Planned couple of days that coincided with a proper rarity or two

Sunday 7th June:  Bod Petryal;  Redstart, Crossbill, Wood Warbler   Vyrnwy; hide (inc path to) at opposite end to dam have been closed!  Most of forest felled, too.  RSPB end - lots of Redstart in song; Pied Flycatcher on trail below dam....then a call in on way to Anglesey  Caernarfon: Western Reef Heron - roosting in a tree in the harbour opposite the Castle  Holyhead Harbour; Black Guillemot    Monday 8th June;  Cemlyn; a lot less terns (Sandwich, Common, Arctic) than usual and more mixed on 2 islands than I've seen before...Roseate x 2 briefly.  At least 10 Mediterranean Gulls (some with chicks), couple of Manx Shearwater offshore   South Stack; usual suspects -inc Fulmar, Chough, 2 puffin in among Guillemot / Razorbill rafts plus long stay Woodchat Shrike.  Shag fishing just off The Range.  Alaw Estuary:  quiet (as expected in June) but a Red Breasted Merganser did fly down towards the sea.                  

Few days work run North Wales been doing this run for nearly a decade as it sweeps up the seabirds for the year list. Lots of very brief stops and a two hr lunch today!

Gronant: Little Tern, Ringed Plover, Little Egret, Stonechats, Cetti's Warblers.

Rhyl River Clwyd: Hooded Crow, Shelduck.

Lyyn Brenig: Osprey, Siskin, Red Kite, Merlin.

Woodland 1 1/2 miles to North of Bets-y-coed where they built the Zip World...used to be a good Spot for Wood Warbler 10 years ago, didn't realise they had built this 'tourist attraction' but having being on many of them over the year I set off with a live and let live attitude....to be five minutes into the quiet of the woods my best Wood Warbler sightings and song ever for half an hour a personal show. Siskins, Spotted Flycatcher, Greta-Spotted Woodpecker (a sub species which complains about climate change ), Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap.

Lynn Ogwen old woods and valley to the North: Wheatear, three Pied Flycatchers, Red Kite, Raven, male Ring Ouzel.

"St/Ringer trip": Seacoast Safari fast boat to Puffin Island. Sandwich Tern. Shag. Five Puffin. Guillemot, Razorbill, Gannet, Kittiwake, seven Eider, three Black Guillemot, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater.

Aber Falls 1/2mile upstream/downstream of the carpark by the Bridge: Redstart. Robin. Coal Tit. Blue Tit. Blackbird. Blackcap. Song Thrush. Two Grey Wagtails (in a tree?). Red Kite, Raven and Carrion Crow.

Dipped on Dipper at four sites (on top of the other four sites I have been to this year). Why do I never see Dippers! They really are my bogey bird, especially when I remember seeing them all the time as a lad growing up in the Peak District.

 Edit: For the possible paronym of GSW.

 Edit 2: Forgot Aber.

-- Edited by Andy Slee on Friday 5th of June 2026 08:11:09 PM

-- Edited by Andy Slee on Friday 5th of June 2026 08:13:37 PM

Ivan, dawn is best (apparently). After 9am, forget it, unless you get lucky. Earlier dawn prob means birds are active earlier

Stay in car, lights & engine off

Yesterday a visit to World's End from 07:40-08:30

7 Black Grouse in the Lek with again all observers following RSPB code of conduct. 8+ Wheatear near the Lek too. Distant male Hen Harrier, Stonechat, Raven.

Towards Llangollen a single Red Grouse, 3 Stonechat, uncounted Meadow Pipit, Ring Ouzel heard only.

At Llyn Brenig from 10:30-1: Osprey pair, 2+Willow Tit, Redpoll, 15+ Siskin, Red Kite, 5 Common Buzzard were the highlights.

Some images attached. Osprey from the live feed screen.

A long day in North (and West Wales).

Foryd Bay 7:00am - 9:30 Bufflehead (lifer!) gave good views once I found it - but not from the side where the hide is, had to schlep round to the airport side on foot through some very muddy paths and an "over the top of the wellies" flood. Good views of Greenshank (used to be my favourite wader, now second favourite). Good flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover at least a few hundred of each.

