06 Nov Welsh Ornithological Society Conference 2026
BSG Ecology was again the main sponsor of the Welsh Ornithological Society (WOS) Conference, held at Aberystwyth University on Saturday 31 October.
The Conference theme was “Bound for Wales – conserving our migrant birds” and the agenda included fascinating talks on species including pied flycatcher, little tern, swift and shelduck. Dr Rob Thomas started the day with a talk on the effects of climate change on pied flycatcher and the ability of the species to adapt to it, while an uplifting news news story concerned the success of the Welsh little tern colonies at Gronant and Point of Ayr this year (productivity at both sites was excellent – reflecting increased wardening activity). As always many well-known names in field ornithology in Wales were present, and it was great to catch up with numerous surveyors with whom we have worked in recent years. A further highlight was watching Adrienne Stratford, who has contributed so much to chough conservation in Wales in particular, receive a hugely deserved Lifetime Achievement Award from Iolo Williams on behalf of WOS.
The Conference is a very popular event for the BSG Wales team, and as usual we took a several people to man our stand and listen to the talks.
Dan Watson (Senior Ecologist) said: “The WOS conference is always one of the engagement highlights of the year for the Welsh team, and this year proved no different; the opportunity to hear about developments in research, changes to the status of Welsh bird species, catch up with some of our subcontractors at the end of the season, and meet the “up-and-coming” next generation of ornithologists makes for a great day. The talks were very diverse this year and included some interesting data on the impacts of off-shore windfarms on shelduck, as well as population and phenological trends for Pied flycatcher, both of which can be considerations on our projects.”