My recovery continues and I decided a day out was in order to help it!! To that end I ventured into North Wales, always a favourite destination.
First port of call was Llandudno, heading for Mostyn Avenue where a wintering bird has been attracting a lot of attention. Dog walkers and house owners all seemed happy to chat about it and give advice,however it went missing for an hour as I arrived! Always prefering proactive birding I took a wander and re-found the immature Rose-coloured Starling atop a chimney pot down a side alley. Calling other birders to me we were all soon watching it, not as plain buff as the Altrincham bird of last year, but more coming into adult plumage with hints of pink and black in the plumage (see piccy).
Next I headed to the Little Orme where Fulmars were already paired up and on nesting ridges, it it really still January!? Ravens flew over head and Shags perched along the lowere cliffs. A quick stop at Rhos Point only produced a Turnstone, but with the tide out I new I was n't going to see any Purple Sandpipers. The it was down the Conwy Valley to Llanrwst and a short wait here produced a single Hawfinch, this is the go to place for them this winter rather than Llanbedr y cennin or Caer Hun.
Then it was back up the valley and onto the coast. First stop was Llanddulas where lots of Common Scoter, a few Red-breasted Mergansers and a flypast Razorbill were added to my list. Finaly to the Kinmel Bay/Rhyl area and first to Horton's Nose, a placethat I'd never visited before. Walking round behind the cafe I found a scrubby area in which several logs were strewn. There in the sunshine, using the logs as a feeding perch was the Black Redstart that has been wintering here. Returning to the car for my digiscoping gear I returned but didn't see the bird again! However a bonus was a fly-by Red-throated Diver and lots more Common Scoters. Finally I navigated my way through to Rhyl Brickfields NR and immediately founf the female Scaup amongst a small group of Tufted Ducks.
With time getting on and light failing I headed home after a cracking days birding. North Wales never lets me down
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Tuesday 15th of January 2019 09:55:19 PM
Just seen the Llandudno juv Rose Coloured Starling again, down the alley off Victoria Street between there and Mostyn Ave.
Dave Ousey said
Wed Dec 12 8:46 AM, 2018
A Royal Occasion on Anglesey. 11/12/2018
The sighting of a possible Sandwich Tern on Anglesey this weekend must have started a few alarm bells ringing, due to the lateness of this species being present. Roll forward until Monday early afternoon when the bird information services said Royal Tern on Anglesey Now this species, for me, has been a particularly difficult one to catch up with after missing out at Porthmadog and twice at Llandudno in June 2009. There was also a few thoughts as to the bird being assigned to either American or African sub species but, it was later confirmed as being American? Was it the long staying bird that has been present on Guernsey and briefly on the south coast of England, doing a tour of the coastline?
The decision to wait for news of the bird at Lligwy Dulas/Lligwy Beach, south of Amlwch was taken by myself and Steve B, so at 9am the Royal Tern was reported as flying across the bay at Lligwy, after a quick call to Steve I had us on our way by 9-45am. The traffic was reasonable for a weekday as we did the normal M56/A55 route towards Anglesey. We arrived at Lligwy Beach just before noon to the news that the bird had been on the beach for a while and had just flown off towards Lligwy Dulas, I thought typical! A couple of groups of birders could be seen scattered around the beach area probably numbering about 40/50, not a lot for such a major Twitch we thought. After 15 minutes or so news of the bird was put out that it was at Lligwy Dulas and giving good views. So without further ado a scene from Wacky Races was recreated as we dashed to hopefully see the bird. We followed the various vehicles and ended up parking up and dashing to look into a waiting telescope at the Royal Tern stood in the water, at last, what a bird!! We walked over a tidal muddy area and watched the bird as it flew up and began fishing and having a good old fly about, until it headed out towards the small island called Ynys Dulas that has a tower/obelisk built on it. I met a couple of older birding mates from the Scillies, a chef from Sunderland and a man from Bexleyheath, Kent who had travelled to see the tern.
We headed back to Lligwy Beach hoping that the tern would come into roost on the beach at around 3pm as the tide went out. The bird was seen in flight a few more times and the general large size and its similarities to Caspian Tern were noted. Our hopes of the bird coming into roost on the beach were being hampered by a constant gaggle of dog walkers, who seemed to be oblivious of all the waiting birders gathered around, how selfish of them. The tern flew fairly close towards us and gave excellent flight views and then headed away. It was going dark by now so we decided to set off for home, the usual rush hour traffic was further hampered by an accident on the M56 that cost us about an hour, reaching Rochdale by 7-25pm. What a brilliant bird and well worth the effort, hope it stays for the weekend.
Dave O
Doc Brewster said
Tue Dec 11 9:51 PM, 2018
When news broke yesterady latish in the afternoon of an ornage-billed tern on Anglesey there was no time to chance a trip. So I made plans to go on news today.
Soon after breakfast a flypast was reported, so with pack-up already made I was off! I headed as quickly as possible over to Anglesey and went straight to Traeth Lligwy, N.of Moelfre, where most of the sightings were coming out from. Pulling up in the car park I opened the car door just as folk started shouting to each other "it's back, flying in straight towards us!". A moment of indecision crept in, do I race up to the shore with just bins, or get coat, bins, scope & tripod? I banked on the tern being visible for a bit, so went with the latter. As I arrived at the line of birders the first one offered up his scope which was on the tern flying in, so that got me a brief view and a direction. Then I got my scope onto it as it came closer & closer. Eventually it landed not far offshore on a sand bar, there in all its glory a Royal Tern
I watched it stood amongst a few gulls for a very short time and then just as I was about to digiscope it, it flew again. This happened once more and again it was on the deck for too short a time for pictures, so I just watched it at length. We saw it catch a fish just offshore and swallow it in flight. The bird gave terrific views flying up and down and hovering before diving several times. The views of it stoof on the sand were just the icing on the cake. After a while it flew off around the headland to the north. Cue the Wacky Races! A couple of dozen cars headed off and after one wrong turn (!!) we ended up at Treath Dulas where we had the tern in flight very close before it perched on the shingle at the mouth of the bay. Soon it then headed off again out of the bay, presumably to feed as it was now high tide.
The bird has been assigned to the sub-species (currently pending a possible split) American Royal Tern, but if split or not this was my only life tick of 2018, and it was left pretty late, Dec 11th! Takes my UK List to 491, hence why it's getting hard to add new birds. I'm not chasing the 500, it will happen if it's meant to be, or not, no pressure at all Great too today to see so many Cheshire birders there & to chat to, and a few of my Welsh birding buddies too, but as a few of us commented not a hugely attended twitch for such a mega bird, prob due to it being in the week, only the 2nd day and Anglesey being a long way off for many. I'm sure that the weekend will be incredibly busy if, as I expect, the bird stays around.
Mike Chorley said
Sun Dec 9 10:07 PM, 2018
Trip over to Anglesey today to catch up with a few missing year ticks for Mike A and/or myself.
RSPB Cors Ddyga
Nice little marshland reserve, especially if you take the nature trail walk rather than the tarmacked dog toilet. 3 Whooper Swans initially on a pool in the marshy area; they later flew to join 12 more on the west bank of the Afon Cefni Canada and Greylag flocks there but no small grey geese that we could see. Female/juv Stonechat Grey Heron 2 Common Buzzard 5 very visible Snipe Lapwing flock (now scarce on the island according to the site boards) Wigeon, Shoveler, Redshank etc 22 species in total Just missed a Water Pipit (one of up to 5 here recently according to one of the local birders)
Llyn Llygeirian: Thanks to directions from said local birder we were straight to the causeway ......and straight onto Lesser Scaup 1 made a little easier by the fact that it was all on it's own at the south end while all the local ducks were sheltered up in the north west corner Mallard, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Teal, Coot, Little Grebe (4 min) and 2 Mute Swans comprised the rest of the waterfowl with Black-headed, Lesser and Greater Black-backed Gulls party of Long-tailed Tits on the causeway.
A combination of an accident on the M60 early doors, the North Wales coastal monsoon and fading light frustrated our attempts to find the LLandudno Rosy Starling but still a pleasant day out.
(Spellcheck had understandable problems with the Welsh place names - Coors Daddy [aka Jean-Claude Van Damme ?] and Lynn Algerian were the nearest it could manage!)
Mike Duckham said
Tue Dec 4 2:06 PM, 2018
The juvenile Rose Coloured Starling is still present in Craig y Don, Llandudno - just had it in my back yard again. I assume it's still after my next door neighbours fat balls.
Mike Chorley said
Sat Dec 1 6:29 PM, 2018
Slavonian Grebe showing very nicely this afternoon at Brickfields Nature Reserve. Seemed to be feeding well and taking its' cues from the local Tufted Ducks with which it was associating. When they went into a defensive huddle and moved out to the centre it stuck closely to them. Cracking bird on a cracking little local reserve.
Peter Brown said
Thu Nov 29 2:09 PM, 2018
Today late this morning/early afternoon a cool Short Eared Owl showed really well on the Little Orme both on the deck and in flight,typical i did not have my camera with me! But really enjoyed the views!
Mark Jarrett said
Mon Nov 26 10:37 PM, 2018
I also made the trip to Rhyl today to see the adult Slavonian Grebe that's been present at the pond for just over a week. Nice to meet you Carl.
Whilst I was there, the bird was always fairly distant and when it did venture towards the fishermen' pegs (where the birders were), the sun was directly behind it making it a nightmare for photographs. Still nice to see though, either in summer or winter plumage.
Had to make the trip today to see the Slavonian Grebe in Rhyl. Its at old brickworks pond and showing really well. Feeding a lot so hopefully it will hang around for a while (see pictures) Thought it might be a good idea to put the post code on if anyone wants to see it. LL18 2YR
-- Edited by Carl Fletcher-Poole on Monday 26th of November 2018 06:21:28 PM
At mid morning today 6 Eider flew past Penrhyn Bay and the Little Orme,2 males and 4 females.
Keith Williams said
Mon Nov 26 7:29 AM, 2018
Sunday - Slavonian Grebe still on Brickfields Pond, Rhyl
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Nov 25 7:18 PM, 2018
Shannon Llewellyn wrote:
Guillemot (a first for me in winter plumage)
Well, this is embarrassing.
This was, without question, actually a red-throated diver.