Hock back to Morfa Madran 10:15, one of my favourite reserves, heard but didn't see the Yellow-browed Warbler, a fellow birder put me onto a Firecrest in the copse by the railway "Its there with the Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrests" "Which ones there 15 Long-tailed Tits and eight Goldcrest". A walk round the reserve was very quiet but going round the marsh loop to Lllanfairfetchen a Green-winged Teal put on a show and more Greenshank, my second favourite wader ever 

12:10pm Rhos Point did disappoint (my fault with tides times really) no sign of Purple Sandpiper (or Turnstone, mysteriously elusive for me in 2026) and Colwyn Bay was poor views / waves for Scoter so todays score was only three Common Scoter. Stuffed my face on fish and chips though!

Kinmel Bay failed to find the female Black Redstart so it looked like my luck was ducked.

14:00 A walk down the River Clwyd though pulled up the final star cast of the day - a Lesser Yellowlegs (about 200m North of where its been seen near the pylons and on the other bank - but there was a dog on the saltmash so that may have shifted things. I must say, I think having seen a few of these over recent years, they might be becoming MyFavouriteWaderEver(TM) . (Getting greedy now expecting annually to see Lesser Yellowlegs).

Await a posting in early Feb though on the general birding discussion....I had a "need" to see a bird today and to see it in the same scope view as the Firecrest (I actually took my eye off the Firecrest to get this bird ) was a most gruntling experience. 

North Wales never fails to deliver.

1030 - 1245 Rhos Point

Arctic Skua 1 pale

Little Tern 2

Black Tern - at least 1, prob 2

Spotted Flycatcher today at Big Pool Wood NWWT near Gronant, Flintshire. 

World's End - 29th April 2025

My first visit yesterday to the Black Grouse lek at Worlds End.

7 Black Grouse on the lek

A couple of Red Grouse (m&f) across the moors, from the road.

Whinchat

Skylarks

Meadow Pipits

Wheatears

Willow Warblers

3 Cuckoo (two paired up from the way they were acting) seen, 

Down by the Ford - Siskin, Redstart, Chiffchaff, Treecreeper, Grey Wagtail and Cuckoo heard. 

Check out my Twitter Tony Fox @tdph79

16/03/25 Highlights of our regular foursome's trip in decent weather.

Too late in the morning (and the year?) for the Black Grouse in Denbighshire, but a sighting of a female Goshawk was some consolation. Plenty of Red Grouse and a pair of distant Canada Geese to provide some initial confusion.

We did better at Holyhead Harbour with 12 Black Guillemot ranged nicely in front of the parked trucks, and a Shag on the wooden structure at the harbour mouth


The auks had returned to South Stack but not the gulls. Large numbers of Guillemots, with smaller numbers of Razorbills ( ratio 10/1) most of the latter being on the sea. At least 5 Puffins on the water as well. Rock Pipit heard and 1 or possibly 2 pairs of Chough flying silently along the cliffs from South to North. 

Called in at Beddmanarch Bay to check on reported sightings and found 2 Slavonian Grebes just north of the outlet from the Inland Sea, one in winter and one in summer plumage. Also a courting pair of Red-breasted Goosanders and the usual waders, gulls etc.

Finished the day with the somnolent Red-necked Grebe at Llyn Penrhyn, along with the first heard Chiffchaff of the year for most of us.

A dull dreary Sunday so I reckoned on a wee trip rather than going on patch. News from Denbighshire from yesterday decided my destination.

I headed to a new location for me, Rhuddlan Nature Reserve, on the southern outskirts of Rhuddlan near Rhyl. In reality it is a small area of land put aside for nature, walkers and dog walkers by the council. They have landscaped it with a few ponds and it is in its infancy really. As I arrived a birder leaving site informed me that the bird I'd come for had flown off around 10 minutes earlier!! But I had seen messages from yesterday that it did that then too and always returned, so I was still pretty confident! I walked the short distance to its favoured area, a tiny wet patch with a small pond, no bigger than a back garden really! After about 50mins absence the bird floated back down, just 5m from where 3 of us were waiting! I then had my closest ever views of a stunning Glossy Ibis, looking gorgeous in weak sunshine, its plumage showing the iridescent greens and purples that give it its name. News spread and at least 10 more birders arrived but the bird fed happily just a few metres away giving fantastic photo opportunities. Then it flew off over the adjacent dual carriageway from where it had flown back in from before. I took this as a cue to leave and bade everyone goodbye as I knew many of the birders present.

I then popped for the rest of the morning and early afternoon to Horton's Nose at Rhyl Harbour, to make the most of traveling to this part of North Wales. Here I saw a nice Greenshank on the river mud, as well as 3 Black-tailed Godwits, Turnstones, Redshanks and Oystercatchers. A pair of Goosanders with the drake looking stunning, fed on the river too. Mid afternoon, with the drizzle getting heavier and light getting worse, I called it a day and headed home. A pleasant trip indeed!

