnaire. There have been some really insightful comments on what WOS should be doing and these were really useful in informing the annual review of our five-year strategy (the current one runs up until 2026) at the July Council meeting.

It’s unusual for Milvus issues to be published out of sequence, but we’re pleased finally to add Milvus Volume 2, issue 1 to join  ‘Scarce and Rare Birds in Wales, 2022’ (Milvus Volume 2, issue 2) and the Welsh Bird Report (Milvus Volume 2, issue 3). The links to the PDFs will only show if you are logged in as a WOS member.

In December, the Welsh Government launched a consultation that could pave the way to a brighter future for wildlife in Wales. But, to make sure that happens requires us all to raise our voices for nature before 7 March. Will you join me in doing that?

Glamorgan Birds is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting where Edward Mayer will present ‘Saving Swifts and Supporting Local Biodiversity’.

Wales, along with the other countries of the UK and like most other regions worldwide, has experienced a significant loss of biodiversity. The trends presented in the State of Nature 2023 report cover, at most, 50 years, but these follow on from major changes to Wales’ nature over previous centuries. As a result, Wales is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. 18% of all  species are threatened with extinction.

Now that the Wales Agriculture Bill is law we need all your support to influence the Welsh Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths AM to produce a scheme which is workable and benefits all stakeholders – not least the birds of Wales.

The WOS AGM 2023 will take place virtually on 28th October. The agenda and details of how members can vote can be found by following this link.

We are sad to report that Roger Lovegrove, who was a founding member of WOS and a deserved recipient of the Society’s Lifetime Acievement Award in 2013, died on 22nd June 2023. Click on the link to read a brief obituary.

From Andalusia, through Brittany and back to north Wales – which proved his last destination Both our Welsh-tagged cuckoos survived

We’ve therefore reviewed our whole grants and awards structure and are now launching a revised offering, which we hope will encourage more members and groups to apply.

While Red Kites were still rare, the Welsh Kite Trust attempted to monitor all breeding sites. When the success of

In 2022, thanks to the help of many volunteers, over 450 survey squares were covered. However, we need more squares surveyed in 2023 for a robust population estimate to be calculated.

The annual report on Wales’s rare and scarce birds for 2021 is now published and available to read or download

The long delayed North-East Wales bird report has finally been published; it’s a double edition covering 2019 and 2020 and

July was, as usual, quite a quiet month for scarce birds in Wales, but shearwaters and terns featured strongly. Click

A White-throated Sparrow coming to a garden bird bath in Porthcawl was the highlight of the month. Click here for

WOS attended the RWAS Smallholding and Countryside Festival held in Llanelwedd over the weekend of 21st-22nd May. This was the first

There’s been a lot of activity on the scarce and rare front in Wales during the past two months and

The monthly report feature has now been reinstated on the website and is now extended to cover more than just

Tony Cross has been awarded the Jubilee Medal by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) in recognition of the scientific

This is the 5th Birds of Conservation Concern review, with the first published in 1996. The bird species that breed

Luke Beckett’s submission is summarised here: Globally recognised research from Wales has revealed how White-throated Dippers indicate the quality of

The season finished with a bang – a great fall on 1st November, with over 1000 Chaffinches, 1850 Starlings, 37

Earlier today (Nov 4th) WOS’ President, Iolo Williams, met First Minister for Wales, Mark Drakeford in Cardiff to present him

In early 2021 we offered small grants of up to 75% (maximum £1000) towards projects that benefit species listed as

WOS is now offering annual membership for only £5 per year for young birders up to the age of 25.

Elegant Tern has not been seen in Wales for 19 years! It’s now the thirteenth species of tern to be

We learnt with sadness that Graham Rees “Mr Strumble”, passed away on 23 June. Graham’s name will always be synonymous

We are very pleased to award three small grants towards 2021 research – we received high quality applications and look

On 9th May an astonishing flock of 13 Bee-eaters arrived on the Llyn peninsula, near Uwchmynydd. This was an unprecedented

Behind the scenes, RSPB Cymru, WOS and others have continued to press Welsh Government to give the small Welsh wintering

The Welsh Government consultation on Sustainable Farming and Wildlife has now closed. We need to put nature at the heart