I could go on about being stood out on a jagged spit in the rain watching over the swell for fleeting glimpses of an unfamiliar bird at a fair distance in bad weather, all of which would be true, but the truth is when I saw a two-tone bird dive down, my brain said 'auk!', not 'auk or diver!', so then it was a question of trying to eliminate two of the three possibles.
Definitely what it was, though, got an adequate view of back pattern, which clearly had that spangled effect, and I even noted the bill had an upturned effect (which I put down to a tilt of the head). Tut. Dive (which I did see the action of from behind pretty well) was completely wrong for an auk, too, going on the large number of videos I've since watched,
Got there in the end; always learning (at least learning not to excitedly splurge over the internet before proper checking!).
Actually an entirely new bird for me, so the trip was even more successful that I initially realised! Though I do, obviously, have to yet see a guillemot in winter plumage...
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 25th of November 2018 07:40:24 PM
Shannon Llewellyn said
Fri Nov 23 9:57 PM, 2018
Fantastic few days in Rhosneigr this week, from Late Monday (just time to watch some waders in the gloaming that day) to midday today. Some fantastic, and one - frankly - bizarre, species noted. This is a wonderful birding spot, especially in the winter. Had pretty much the whole beach, from rocky headland to the south and tidal mudflats in the north, to myself all week. Brilliant. Habitats also include coastal scrub, extensive dune networks and a large lake, as well as the village itself.
Notable species:
Cetti's warber (heard only) House sparrow (good population in the village) Linnet Stonechat Swallow (!!!) Meadow pipit Rock pipit White wagtail (was pretty surprised by this, too) Skylark Starling everywhere Chough (repeatedly; at 10 feet on one occasion, not at all bothered by me, but eventually spooked by the jets, unfortunately; 8 most seen together, but also a six and pairs a couple of times. What a bird.) Rook Raven Teal Wigeon Gadwall Pintail Tufted duck Goldeneye Red-breasted merganser (scratchy views, but still) Goosander Eider (a UK first for me; had then in Iceland and Sweden before. Now Wales.) Shelduck Brent geese (light-bellied) Little grebe Great crested grebe (a couple on the sea; no matter how many times I see them there, it still looks odd!) Ringed plover Golden plover (including one big flock put up distantly) Grey plover Lapwing Dunlin Sanderling Purple sandpiper Turnstone Jack snipe Snipe Redshank Greenshank Oystercatcher Curlew Little egret Grey heron Guillemot (a first for me in winter plumage) Common gull Great black-backed gull Shag Cormorant Merlin (in your face, Little Woolden Moss) Kestrel Buzzard
Also various finches, thrushes, more corvids, collared doves, common rails and one woodpigeon.
I'm in a very good mood at the moment; in three hours this morning, with perhaps a mile or so's walking, but mostly spent standing around, I had jack snipe, sanderling, purple sandpiper, grey plover, little egret, eider, guillemot and merlin. And everything always seems so obliging. Good patch!
Simon Gough said
Sun Nov 11 11:08 AM, 2018
Saturday 10th November
A good day out with Stockport Birdwatching Society at North Wales sites. Some rain during the day but luckily it mainly held off. We started at The Spinnies NWWT at Aber Ogwen. Some good numbers of Curlew were about, with a flock of 100 or more feeding in the adjacent fields and lots more in the general area. Kingfisher was seen by others on the small pool but the highlight for me was some very smart Red-breasted Mergansers on the sea, with various male birds displaying to females. Plenty of Goldeneye here as well but no notable Grebes or Divers.
We moved on,with a late Swallow seen by some from the coach, and arrived at Morfa Madryn. 2 Rock Pipits showed very well at close range and there were hundreds of Wigeon and plenty of Teal and Pintail moving around as a pretty high tide started to drop back. Nice views of roosting waders too, with hundreds of Oystercatcher but various others like Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot and Ringed Plover too.
On Llanfairfechan seafront the visibility was great on a pretty flat sea, but there was nothing much about. Then with one of those strange turns that seems to almost be a flick of a switch, various members of the group started picking up Divers as the tide dropped but also with a slight swell becoming evident off the beach. We saw at least one Great Northern Diver as well as the expected Red-throateds. This bird was interesting as it held its bill up like a White-billed. Personally watching Divers on the sea is something I enjoy more than almost anything else so I was loving it. I always seem to start picking them up as the tide drops, they never seem to show on a rising tide. Not sure if this is a valid observation but it is something I've noticed a number of times at different locations.
However we had to move onto to Conwy RSPB, and the reserve was quiet. Some of the group found a wintering Chiffchaff but there was no sign of the trademark Firecrests or Water Pipits at this site. We did pick up a few species of passerines and some ducks, and I ended up with a list of 66 species for the day, including 13 duck species which I think is the most I've ever tallied.
All in all it was a really good trip, with a typically relaxed and good-humoured atmosphere.
Mark Jarrett said
Mon Nov 5 4:12 PM, 2018
The Lesser Scaup was still present late morning today at Llyn Llygeirian, Anglesey. Viewed from the public footpath causeway, the bird is associating with a few Tufted Duck in the south west corner of the lake. Quite distant but good scope views were had. Too far away for any decent photos unfortunately.
Rob Creek said
Fri Nov 2 10:02 AM, 2018
Thursday 1st November 2018
Working over in Llandudno today and whilst waiting for one of my customers to open, I managed to connect with a juvenile Rosy Starling (or as I prefer Rose-coloured Starling). It was with a small group of Starlings on an aerial on one of the rooftops literally a few minutes from the busy town centre. It flew down to some feeders in a front garden then back on the roof, then disappeared for a few minutes, and so the pattern continued until a cat came wandering into the garden and flushed the lot. I'm not sure if it was seen after that. A cracking looking bird and I think the juveniles have a lot of character too!
Also the the field nearby opposite the sea just outside the centre was full of Curlew.
Stopped off at Llanddulas for a break, I scanned the 100's of Gulls but the [b]Glaucous Gull wasn't there. It was reported the other day so could still be around locally.
Also at Llanddulas - Common Scoters on the sea - 1 Ringed Plover - 5 Turnstone - 2 Grey Wagtail
I've recently had a few trips into North Wales to take advantage of the good weather at the end of October.
First trip was to Towyn on the coast to lurk around a small car park for a couple of hours. Here I managed to catch up with a Yellow-browed Warbler found by local Susan Morris who was there too. The bird was incredibly elusive but I first relocated it the canopy of an oak tree in the corner of the car park. It was then seen later flying from this same tree to another one close by, and then finally I had it in an apple tree in an adjacent garden, which I later discovered was Susan's garden and the apple tree was its favourite afternoon location!
My next trip involved a drive over to Anglesey, specifically to a new lake that I had never visited before. The site, Llyn Llygeirian, was easily found and a walk down the causeway allowed me to scan the water. I was the only birder present but soon found my quarry, a Lesser Scaup, amongst a few Tufted Ducks. The bird showed well in the scope, albeit always on the far side of the lake. I was joined by a local birder later and we watched it actively feeding in the sunshine. This bird is still present today.
The today I headed west again, this time to the outskirts of Bala. Taking a minor road up onto the moors I parked up and walked the short distance to Llyn Caer-Euni. Here I soon located the drake Ring-necked Duck that has been here for over a week. The bird was with 7 Tufted Ducks, but very wary and again always by the far shore.... from whichever shore I walked to! Also on the lake were a female Goldeneye, a female Wigeon and 3 Teal.
I managed very poor record shots of the latter two birds, the duo of ducks, and a composite of these is attached (the Lesser Scaup top and Ring-necked Duck below!)
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 28th of October 2018 04:53:36 PM
Today at 12.30pm i had a cool Waxwing on Penrhynside Mountain near Llandudno,lovely close views before flying torwards Penrhynside Village with its lovely Trilling call.Is this the sign of a good Waxwing winter??? Also in this area 6 Whooper Swans flew over on Saturday Morning.
Rob Creek said
Wed Oct 17 12:41 AM, 2018
Tuesday 16th October 2018
Working in North Wales today and squeezed a bit of Birding in. Misty conditions early on whilst over near Llanberis - Snowdonia then brightened up later in Angelsey and Llanddulas.
- 1 Hen Harrier (Ringtail) quartering fields near Rhiwlas - 1 Merlin (female) sat on post but distant near Pentir - Ravens seen in Llanberis and Angelsey - 2nd yr Glaucous Gull still at Llanddulas - 14 Common Scoter including 1 close in
Llandulas beach in nice sunny weather but blowing a gale and a choppy tide was coming in.
- 2nd yr Glaucous Gull still present. A quite confiding bird as it doesn't fly off like many of the other Gulls do. It actually took off from the sea where it was bathing at first and flew right over towards me and landed on the beach posts. It started preening and remained there for a while just braving out the wind. At one point it was wind hovering a couple of inches above the post, then shortly after it flew back over the rocks back out on to the sea. It looks better and better each time I see it.
Thought it would be rude not to call in whilst over in Llandudno. Weather was atrocious, torrential rain, some strong gusts of wind, and a sea mist coming in. There were literally 100's of Gulls on the beach and around the River mouth but the Glauc was sat resting on the shale in the middle of the Gulls but in its own space if you like. It was worth the effort braving the elements as I sat down on the rocks in the pouring rain, many of the Gulls were really on edge (maybe due to reduced visibility?) but the Glauc stood up and flew a bit nearer to me and just looked at me. Certainly didn't bank on that!
Also of note... - 1 Wheatear (looks different to last one I had, moulting?) - 1 Sandwich Tern - 1 Curlew feeding among the rocks - 10+ Turnstone - 1 Dunlin
Glad I left when I did as the rain got heavier and the sea mist came in right over the A55 and brought traffic to a crawl on my way home.
Another delivery day in Llandudno today and miraculously a tacho break was due as I passed Llandulas on my way back to the depot.
- 1st summer Glaucous Gull
It's not been reported for a couple of weeks but it's still at Llandulas near the river Dulas mouth, but a Giant Poodle was let off the lead on the beach and 100's of Gulls were put up, so I had to wait frustratingly until it landed again. It isn't shy though and when you sit still on the rocks it does get used to you. It's a belter of a Gull and it's massive. It was difficult to drag myself away.