Usual family mooch down mid-North Wales for a few days, some years very productive when birds have turned up at Conway etc.

This year did itself no disservice with Red Kites galore on the A5 from Llangollen, Osprey at Llyn Brennig, Hawfinch at Caerhun (2), Three at Tal-y-cafn on the west of the bridge and Redstarts galore - at least 3 ad +7 juv. Pied Wagtails covered the field down to the river - 50 or 60 or so.

Great Orme seawatching, first Gannets of the year - not been anywhere coastal yet in the 'summer' thought I'd miss these but many more than normal past the flat we stay in on the headland after the winds on the 19th.

Went to the Little Orme 20th Produced a beauty Sabines Gull adult (first for me, only seen juv prev) Manx Shearwaters, Commic and Sandwich Terns and at least two Cory's Shearwaters (lifer).

Only five seals in Angel Bay.

No Rock Pipits at all in a four mile walk from Lllandudno side of the Little Orme to Rhos! What gives (narked as that would have been my #200 bird on the 2020 list and I do love a Ripit).

Some highlights of yesterday's High Peak RSPB group trip to Anglesey:

South Stack RSPB: 5 Puffin, 6+Chough, 1000's of Guillemots and 100's of Razorbill, Kittiwakes, Fulmar, Raven family, Peregrine Falcon, Common Whitethroat, 5 Stonechat, 2 Rock Pipit

Holyhead harbour: 5 Black Guillemot

Cemlyn Bay: many Arctic, Sandwich and Common Tern, Mediterranean Gull and chick, 2 Black Guillemot, Red Breasted Merganser, 100's of Manx Shearwater, 3 Little Egret. 

World's End near Llandegla from 07:00-14:00 with High Peak RSPB group.

9+ Black Grouse on the lek near road, with all people there following the RSPB code of conduct as far as I could see...4 cars in total. They were giving a great display for a good hour.

Also around between here and the descent down to Llangollen:

1+Red Kite, 20+ Red Grouse, probable fly past Ring Ouzel, 4 Crossbill, 15 Siskin, 6 Stonechat, 2 Common Snipe, 12 Raven, 2 Peregrine Falcon, 5 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, 6 Skylark, Reed Bunting, 30+Meadow Pipit.

An excellent day out in the sunshine of North Wales today.

The trip was organised around the sunshine to start the day at an undisclosed raptor watching spot of mine. I wasn't disappointed with the first of 6 Buzzards being the start of the raptor-fest. Not a raptor but next a small party and then a total of 8 Ravens were seen 'playing' as corvids do in the sunny weather. Two pairs and a singleton gave a total of 5 Red Kites, something new for this area, several years ago I saw none here, just showing how they are spreading. The icing on the cake was the raptor that I had cone to see, a fabulous female Goshawk, relatively close and low and in my scope for a long time. A male Crossbill was also seen in the vicinity, although I didn't spend a lot of time looking for other species!

Next was Anglesey and my tour was a whiz around to regular sites to 'tick' off a few species. First stop was Beddmanarch Bay where the first bird seen was a beautiful adult Mediterranean Gull amongst the Black-headed Gulls. Unlike the full winter-plumaged Black-headeds the Med Gull was already sporting an almost complete jet black hood. There were lots of Pale-bellied Brent Geese out on the mud, as it was low tide, and amongst them was a single Dark-bellied Brent Goose. I wasn't sure whether the tide would stop me getting my target here, but a sweep of the deep central water-filled channel revealed 2 Slavonian Grebes, as well as a female Common Scoter. Next stop was the Fish Dock where 2 Black Guillemots were seen immediately, but no sign of a reported Black Redstart here. A scan of the harbour revealed no divers so it was on to South Stack where 2 Chough fed in fields off the road to the RSPB car park. Ravens flew low overhead and 2 more Chough were seen, but nothing else to report. My final stop was Fryars Beach north of Beaumaris where I picked up 2 Eider offshore but a previously seen Black-necked Grebe wasn't present. Both Shag and Cormorant were seen here too.

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Monday 19th of February 2024 10:39:03 PM

Four Purple Sandpiper at the usual roost on Marine Drive at Rhos yesterday, could see them  without leaving my cab!!!! Returned on 15th Nov this year according to a local and up to seven have been seen together.