Also on the beach... - 1 Wheatear (presumably Northern, although it looked quite big and rich in colour) - 2 Fulmar flying over the beach rocks near caravan park - 5 Sandwich Terns - 5 Turnstone
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Thursday 30th of August 2018 09:04:41 PM
Delivering in Llandudno and surrounding areas today so seized an opportunity for a bit of "tacho-break birding". Finished the route and stopped off at Llandulas in gorgeous sunny weather.
- 1st summer (2CY) Glaucous Gull
A stunner of a Gull, surely the same 1st winter bird from December, I can't believe it's stayed so long. It flew passed me whilst walking on the beach track near the River Dulas when I first saw it, but then it descended behind the large rocks near the river mouth so I picked it out from amongst c100-150 large Gulls which didn't take long. It's a huge bird this one, largest Gull present. It was mobile for a while though between the river mouth and the Bron-y-wendon caravan park down the other end of the beach as some kids were launchin pebbles towards the Gull flock. It came back though and I enjoyed more views.
Also... - c20+ Turnstone in stunning plumage - c50+ Oystercatcher - 1 Rock Pipit - Sandwich and Common Terns over the sea
Went over to South Stack, Anglesey this morning with John Barber and Dave Hughston. Our target bird was the Snowy Owl that was reported present yesterday afternoon. Arrived at 07.15 to be told that there had been no sign today. Considering that this bird appears not to stay in any particular place on the island for any length of time we were not surprised at this news. Still we had a good look round in pleasant weather seeing a good selection of species including many Stonechat and Meadow Pipit as well as four Chough together, a single Rock Pipit, a Peregrine falcon and up to eight Puffins in the water and on the rocks below the lighthouse.
Doc Brewster said
Sat Jun 16 10:45 AM, 2018
Oops sorry I cut & pasted from another site & didn't check!! As Ian says negative news so far after it flew off inland at 9.30pm last night, obviously trying to relocate itself to my grid ref
Ian McKerchar said
Sat Jun 16 10:30 AM, 2018
John Watson wrote:
Paul, that grid reference is nowhere near 1 mile ENE of Amlwch, not that I have any better info
I guess it should be something like SH 459 936 (not as you reported SH 459 693) assuming the digits have been transposed.
Grid reference is indeed given as SH 459 936 and also SH 459 934.
No sign of the Snowy Owl at Amlwch so far this morning anyway.
John Watson said
Sat Jun 16 9:38 AM, 2018
Paul, that grid reference is nowhere near 1 mile ENE of Amlwch, not that I have any better info
I guess it should be something like SH 459 936 (not as you reported SH 459 693) assuming the digits have been transposed.
Doc Brewster said
Fri Jun 15 9:42 PM, 2018
Just sharing news of a bird that I haven't been to see but if it sticks then I may well make the trip to get my 2nd ever record in the UK. It is a SNOWY OWL, a first year female and it's on Anglesey. Reports are that it has been present for a few days and when news got out today it was well twitched. If it sticks then I expect the weekend to be busy. The bird is 1ml ENE of Amlwch at SH459693 and should be viewed only from the public footpath.
Richard Thew said
Mon Jun 4 10:26 AM, 2018
Ffestiniog and Llandudno update:
Now that I'm back home and sorted my records out, officially I've seen 83 species in total with 2 others heard only near Prestatyn (grasshopper warbler and cettis warbler).
Llandudno area- 57 Ffestiniog area- 62
Top 12 highlights were as follows....
1st Tawny owl, found on top of a wall partly hidden in greenery 2nd tree pipit, from a Ffestiniog walk following the steam line close 3rd Ring ouzels showed randomly well on a walk along the old quarry hills 4th Cuckoo showing well in the same area I had the tree pipits 5th Pied flycatchers showed exceptionally well around Dduallt 6th Garden warbler singing in view from shrub in Conwy 7th Little terns found along the North coast 8th Wood warblers experience (closer than Manchesters birds) 9th Redstart singing and showing well in the sun with the tree pipits 10th Linnet sat posing near Prestatyn closer than usual 11th siskins showed suprisingly well with little fear near Ceunant Cynfal 12th Skylark very close singing away near the Rhyl coast
There were plenty of other big highlights but these are the ones that really stood out to me as extra special!
Attached; ring ouzel, garden warbler and another cuckoo.
Areas covered (roughly); Conwy coast to Prestatyn via Llandudno Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llan Ffestiniog via Coed Cymerau Tanygrisiau to Tan-y-Bwich via Dduallt
Week spent around Rhosneigr again last week, from Monday evening to Friday morning, with a day on Holy Island; stunning weather, couldn't have asked for better, really. Good species seen, and some cracking views of the terns at low tide. Some of the highlights:
Rhosneigr & surrounds:
Sedge warbler, reed warbler, Cetti's warbler, linnet, reed bunting, sand martin (one of the two colonies active and healthy seeming, the other no birds at all when I was there), house martin, swallow, stonechat, wheatear, meadow pipit, rock pipit, white wagtail, skylark, common warblers, thrushes, corvids, etc. Raven Gadwall Red-breasted merganser Great crested grebe Ringed plover (including a chick and a colour-ringed individual) Dunlin Sanderling Turnstone Oystercatcher Curlew Little egret Grey heron Common tern Arctic tern Sandwich tern Great black-backed gull (including one on nest at Llyn Maelog; nice to see) Shag Cormorant Peregrine Buzzard
House sparrow and starling populations seem very healthy in the village, and plenty of confirmed breeding evidence from a variety of other species, from Cetti's warbler to oystercatcher. Long dead gannet on the beach, too.
Holy Island, Wednesday. Taxi to South Stack then back to Holyhead via the coastal path (one of my favourite walks):
A single (single-legged) black guillemot in the harbour outside the railway station; giving lovely, close-in views from the walkway. Also here a couple of herring gull sitting, and probably oystercatcher, too.
South Stack, from about 10 - 3:
6+ linnet 6 stonechat, including three fledglings 1 wheatear Meadow and rock pipit 4 - 6 chough (one feeding about six feet away from me) 5 puffin 3,000+ guillemot 600+ razorbill 5+ kittiwake 300+ herring gull 30+ lesser black-backed gull 6+ great black-backed gull Shag and cormorant flybys 3 or 4 fulmar 5+ gannet (viewable all day, pretty much)
Singles of chough and raven on the mountain face.
North stack, late afternoon; gave me the heebie-jeebies walking past the cottage to view the stack itself, but worth it, as you get some good views:
6 linnet 3 meadow pipit 2 rock pipit 2 chough c40 razorbill (no guillemot) 110+ herring gull (presumably more on the seaward side) 4 lesser black-backed gull 2 great black-backed gull 13 cormorant (including chicks on seven nests) 3 shag (only one nest this time, two chicks) 10 fulmar (lovely views of them sitting) 1 kestrel
Forty five minutes or so looking around Breakwater Country Park before heading back into Holyhead yielded the four common warbler species, peregrine and buzzard.
Cracking week's birding, and general wildlife watching (some excellent non-avian species seen too), again here. Will be back in the winter, everything permitting.
Fab cuckoo shot down there, by the way.
Richard Thew said
Fri Jun 1 10:20 PM, 2018
....trip continued from Llandudno
Last time I visited Ffestiniog was in 2009, so I already knew some of the area but I did notice a few changes, not always for the better (such as the loss of the local yellowhammers near the disused slate mines- though I did find them near the Coedydd Maentwrog reserve). To include Llandudno earlier, species count so far has totaled 79.
The heat and humidity was a real challenge, but, I was compensated by the fantastic experiences I've enjoyed. Highlights are as follows....
Lesser Redpolls with a few close encounters along with siskins, Pied flycatchers were at times close and lovely to hear in song with the redstarts. Spotted flycatcher, A lot more tree pipits were about then my last visit, (one flew behind me close whilst I sat down). 2 or 3 Cuckoos made a big commotion as two males were in competition with a female (picture attached). I was surprised to find unbelievable views of Tawny owls.... on a wall!!! Common sandpiper, Wood warbler (this was my original plan to photograph these before the Manchester bird). The best views came from the Llyn Mair reserve where they were fairly used to people passing. The quarry hills produced ring ouzels, raven, chough and dipper.
I've done an aweful lot of walking, with now aching legs but we'll worth it if not for the birds, the views and adventure especially. Unfortunately, this has ment I have over 1000 pictures to sort, but I've managed to transfer a few onto my tablet to put on Flickr, But, I'm only able to selected a couple at this time.
My last opportunity tomorrow morning to add anything else....
Some may have wondered why I've been quiet the last 5 days! I've been visiting Conwy and Ffestiniog!!!
So far I've clocked up 79 species. The area covering Conwy, Llandudno and Rhyl was done on the 28th and the Hotel for Monday night was booked last minute.
Birds seen in this area was 53. These include -
Ringed Plover close, sedge warblers were showing exceptionally well with whitethroats, stonechats and at last- a linnet close!!!
Reed warblers showed well at Conwy rspb with little egret and a curlew and my favourite moment at Conwy was when a garden warbler was warbling in a shrub in full view at times (though not at the best dustance), something that I've not experienced for some time. A few sandwich terns were seen passing (especially over the reserve) and little terns were a good find elsewhere too!
This trip will continue in another post as I made my way to Ffestiniog!
Ta!!
Daniel Owen said
Thu May 31 1:48 PM, 2018
Wednesday 30th May 2018: 1 Honey Buzzard headed North over Cemlyn Bay, before cutting West across the bay. Sad to see so few terns this year, on the notice board only c320 Sandwich Terns had been counted, as well as 11 Common/ Arctic Terns. 2 summer-plumaged Dunlins and 8 Ringed Plovers were sheltering on the beach during high tide, giving some very close views.
At South Stack, there was at least 1 Puffin on the sea below the cliffs, as well as the usual suspects - and 2 Chough were showing very well around Ellin's Tower.
Friday 25th May. Full day working in North Wales, mainly Gwynedd.
Birds of note...
Criccieth. - 1 Cuckoo on overhead wire coming down from the heathland to the village - 6 Common Swift - 1 House Martin - 1 Meadow Pipit - 6 Oystercatcher
Then parked up on the moors on the Canaerfon Road A487 near Bryncir / Pant Glas. - 2 Common Buzzard - 1 Redstart -heard only, hoowitting in a copse at the side of an upland stream
Just outside Canaerfon - a Sparrowhawk circling being tailed by 3 or 4 Swallows
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 26th of May 2018 07:08:36 PM
Mark Burgess said
Sun Apr 29 10:22 PM, 2018
Coed Hafod - Conwy Valley early morning, highlights
Common Redstart, 1 male bird seen several others heard Pied Flycatcher, 6 males seen all singing establishing territories, 2 involved in a territorial dispute, no female birds seen Wood Warbler, 1 bird seen silently flitting about and feeding in the upper canopy, 4 heard singing, 1 in full song and 3 in sub song, 1 Possible Garden Warbler heard only Also Blackcap Chiffchaff Chaffinch Nuthatch Treecreeper Raven Buzzard
Mike Chorley said
Sun Apr 22 10:23 PM, 2018
After shamelessly twitching the Ring-necked Duck at Conway RSPB we headed up onto the limestone pavement of the Great Orme and caught some visible migration in the form of passing Wheatears and House Martins. Small numbers of the latter with a party of 11 and a few singles, but good numbers of Wheatears, with an initial count of 5, including a larger darker male which looked a good candidate for a Greenland bird, between the parking area and the farm walls. Then, after a circuit round to St Tudno's Chapel and the summit, we had a group of at least 19 birds moving along the west side of the Orme heading inland towards Conway. Also up here were several pairs of Stonechats, 4 Chough, 1 Raven, a couple of Swallows and a cracking low-level fly past from a male Merlin.
Doc Brewster said
Mon Apr 16 10:04 PM, 2018
Had a trip around North Wales sites today with mate Keith, me providing the geographical/site knowledge and him doing the expert driving
We headed first for a dawn start at World's End and watched as up to 18 Black Grouse joined the lek by the road that I always go to. It was easy to pick out the dominant male in the prime position on the lek and most were paired up fighting in pairs with a few occasionally daring to challenge the 'alpha' blackcock. All challenges came to nothing as he kept the number one status all morning. Displaying Curlew also used the lek area to land in too, occasionally getting faced off by the grouse. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were in the same area too.We watched from 6am-8am and left 15 grouse still on the lek.
Next we headed to Clocaenog Forest and after finding heavy forestry work going on at Craig-bron Banog we concentarted on Bod Petryal Picnic Site. Here we had lots of Crossbills, but all as flyovers, most in groups of up to 5 birds. Also here were plenty of Siskins, Buzzards and Ravens. A pop up to Rhos-on-Sea gave us time for a short seawatch with Red-throated Diver, Guillemot, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Scoter and Cormorant all seen.
Finally we headed up onto the Great Orme, concentrating on the limestone pavement area. The best birds here were 3 superb Wheatear, 2 males and a female, glowing in the sunshine. Two Chough showed very well at several locations including the picnic area once folk had left. Keith spotted a Peregrine which hit a baby rabbit with an audible squeal as the mammal was killed. Mammalian prey for Peregrines is pretty rare, but is well documented, but something I've never seen before. The falcon, a male, flew off with the rabbit, some feat of strength since mammals weigh heavier than birds and a rabbit is a good sized prey item. Also up on the orme were lots of Stonechats, again in pristine summer plumage.
We headed back after a great day out, Keith having got some stunning shots of the Black Grouse which displayed in the sun and gave as good views as I've ever seen up there.
John O'Neill said
Fri Apr 6 8:33 PM, 2018
Worlds End
10am ish
13 Black Grouse males in lek fairly close to road. Very energetic, a few birds actually fighting not just facing off.
1 Female Black Grouse closer gave really good views. Single F Red Grouse too.
Small flocks of Crossbills, mixed sexes, in larches near old long closed car park.
Great extended dog fight over hiils with up to seven acrobatic Ravens three Buzzards and a Peregrine scrapping away.
Llangollen Town
Explosion of Mandarin numbers here , twelve plus birds around weir. River very full.
Charles Farrell said
Mon Apr 2 10:38 PM, 2018
Sun 1st Apr:
Family outing to Llandudno and the Great Orme. Not much time birding unfortunately.
Llandudno Prom: - pr Great Crested Grebe - pr Shag near the pier Lots of adult Herring Gulls
Great Orme: ( walked up the path to the summit & down via the road) - 1 singing Skylark - pr Raven - a handful of Stonechat - 3 Meadow Pipit - 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker (2 drumming near Copper Mine) - 100+ Jackdaws & Herring Gull A few Greenfinch & Goldfinch
Doc Brewster said
Sun Mar 25 9:55 PM, 2018
Given the sunny weather, with a light breeze and an afternoon free I decided conditions were perfect for scoter watching and so headed to Old Colwyn which this year has proven to be the best location for the scoters. Joining another birder along the prom we searched in vain, but could only find several thousand Common Scoters, Red-throated Divers and several Great Crested Grebes. When he gave up (his fifth attempt without finding a rarer scoter this year!) I moved to my favoured watchpoint, just up the cycle path by the railway bridge where the prom road turns back up into Old Colwyn proper. With a bit more height here the viewing was much better, but for two hours nothing new. Then the two stunning adult drake Surf Scoters came into view, swimming along close together but a fair distance out. With my Swarovski STX95 on full zoom I could see all the features really well, even the birds eyes! Sometimes perseverance has its rewards and this time 2 hours of searching paid me back handsomely
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 25th of March 2018 09:57:33 PM
Mike Chorley said
Sat Mar 24 7:37 PM, 2018
Discretion having got the better part of valour on last week's snowy Sunday, three of us headed off to World's End today. The low cloud was unpromising but luckily the Black Grouse were using the roadside lek when we arrived there. We had good views of 15 males strutting their stuff, a total confirmed when they were flushed by a drably clad and apologetic cyclist. Another birder, visiting from Taunton, (who had been on site from 3 a.m!) told us that around 25 birds had flown in at first light and 21 had settled on the visible part of the lek where they almost all paired up and faced off. A scan of the area revealed another 11 Blackcock on the far side of the valley at about 7 o'clock from the hide, together with a very pale Buzzard. 1 Skylark, 1 Carrion Crow and a few Meadow Pipits were the only other birds we could find so we headed off to the coast.
Conditions at LLandulas were good, with a calm sea and the sun at our backs, but the Scoter flock was very scattered and we couldn't locate the Glaucous Gull. There were good numbers of Red-throated Divers and Great Crested Grebes on view, along with several Cormorants, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers (2M 1F) and, bizarrely a single sea-going Canada Goose! Having failed to turn up even a single Velvet Scoter we opted to head back towards Manchester and were too far along the dual carriageway of no return (or at least no turning around!) when news broke of 2 male Surf Scoters and 2 female Greater Scaup at Old Colwyn. Better luck next year (or maybe next winter).
bernard hooley said
Wed Mar 21 10:28 PM, 2018
Due to a computer glitch my last post should have finished at Redwing
bernard hooley said
Wed Mar 21 10:16 AM, 2018
Just back from a 4 day stay in Llandudno.Not a birding trip really,but managed a few birds. Around Llandudno: Mediterranean gull -1 Starling-8 blackbird -4 Goldfinch -8 Rock Dove -4 Wood Pigeon -6 Carrion Crow -2 Collared dove -2 Black Headed Gull -12 Jackdaw -9 Pied Wagtail -2 Pheasant -1 Herring Gull -100+ Lesser Black Backed Gull -19 Greater Black Backed Gull -4 Oystercatcher -6 Blue Tit 4 Robin -11 Nuthatch -1 House Sparrow -2 Siskin -1 South Stack: Chough -4 Meadow Pipit -2K kittiwake -8 Peregrine Falcon -1 Raven -4 Redwing -7 Nuthatch -1 House Sparrow 2 Siskin -1 South Stack : Meadow Pipit -4 Kittiwake -8 Peregrine F
Doc Brewster said
Wed Jan 10 9:48 PM, 2018
A sunny day so decided on a day trip along the North Wales coast to see what I could see, avoiding the rarities
Started off at Connah's Quay NR where I am a member, a cracking little reserve and well worth the membership for the heated toilet alone Started off at West Hide where lots of small passerines were whizzing around inland of the hide. Occasionall popping up onto the fence I managed to log 5 Twite in amonst mainly Linnets, Meadow Pipits and Gokldfinches! Moving down to the pools near the visitor building I added Greenshank and Little Egret to the day list amongst commoner species.
Next I stopped off en route at Point of Ayr where the first bird I saw was a Merlin shooting low over the fields, a nice start. The 9 Greenland White-fronted Geese were distant from the railway bridge in fields to the west (picture attached), annoyingly all the Pink-footed Geese were closer, typical! A massive flock of over 150 Black-tailed Godwits and 100+ Curlew fed in the same fields with a few Redshank in amongst them.
Dropping in at Old Colwyn I was met with a couple of birders telling me that the scoter flocks were mega distant and strung out like little scattered black dots along the whole coast. Thousand of Common Scoters were searched through but nothing other than a few Red-throated Divers and lots of Red-breasted Mergansers was found. A later search from Llanddulas added Guillemot to the list and probably the most unusual find of the day, a winter plumaged Black-necked Grebe. I have seen many Slavonian and Great-crested Grebes of this north coast but it's the first Black-necked that I've had here, so I was pretty chuffed to find it.
At Rhos-on-Sea the tide was way out so expectations were low, but on a wave splashed offshore rock was a single Purple Sandpiper, which got washed off and swam to another rock! Also seen here were Dunlin and Ringed Plover. Leaving Rhos behind a quick call into Conwy RSPB added Goldeneye, a nice drake and a few other common wildfowl species. A quick walk along Bridge Pool path didn't produce the hoped for Firecrest, but I didn't linger either!
For a relatively short journey I clocked up over 60 species in a relaxing, slow paced wander and had an enjoyable day off in the sun
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 10th of January 2018 09:55:06 PM
Rob that's a great sighting, hearty congrats. I'd certainly encourage you to send the details to the county recorder so it gets recorded for posterity.
Rob Creek wrote:
A late finish for me today as I'm still delivering around North Wales and Gwynedd today, a busy one due to bank holiday traffic and big restaurant orders for the weekend.
But it's all been worth it for just one moment alone. I was delivering to Dylan's Italian restaurant at Cricceth (Gwynedd) on the sea front when I noticed a large Raptor flying over being harassed by a Carrion Crow. I ran back to the wagon for my bins as I kind of got a feeling I knew what it was.
- White-tailed Eagle (and an adult at that!) LIFER
What an astonishing site, never dreamt I'd see one whilst working. A huge bird it was. I tried for a camera shot but it wouldn't focus due to the heat haze, but never mind. It flew off towards Morfa Bychann (Snowdonia) as it followed the coastal hill line.
Also of note whilst driving over the Capel Curig Pass... - Whinchat 1 - Ring Ouzel 2m (both perched up on rocks)
...and not a single Red Kite all day!
Hi Mike, I've been in touch with Rhion Pritchard and subsequently completed and submitted the sighting form to the Welsh Rare Bird Committee. Let's wait and see what happens Cheers Rob
Just had an email notification this evening from Jon Green, secretary for the Welsh Records Panel.
"Im sorry to tell you that the Welsh Records Panel have not accepted your record of WT Eagle as they felt that other species had not been ruled out nor the possibility that it was a captive bird. Thanks for the record anyway"
Personally I think that decision is disappointing, I knew what the bird was almost immediately. Sheer size and features I saw were pretty much diagnostic I thought. I'm not sure what else they think I didn't rule out, an escape is a possibility I suppose, but I would've thought with the amount of people in other counties (including the Welsh counties) that either read our forum or who saw the report on Birdguides, that something would've come to light fairly soon after my sighting regarding an escape??? Still, they've made their decision and it stands.
Simon Johnson said
Sun Jan 7 9:39 PM, 2018
Day out with Wary and Melanie - first birding trip out of the county in a year!!
tour of North Wales costal sites
Llandulas No sign of the Glaucous Gull but lots of Common Scoter and an Adult Med Gull flew past in the evening
Old Colwyn Drake Surf Scoter picked out from a 1000+ Common Scoter along with 4 Velvets and 8 Red-breasted Mergansers. 10 Whooper Swans were also on the sea here although distant a single Pink-footed Goose was on the beach and a further 250+ flew north also Red-throated Diver, 8 Turnstone and 2 Rock Pipit.
Aber No sign of the hoped fro Firecrest but 2 Peregrines hunting waders, 200+ Pintail, Wigeon, Shelduck, Raven, 100+ Dunlin, 2000+ Oystercatcher, Stonechat, 2 Rock pipt.
Talacre 9 Greenland White-fronted Geese - showing really well near to the road, 2 Greylag and 50+ Pink-footed geese, 3 Shoveler, Ruff, 30+ Black-tailed Godwit
Point of Ayr 7 Twite, 5 Skylark, 60+ Sanderling, 11 Grey Plover and what must have been close to 100K Starlings flying west in some huge huge flocks
I know how you feel Rob when you say 'unbelievable!'. This is why I really wanted to visit this gull because my first view was distant and very dull and this in Llanddulas was an opportunity never to be missed! But there was no way I could have been prepared for what experience awaited me (Hence, I took 500 pictures- a record for me for one Bird, will keep me busy!). Quite often if someone says something that doesn't sound right - there will be a reason for it and in this case; two glaucous gulls. Ta!
Rob Creek said
Sun Dec 31 1:24 AM, 2017
Hi Richard, I probably will be making another visit here now you've confirmed 2 Glaucous Gulls. A photographer said on my 1st visit Christmas Eve that Birdguides were wrong saying it was a juvenile coz it's really white so it's a 2nd winter bird. The fact is we were watching a fairly well bleached juvenile bird, the paler of the 2 Glaucs in your photo. So now there's a darker plumaged bird, a 2nd winter, unbelievable! Just when things were starting to become clearer with Gulls...!
My recovery continues and I decided a day out was in order to help it!! To that end I ventured into North Wales, always a favourite destination.
First port of call was Llandudno, heading for Mostyn Avenue where a wintering bird has been attracting a lot of attention. Dog walkers and house owners all seemed happy to chat about it and give advice,however it went missing for an hour as I arrived! Always prefering proactive birding I took a wander and re-found the immature Rose-coloured Starling atop a chimney pot down a side alley. Calling other birders to me we were all soon watching it, not as plain buff as the Altrincham bird of last year, but more coming into adult plumage with hints of pink and black in the plumage (see piccy).
Next I headed to the Little Orme where Fulmars were already paired up and on nesting ridges, it it really still January!? Ravens flew over head and Shags perched along the lowere cliffs. A quick stop at Rhos Point only produced a Turnstone, but with the tide out I new I was n't going to see any Purple Sandpipers. The it was down the Conwy Valley to Llanrwst and a short wait here produced a single Hawfinch, this is the go to place for them this winter rather than Llanbedr y cennin or Caer Hun.
Then it was back up the valley and onto the coast. First stop was Llanddulas where lots of Common Scoter, a few Red-breasted Mergansers and a flypast Razorbill were added to my list. Finaly to the Kinmel Bay/Rhyl area and first to Horton's Nose, a placethat I'd never visited before. Walking round behind the cafe I found a scrubby area in which several logs were strewn. There in the sunshine, using the logs as a feeding perch was the Black Redstart that has been wintering here. Returning to the car for my digiscoping gear I returned but didn't see the bird again! However a bonus was a fly-by Red-throated Diver and lots more Common Scoters. Finally I navigated my way through to Rhyl Brickfields NR and immediately founf the female Scaup amongst a small group of Tufted Ducks.
With time getting on and light failing I headed home after a cracking days birding. North Wales never lets me down
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Tuesday 15th of January 2019 09:55:19 PM
A Royal Occasion on Anglesey. 11/12/2018
The sighting of a possible Sandwich Tern on Anglesey this weekend must have started a few alarm bells ringing, due to the lateness of this species being present. Roll forward until Monday early afternoon when the bird information services said Royal Tern on Anglesey Now this species, for me, has been a particularly difficult one to catch up with after missing out at Porthmadog and twice at Llandudno in June 2009. There was also a few thoughts as to the bird being assigned to either American or African sub species but, it was later confirmed as being American? Was it the long staying bird that has been present on Guernsey and briefly on the south coast of England, doing a tour of the coastline?
The decision to wait for news of the bird at Lligwy Dulas/Lligwy Beach, south of Amlwch was taken by myself and Steve B, so at 9am the Royal Tern was reported as flying across the bay at Lligwy, after a quick call to Steve I had us on our way by 9-45am. The traffic was reasonable for a weekday as we did the normal M56/A55 route towards Anglesey. We arrived at Lligwy Beach just before noon to the news that the bird had been on the beach for a while and had just flown off towards Lligwy Dulas, I thought typical! A couple of groups of birders could be seen scattered around the beach area probably numbering about 40/50, not a lot for such a major Twitch we thought. After 15 minutes or so news of the bird was put out that it was at Lligwy Dulas and giving good views. So without further ado a scene from Wacky Races was recreated as we dashed to hopefully see the bird. We followed the various vehicles and ended up parking up and dashing to look into a waiting telescope at the Royal Tern stood in the water, at last, what a bird!! We walked over a tidal muddy area and watched the bird as it flew up and began fishing and having a good old fly about, until it headed out towards the small island called Ynys Dulas that has a tower/obelisk built on it. I met a couple of older birding mates from the Scillies, a chef from Sunderland and a man from Bexleyheath, Kent who had travelled to see the tern.
We headed back to Lligwy Beach hoping that the tern would come into roost on the beach at around 3pm as the tide went out. The bird was seen in flight a few more times and the general large size and its similarities to Caspian Tern were noted. Our hopes of the bird coming into roost on the beach were being hampered by a constant gaggle of dog walkers, who seemed to be oblivious of all the waiting birders gathered around, how selfish of them. The tern flew fairly close towards us and gave excellent flight views and then headed away. It was going dark by now so we decided to set off for home, the usual rush hour traffic was further hampered by an accident on the M56 that cost us about an hour, reaching Rochdale by 7-25pm. What a brilliant bird and well worth the effort, hope it stays for the weekend.
Dave O
When news broke yesterady latish in the afternoon of an ornage-billed tern on Anglesey there was no time to chance a trip. So I made plans to go on news today.
Soon after breakfast a flypast was reported, so with pack-up already made I was off! I headed as quickly as possible over to Anglesey and went straight to Traeth Lligwy, N.of Moelfre, where most of the sightings were coming out from. Pulling up in the car park I opened the car door just as folk started shouting to each other "it's back, flying in straight towards us!". A moment of indecision crept in, do I race up to the shore with just bins, or get coat, bins, scope & tripod? I banked on the tern being visible for a bit, so went with the latter. As I arrived at the line of birders the first one offered up his scope which was on the tern flying in, so that got me a brief view and a direction. Then I got my scope onto it as it came closer & closer. Eventually it landed not far offshore on a sand bar, there in all its glory a Royal Tern
I watched it stood amongst a few gulls for a very short time and then just as I was about to digiscope it, it flew again. This happened once more and again it was on the deck for too short a time for pictures, so I just watched it at length. We saw it catch a fish just offshore and swallow it in flight. The bird gave terrific views flying up and down and hovering before diving several times. The views of it stoof on the sand were just the icing on the cake. After a while it flew off around the headland to the north. Cue the Wacky Races! A couple of dozen cars headed off and after one wrong turn (!!) we ended up at Treath Dulas where we had the tern in flight very close before it perched on the shingle at the mouth of the bay. Soon it then headed off again out of the bay, presumably to feed as it was now high tide.
The bird has been assigned to the sub-species (currently pending a possible split) American Royal Tern, but if split or not this was my only life tick of 2018, and it was left pretty late, Dec 11th! Takes my UK List to 491, hence why it's getting hard to add new birds. I'm not chasing the 500, it will happen if it's meant to be, or not, no pressure at all
Great too today to see so many Cheshire birders there & to chat to, and a few of my Welsh birding buddies too, but as a few of us commented not a hugely attended twitch for such a mega bird, prob due to it being in the week, only the 2nd day and Anglesey being a long way off for many. I'm sure that the weekend will be incredibly busy if, as I expect, the bird stays around.
RSPB Cors Ddyga
Nice little marshland reserve, especially if you take the nature trail walk rather than the tarmacked dog toilet.
3 Whooper Swans initially on a pool in the marshy area; they later flew to join 12 more on the west bank of the Afon Cefni
Canada and Greylag flocks there but no small grey geese that we could see.
Female/juv Stonechat
Grey Heron
2 Common Buzzard
5 very visible Snipe
Lapwing flock (now scarce on the island according to the site boards)
Wigeon, Shoveler, Redshank etc 22 species in total
Just missed a Water Pipit (one of up to 5 here recently according to one of the local birders)
Llyn Llygeirian:
Thanks to directions from said local birder we were straight to the causeway ......and straight onto
Lesser Scaup 1
made a little easier by the fact that it was all on it's own at the south end while all the local ducks were sheltered up in the north west corner
Mallard, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Teal, Coot, Little Grebe (4 min) and 2 Mute Swans comprised the rest of the waterfowl with
Black-headed, Lesser and Greater Black-backed Gulls
party of Long-tailed Tits on the causeway.
A combination of an accident on the M60 early doors, the North Wales coastal monsoon and fading light frustrated our attempts to find the LLandudno Rosy Starling but still a pleasant day out.
(Spellcheck had understandable problems with the Welsh place names - Coors Daddy [aka Jean-Claude Van Damme ?] and Lynn Algerian were the nearest it could manage!)
Today late this morning/early afternoon a cool Short Eared Owl showed really well on the Little Orme both on the deck and in flight,typical i did not have my camera with me! But really enjoyed the views!
Whilst I was there, the bird was always fairly distant and when it did venture towards the fishermen' pegs (where the birders were), the sun was directly behind it making it a nightmare for photographs. Still nice to see though, either in summer or winter plumage.
-- Edited by Carl Fletcher-Poole on Monday 26th of November 2018 06:21:28 PM
At mid morning today 6 Eider flew past Penrhyn Bay and the Little Orme,2 males and 4 females.
Well, this is embarrassing.
This was, without question, actually a red-throated diver.
I could go on about being stood out on a jagged spit in the rain watching over the swell for fleeting glimpses of an unfamiliar bird at a fair distance in bad weather, all of which would be true, but the truth is when I saw a two-tone bird dive down, my brain said 'auk!', not 'auk or diver!', so then it was a question of trying to eliminate two of the three possibles.
Definitely what it was, though, got an adequate view of back pattern, which clearly had that spangled effect, and I even noted the bill had an upturned effect (which I put down to a tilt of the head). Tut. Dive (which I did see the action of from behind pretty well) was completely wrong for an auk, too, going on the large number of videos I've since watched,
Got there in the end; always learning (at least learning not to excitedly splurge over the internet before proper checking!).
Actually an entirely new bird for me, so the trip was even more successful that I initially realised! Though I do, obviously, have to yet see a guillemot in winter plumage...
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 25th of November 2018 07:40:24 PM
Notable species:
Cetti's warber (heard only)
House sparrow (good population in the village)
Linnet
Stonechat
Swallow (!!!)
Meadow pipit
Rock pipit
White wagtail (was pretty surprised by this, too)
Skylark
Starling everywhere
Chough (repeatedly; at 10 feet on one occasion, not at all bothered by me, but eventually spooked by the jets, unfortunately; 8 most seen together, but also a six and pairs a couple of times. What a bird.)
Rook
Raven
Teal
Wigeon
Gadwall
Pintail
Tufted duck
Goldeneye
Red-breasted merganser (scratchy views, but still)
Goosander
Eider (a UK first for me; had then in Iceland and Sweden before. Now Wales.)
Shelduck
Brent geese (light-bellied)
Little grebe
Great crested grebe (a couple on the sea; no matter how many times I see them there, it still looks odd!)
Ringed plover
Golden plover (including one big flock put up distantly)
Grey plover
Lapwing
Dunlin
Sanderling
Purple sandpiper
Turnstone
Jack snipe
Snipe
Redshank
Greenshank
Oystercatcher
Curlew
Little egret
Grey heron
Guillemot (a first for me in winter plumage)
Common gull
Great black-backed gull
Shag
Cormorant
Merlin (in your face, Little Woolden Moss)
Kestrel
Buzzard
Also various finches, thrushes, more corvids, collared doves, common rails and one woodpigeon.
I'm in a very good mood at the moment; in three hours this morning, with perhaps a mile or so's walking, but mostly spent standing around, I had jack snipe, sanderling, purple sandpiper, grey plover, little egret, eider, guillemot and merlin. And everything always seems so obliging. Good patch!
A good day out with Stockport Birdwatching Society at North Wales sites. Some rain during the day but luckily it mainly held off. We started at The Spinnies NWWT at Aber Ogwen. Some good numbers of Curlew were about, with a flock of 100 or more feeding in the adjacent fields and lots more in the general area. Kingfisher was seen by others on the small pool but the highlight for me was some very smart Red-breasted Mergansers on the sea, with various male birds displaying to females. Plenty of Goldeneye here as well but no notable Grebes or Divers.
We moved on,with a late Swallow seen by some from the coach, and arrived at Morfa Madryn. 2 Rock Pipits showed very well at close range and there were hundreds of Wigeon and plenty of Teal and Pintail moving around as a pretty high tide started to drop back. Nice views of roosting waders too, with hundreds of Oystercatcher but various others like Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot and Ringed Plover too.
On Llanfairfechan seafront the visibility was great on a pretty flat sea, but there was nothing much about. Then with one of those strange turns that seems to almost be a flick of a switch, various members of the group started picking up Divers as the tide dropped but also with a slight swell becoming evident off the beach. We saw at least one Great Northern Diver as well as the expected Red-throateds. This bird was interesting as it held its bill up like a White-billed. Personally watching Divers on the sea is something I enjoy more than almost anything else so I was loving it. I always seem to start picking them up as the tide drops, they never seem to show on a rising tide. Not sure if this is a valid observation but it is something I've noticed a number of times at different locations.
However we had to move onto to Conwy RSPB, and the reserve was quiet. Some of the group found a wintering Chiffchaff but there was no sign of the trademark Firecrests or Water Pipits at this site. We did pick up a few species of passerines and some ducks, and I ended up with a list of 66 species for the day, including 13 duck species which I think is the most I've ever tallied.
All in all it was a really good trip, with a typically relaxed and good-humoured atmosphere.
Working over in Llandudno today and whilst waiting for one of my customers to open, I managed to connect with a juvenile Rosy Starling (or as I prefer Rose-coloured Starling). It was with a small group of Starlings on an aerial on one of the rooftops literally a few minutes from the busy town centre.
It flew down to some feeders in a front garden then back on the roof, then disappeared for a few minutes, and so the pattern continued until a cat came wandering into the garden and flushed the lot. I'm not sure if it was seen after that. A cracking looking bird and I think the juveniles have a lot of character too!
Also the the field nearby opposite the sea just outside the centre was full of Curlew.
Stopped off at Llanddulas for a break, I scanned the 100's of Gulls but the [b]Glaucous Gull wasn't there. It was reported the other day so could still be around locally.
Also at Llanddulas
- Common Scoters on the sea
- 1 Ringed Plover
- 5 Turnstone
- 2 Grey Wagtail
I've recently had a few trips into North Wales to take advantage of the good weather at the end of October.
First trip was to Towyn on the coast to lurk around a small car park for a couple of hours. Here I managed to catch up with a Yellow-browed Warbler found by local Susan Morris who was there too. The bird was incredibly elusive but I first relocated it the canopy of an oak tree in the corner of the car park. It was then seen later flying from this same tree to another one close by, and then finally I had it in an apple tree in an adjacent garden, which I later discovered was Susan's garden and the apple tree was its favourite afternoon location!
My next trip involved a drive over to Anglesey, specifically to a new lake that I had never visited before. The site, Llyn Llygeirian, was easily found and a walk down the causeway allowed me to scan the water. I was the only birder present but soon found my quarry, a Lesser Scaup, amongst a few Tufted Ducks. The bird showed well in the scope, albeit always on the far side of the lake. I was joined by a local birder later and we watched it actively feeding in the sunshine. This bird is still present today.
The today I headed west again, this time to the outskirts of Bala. Taking a minor road up onto the moors I parked up and walked the short distance to Llyn Caer-Euni. Here I soon located the drake Ring-necked Duck that has been here for over a week. The bird was with 7 Tufted Ducks, but very wary and again always by the far shore.... from whichever shore I walked to! Also on the lake were a female Goldeneye, a female Wigeon and 3 Teal.
I managed very poor record shots of the latter two birds, the duo of ducks, and a composite of these is attached
(the Lesser Scaup top and Ring-necked Duck below!)
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 28th of October 2018 04:53:36 PM
Today at 12.30pm i had a cool Waxwing on Penrhynside Mountain near Llandudno,lovely close views before flying torwards Penrhynside Village with its lovely Trilling call.Is this the sign of a good Waxwing winter??? Also in this area 6 Whooper Swans flew over on Saturday Morning.
Tuesday 16th October 2018
Working in North Wales today and squeezed a bit of Birding in. Misty conditions early on whilst over near Llanberis - Snowdonia then brightened up later in Angelsey and Llanddulas.
- 1 Hen Harrier (Ringtail) quartering fields near Rhiwlas
- 1 Merlin (female) sat on post but distant near Pentir
- Ravens seen in Llanberis and Angelsey
- 2nd yr Glaucous Gull still at Llanddulas
- 14 Common Scoter including 1 close in
Llandulas beach in nice sunny weather but blowing a gale and a choppy tide was coming in.
- 2nd yr Glaucous Gull still present.
A quite confiding bird as it doesn't fly off like many of the other Gulls do. It actually took off from the sea where it was bathing at first and flew right over towards me and landed on the beach posts. It started preening and remained there for a while just braving out the wind. At one point it was wind hovering a couple of inches above the post, then shortly after it flew back over the rocks back out on to the sea.
It looks better and better each time I see it.
Thursday 20th September.
- 2nd yr Glaucous Gull still at Llandulas.
Thought it would be rude not to call in whilst over in Llandudno. Weather was atrocious, torrential rain, some strong gusts of wind, and a sea mist coming in. There were literally 100's of Gulls on the beach and around the River mouth but the Glauc was sat resting on the shale in the middle of the Gulls but in its own space if you like. It was worth the effort braving the elements as I sat down on the rocks in the pouring rain, many of the Gulls were really on edge (maybe due to reduced visibility?) but the Glauc stood up and flew a bit nearer to me and just looked at me.
Certainly didn't bank on that!
Also of note...
- 1 Wheatear (looks different to last one I had, moulting?)
- 1 Sandwich Tern
- 1 Curlew feeding among the rocks
- 10+ Turnstone
- 1 Dunlin
Glad I left when I did as the rain got heavier and the sea mist came in right over the A55 and brought traffic to a crawl on my way home.
Another delivery day in Llandudno today and miraculously a tacho break was due as I passed Llandulas on my way back to the depot.
- 1st summer Glaucous Gull
It's not been reported for a couple of weeks but it's still at Llandulas near the river Dulas mouth, but a Giant Poodle was let off the lead on the beach and 100's of Gulls were put up, so I had to wait frustratingly until it landed again. It isn't shy though and when you sit still on the rocks it does get used to you. It's a belter of a Gull and it's massive. It was difficult to drag myself away.
Also on the beach...
- 1 Wheatear (presumably Northern, although it looked quite big and rich in colour)
- 2 Fulmar flying over the beach rocks near caravan park
- 5 Sandwich Terns
- 5 Turnstone
-- Edited by Rob Creek on Thursday 30th of August 2018 09:04:41 PM
Delivering in Llandudno and surrounding areas today so seized an opportunity for a bit of "tacho-break birding". Finished the route and stopped off at Llandulas in gorgeous sunny weather.
- 1st summer (2CY) Glaucous Gull
A stunner of a Gull, surely the same 1st winter bird from December, I can't believe it's stayed so long. It flew passed me whilst walking on the beach track near the River Dulas when I first saw it, but then it descended behind the large rocks near the river mouth so I picked it out from amongst c100-150 large Gulls which didn't take long. It's a huge bird this one, largest Gull present.
It was mobile for a while though between the river mouth and the Bron-y-wendon caravan park down the other end of the beach as some kids were launchin pebbles towards the Gull flock. It came back though and I enjoyed more views.
Also...
- c20+ Turnstone in stunning plumage
- c50+ Oystercatcher
- 1 Rock Pipit
- Sandwich and Common Terns over the sea
Went over to South Stack, Anglesey this morning with John Barber and Dave Hughston. Our target bird was the Snowy Owl that was reported present yesterday afternoon. Arrived at 07.15 to be told that there had been no sign today. Considering that this bird appears not to stay in any particular place on the island for any length of time we were not surprised at this news. Still we had a good look round in pleasant weather seeing a good selection of species including many Stonechat and Meadow Pipit as well as four Chough together, a single Rock Pipit, a Peregrine falcon and up to eight Puffins in the water and on the rocks below the lighthouse.
Oops sorry I cut & pasted from another site & didn't check!! As Ian says negative news so far after it flew off inland at 9.30pm last night, obviously trying to relocate itself to my grid ref
Grid reference is indeed given as SH 459 936 and also SH 459 934.
No sign of the Snowy Owl at Amlwch so far this morning anyway.
I guess it should be something like SH 459 936 (not as you reported SH 459 693) assuming the digits have been transposed.
Just sharing news of a bird that I haven't been to see but if it sticks then I may well make the trip to get my 2nd ever record in the UK. It is a SNOWY OWL, a first year female and it's on Anglesey. Reports are that it has been present for a few days and when news got out today it was well twitched. If it sticks then I expect the weekend to be busy. The bird is 1ml ENE of Amlwch at SH459693 and should be viewed only from the public footpath.
Now that I'm back home and sorted my records out, officially I've seen 83 species in total with 2 others heard only near Prestatyn (grasshopper warbler and cettis warbler).
Llandudno area- 57
Ffestiniog area- 62
Top 12 highlights were as follows....
1st Tawny owl, found on top of a wall partly hidden in greenery
2nd tree pipit, from a Ffestiniog walk following the steam line close
3rd Ring ouzels showed randomly well on a walk along the old quarry hills
4th Cuckoo showing well in the same area I had the tree pipits
5th Pied flycatchers showed exceptionally well around Dduallt
6th Garden warbler singing in view from shrub in Conwy
7th Little terns found along the North coast
8th Wood warblers experience (closer than Manchesters birds)
9th Redstart singing and showing well in the sun with the tree pipits
10th Linnet sat posing near Prestatyn closer than usual
11th siskins showed suprisingly well with little fear near Ceunant Cynfal
12th Skylark very close singing away near the Rhyl coast
There were plenty of other big highlights but these are the ones that really stood out to me as extra special!
Attached; ring ouzel, garden warbler and another cuckoo.
Areas covered (roughly);
Conwy coast to Prestatyn via Llandudno
Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llan Ffestiniog via Coed Cymerau
Tanygrisiau to Tan-y-Bwich via Dduallt
Rhosneigr & surrounds:
Sedge warbler, reed warbler, Cetti's warbler, linnet, reed bunting, sand martin (one of the two colonies active and healthy seeming, the other no birds at all when I was there), house martin, swallow, stonechat, wheatear, meadow pipit, rock pipit, white wagtail, skylark, common warblers, thrushes, corvids, etc.
Raven
Gadwall
Red-breasted merganser
Great crested grebe
Ringed plover (including a chick and a colour-ringed individual)
Dunlin
Sanderling
Turnstone
Oystercatcher
Curlew
Little egret
Grey heron
Common tern
Arctic tern
Sandwich tern
Great black-backed gull (including one on nest at Llyn Maelog; nice to see)
Shag
Cormorant
Peregrine
Buzzard
House sparrow and starling populations seem very healthy in the village, and plenty of confirmed breeding evidence from a variety of other species, from Cetti's warbler to oystercatcher. Long dead gannet on the beach, too.
Holy Island, Wednesday. Taxi to South Stack then back to Holyhead via the coastal path (one of my favourite walks):
A single (single-legged) black guillemot in the harbour outside the railway station; giving lovely, close-in views from the walkway. Also here a couple of herring gull sitting, and probably oystercatcher, too.
South Stack, from about 10 - 3:
6+ linnet
6 stonechat, including three fledglings
1 wheatear
Meadow and rock pipit
4 - 6 chough (one feeding about six feet away from me)
5 puffin
3,000+ guillemot
600+ razorbill
5+ kittiwake
300+ herring gull
30+ lesser black-backed gull
6+ great black-backed gull
Shag and cormorant flybys
3 or 4 fulmar
5+ gannet (viewable all day, pretty much)
Singles of chough and raven on the mountain face.
North stack, late afternoon; gave me the heebie-jeebies walking past the cottage to view the stack itself, but worth it, as you get some good views:
6 linnet
3 meadow pipit
2 rock pipit
2 chough
c40 razorbill (no guillemot)
110+ herring gull (presumably more on the seaward side)
4 lesser black-backed gull
2 great black-backed gull
13 cormorant (including chicks on seven nests)
3 shag (only one nest this time, two chicks)
10 fulmar (lovely views of them sitting)
1 kestrel
Forty five minutes or so looking around Breakwater Country Park before heading back into Holyhead yielded the four common warbler species, peregrine and buzzard.
Cracking week's birding, and general wildlife watching (some excellent non-avian species seen too), again here. Will be back in the winter, everything permitting.
Fab cuckoo shot down there, by the way.
Last time I visited Ffestiniog was in 2009, so I already knew some of the area but I did notice a few changes, not always for the better (such as the loss of the local yellowhammers near the disused slate mines- though I did find them near the Coedydd Maentwrog reserve). To include Llandudno earlier, species count so far has totaled 79.
The heat and humidity was a real challenge, but, I was compensated by the fantastic experiences I've enjoyed. Highlights are as follows....
Lesser Redpolls with a few close encounters along with siskins,
Pied flycatchers were at times close and lovely to hear in song with the redstarts.
Spotted flycatcher,
A lot more tree pipits were about then my last visit, (one flew behind me close whilst I sat down).
2 or 3 Cuckoos made a big commotion as two males were in competition with a female (picture attached).
I was surprised to find unbelievable views of Tawny owls.... on a wall!!!
Common sandpiper,
Wood warbler (this was my original plan to photograph these before the Manchester bird). The best views came from the Llyn Mair reserve where they were fairly used to people passing.
The quarry hills produced ring ouzels, raven, chough and dipper.
I've done an aweful lot of walking, with now aching legs but we'll worth it if not for the birds, the views and adventure especially. Unfortunately, this has ment I have over 1000 pictures to sort, but I've managed to transfer a few onto my tablet to put on Flickr, But, I'm only able to selected a couple at this time.
My last opportunity tomorrow morning to add anything else....
Ta!
So far I've clocked up 79 species. The area covering Conwy, Llandudno and Rhyl was done on the 28th and the Hotel for Monday night was booked last minute.
Birds seen in this area was 53. These include -
Ringed Plover close, sedge warblers were showing exceptionally well with whitethroats, stonechats and at last- a linnet close!!!
Reed warblers showed well at Conwy rspb with little egret and a curlew and my favourite moment at Conwy was when a garden warbler was warbling in a shrub in full view at times (though not at the best dustance), something that I've not experienced for some time. A few sandwich terns were seen passing (especially over the reserve) and little terns were a good find elsewhere too!
This trip will continue in another post as I made my way to Ffestiniog!
Ta!!
1 Honey Buzzard headed North over Cemlyn Bay, before cutting West across the bay. Sad to see so few terns this year, on the notice board only c320 Sandwich Terns had been counted, as well as 11 Common/ Arctic Terns. 2 summer-plumaged Dunlins and 8 Ringed Plovers were sheltering on the beach during high tide, giving some very close views.
At South Stack, there was at least 1 Puffin on the sea below the cliffs, as well as the usual suspects - and 2 Chough were showing very well around Ellin's Tower.
Friday 25th May.
Full day working in North Wales, mainly Gwynedd.
Birds of note...
Criccieth.
- 1 Cuckoo on overhead wire coming down from the heathland to the village
- 6 Common Swift
- 1 House Martin
- 1 Meadow Pipit
- 6 Oystercatcher
Then parked up on the moors on the Canaerfon Road A487 near Bryncir / Pant Glas.
- 2 Common Buzzard
- 1 Redstart -heard only, hoowitting in a copse at the side of an upland stream
Just outside Canaerfon - a Sparrowhawk circling being tailed by 3 or 4 Swallows
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 26th of May 2018 07:08:36 PM
Common Redstart, 1 male bird seen several others heard
Pied Flycatcher, 6 males seen all singing establishing territories, 2 involved in a territorial dispute, no female birds seen
Wood Warbler, 1 bird seen silently flitting about and feeding in the upper canopy, 4 heard singing, 1 in full song and 3 in sub song,
1 Possible Garden Warbler heard only
Also
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Chaffinch
Nuthatch
Treecreeper
Raven
Buzzard
Had a trip around North Wales sites today with mate Keith, me providing the geographical/site knowledge and him doing the expert driving
We headed first for a dawn start at World's End and watched as up to 18 Black Grouse joined the lek by the road that I always go to. It was easy to pick out the dominant male in the prime position on the lek and most were paired up fighting in pairs with a few occasionally daring to challenge the 'alpha' blackcock. All challenges came to nothing as he kept the number one status all morning. Displaying Curlew also used the lek area to land in too, occasionally getting faced off by the grouse. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were in the same area too.We watched from 6am-8am and left 15 grouse still on the lek.
Next we headed to Clocaenog Forest and after finding heavy forestry work going on at Craig-bron Banog we concentarted on Bod Petryal Picnic Site. Here we had lots of Crossbills, but all as flyovers, most in groups of up to 5 birds. Also here were plenty of Siskins, Buzzards and Ravens. A pop up to Rhos-on-Sea gave us time for a short seawatch with Red-throated Diver, Guillemot, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Scoter and Cormorant all seen.
Finally we headed up onto the Great Orme, concentrating on the limestone pavement area. The best birds here were 3 superb Wheatear, 2 males and a female, glowing in the sunshine. Two Chough showed very well at several locations including the picnic area once folk had left. Keith spotted a Peregrine which hit a baby rabbit with an audible squeal as the mammal was killed. Mammalian prey for Peregrines is pretty rare, but is well documented, but something I've never seen before. The falcon, a male, flew off with the rabbit, some feat of strength since mammals weigh heavier than birds and a rabbit is a good sized prey item. Also up on the orme were lots of Stonechats, again in pristine summer plumage.
We headed back after a great day out, Keith having got some stunning shots of the Black Grouse which displayed in the sun and gave as good views as I've ever seen up there.
10am ish
13 Black Grouse males in lek fairly close to road. Very energetic, a few birds actually fighting not just facing off.
1 Female Black Grouse closer gave really good views. Single F Red Grouse too.
Small flocks of Crossbills, mixed sexes, in larches near old long closed car park.
Great extended dog fight over hiils with up to seven acrobatic Ravens three Buzzards and a Peregrine scrapping away.
Llangollen Town
Explosion of Mandarin numbers here , twelve plus birds around weir. River very full.
Family outing to Llandudno and the Great Orme. Not much time birding unfortunately.
Llandudno Prom:
- pr Great Crested Grebe
- pr Shag near the pier
Lots of adult Herring Gulls
Great Orme: ( walked up the path to the summit & down via the road)
- 1 singing Skylark
- pr Raven
- a handful of Stonechat
- 3 Meadow Pipit
- 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker (2 drumming near Copper Mine)
- 100+ Jackdaws & Herring Gull
A few Greenfinch & Goldfinch
Given the sunny weather, with a light breeze and an afternoon free I decided conditions were perfect for scoter watching and so headed to Old Colwyn which this year has proven to be the best location for the scoters. Joining another birder along the prom we searched in vain, but could only find several thousand Common Scoters, Red-throated Divers and several Great Crested Grebes. When he gave up (his fifth attempt without finding a rarer scoter this year!) I moved to my favoured watchpoint, just up the cycle path by the railway bridge where the prom road turns back up into Old Colwyn proper. With a bit more height here the viewing was much better, but for two hours nothing new. Then the two stunning adult drake Surf Scoters came into view, swimming along close together but a fair distance out. With my Swarovski STX95 on full zoom I could see all the features really well, even the birds eyes! Sometimes perseverance has its rewards and this time 2 hours of searching paid me back handsomely
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 25th of March 2018 09:57:33 PM
Conditions at LLandulas were good, with a calm sea and the sun at our backs, but the Scoter flock was very scattered and we couldn't locate the Glaucous Gull. There were good numbers of Red-throated Divers and Great Crested Grebes on view, along with several Cormorants, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers (2M 1F) and, bizarrely a single sea-going Canada Goose! Having failed to turn up even a single Velvet Scoter we opted to head back towards Manchester and were too far along the dual carriageway of no return (or at least no turning around!) when news broke of 2 male Surf Scoters and 2 female Greater Scaup at Old Colwyn. Better luck next year (or maybe next winter).
Just back from a 4 day stay in Llandudno.Not a birding trip really,but managed a few birds.
Around Llandudno:
Mediterranean gull -1
Starling-8
blackbird -4
Goldfinch -8
Rock Dove -4
Wood Pigeon -6
Carrion Crow -2
Collared dove -2
Black Headed Gull -12
Jackdaw -9
Pied Wagtail -2
Pheasant -1
Herring Gull -100+
Lesser Black Backed Gull -19
Greater Black Backed Gull -4
Oystercatcher -6
Blue Tit 4
Robin -11
Nuthatch -1
House Sparrow -2
Siskin -1
South Stack:
Chough -4
Meadow Pipit -2K
kittiwake -8
Peregrine Falcon -1
Raven -4
Redwing -7
Nuthatch -1
House Sparrow 2
Siskin -1
South Stack :
Meadow Pipit -4
Kittiwake -8
Peregrine F
A sunny day so decided on a day trip along the North Wales coast to see what I could see, avoiding the rarities
Started off at Connah's Quay NR where I am a member, a cracking little reserve and well worth the membership for the heated toilet alone
Started off at West Hide where lots of small passerines were whizzing around inland of the hide. Occasionall popping up onto the fence I managed to log 5 Twite in amonst mainly Linnets, Meadow Pipits and Gokldfinches! Moving down to the pools near the visitor building I added Greenshank and Little Egret to the day list amongst commoner species.
Next I stopped off en route at Point of Ayr where the first bird I saw was a Merlin shooting low over the fields, a nice start. The 9 Greenland White-fronted Geese were distant from the railway bridge in fields to the west (picture attached), annoyingly all the Pink-footed Geese were closer, typical! A massive flock of over 150 Black-tailed Godwits and 100+ Curlew fed in the same fields with a few Redshank in amongst them.
Dropping in at Old Colwyn I was met with a couple of birders telling me that the scoter flocks were mega distant and strung out like little scattered black dots along the whole coast. Thousand of Common Scoters were searched through but nothing other than a few Red-throated Divers and lots of Red-breasted Mergansers was found. A later search from Llanddulas added Guillemot to the list and probably the most unusual find of the day, a winter plumaged Black-necked Grebe. I have seen many Slavonian and Great-crested Grebes of this north coast but it's the first Black-necked that I've had here, so I was pretty chuffed to find it.
At Rhos-on-Sea the tide was way out so expectations were low, but on a wave splashed offshore rock was a single Purple Sandpiper, which got washed off and swam to another rock! Also seen here were Dunlin and Ringed Plover. Leaving Rhos behind a quick call into Conwy RSPB added Goldeneye, a nice drake and a few other common wildfowl species. A quick walk along Bridge Pool path didn't produce the hoped for Firecrest, but I didn't linger either!
For a relatively short journey I clocked up over 60 species in a relaxing, slow paced wander and had an enjoyable day off in the sun
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 10th of January 2018 09:55:06 PM
Just had an email notification this evening from Jon Green, secretary for the Welsh Records Panel.
"Im sorry to tell you that the Welsh Records Panel have not accepted your record of WT Eagle as they felt that other species had not been ruled out nor the possibility that it was a captive bird.
Thanks for the record anyway"
Personally I think that decision is disappointing, I knew what the bird was almost immediately. Sheer size and features I saw were pretty much diagnostic I thought. I'm not sure what else they think I didn't rule out, an escape is a possibility I suppose, but I would've thought with the amount of people in other counties (including the Welsh counties) that either read our forum or who saw the report on Birdguides, that something would've come to light fairly soon after my sighting regarding an escape???
Still, they've made their decision and it stands.
tour of North Wales costal sites
Llandulas
No sign of the Glaucous Gull but lots of Common Scoter and an Adult Med Gull flew past in the evening
Old Colwyn
Drake Surf Scoter picked out from a 1000+ Common Scoter along with 4 Velvets and 8 Red-breasted Mergansers. 10 Whooper Swans were also on the sea here although distant a single Pink-footed Goose was on the beach and a further 250+ flew north also Red-throated Diver, 8 Turnstone and 2 Rock Pipit.
Aber
No sign of the hoped fro Firecrest but 2 Peregrines hunting waders, 200+ Pintail, Wigeon, Shelduck, Raven, 100+ Dunlin, 2000+ Oystercatcher, Stonechat, 2 Rock pipt.
Spinnies Aberogwyn
Slavonian Grebe, 2 Brent Geese, Drake Eider, 4+ Red-breasted Merganser, 30+ Goldeneye, Greenshank, Little Egret.
Talacre
9 Greenland White-fronted Geese - showing really well near to the road, 2 Greylag and 50+ Pink-footed geese, 3 Shoveler, Ruff, 30+ Black-tailed Godwit
Point of Ayr
7 Twite, 5 Skylark, 60+ Sanderling, 11 Grey Plover and what must have been close to 100K Starlings flying west in some huge huge flocks
cracking day out
Llandulas.
Glaucous Gull. 1st winter.
Common Scoter.
Talacre.
Greenland White-fronted Goose (9).
Wigeon.
Black-tailed Godwit.
Shelduck.
Curlew.
Roger.
I probably will be making another visit here now you've confirmed 2 Glaucous Gulls.
A photographer said on my 1st visit Christmas Eve that Birdguides were wrong saying it was a juvenile coz it's really white so it's a 2nd winter bird. The fact is we were watching a fairly well bleached juvenile bird, the paler of the 2 Glaucs in your photo.
So now there's a darker plumaged bird, a 2nd winter, unbelievable!
Just when things were starting to become clearer with Gulls...!