Originally posted today by Dave Ousey:

24.04.16

As the weather in the west seemed pretty good on Sunday we decided to visit Anglesey, Wales. Three A Teamers met in Rochdale for a 6am start, both Steve`s and myself with Steve K at the wheel. It was quite a nice, if cold ,morning as we headed into North Wales reaching Holyhead harbour around 8-15am, two Black Guillemots were seen, but not much else. At South Stack RSPB reserve  we went to the cliff top view and lots of Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and just four Puffins were seen. Fulmar, Shag, Raven, Rock Pipit, Gannet, Manx Shearwater were all seen from the stack, then 2 Great Skua passed heading north, what a nice surprise they were! A couple of Common Scoter and the ever entertaining party of Choughs completed an always good visit. We called in at a new reserve in Holyhead called something like Breakwater Park? Lots of dog walkers,so we moved on quickly. Next stop was what we used to call the inland sea, now called Penrhos with its own small nature reserve. A few Sandwich Terns and two Red Breasted Merganser were fishing in the sea, but the hoped for Whimbrel were not seen.

After a short while we decided to visit RSPB Valley Lakes in Caergeilog, the sun was shining really well now but it was still a little chilly. We soon heard lots of Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers singing and after a very pleasant walk towards the railway track we heard Cetti`s Warbler blasting out their loud song. Willow Warbler, Blackcap and a fine pair of Little Grebe made up a very pleasant hour at this warbler rich reserve. As we were about to leave we saw Alan Davies, of The Biggest Twitch fame, we had a good talk about birding in general. A nice birder on a bike told us about a noisy Lesser Whitethroat about half a mile away, so, off we went and enjoyed hearing and watching the bird perform. We heard about an Osprey that had been seen in the morning perched on a pylon near the Britania Bridge, as we passed over we looked for it, but it had gone!

At the Spinnies, Aber Ogwen a few Red Breasted Merganser, Little Egret and a few birds on the feeders were seen but not much els,e like the hoped for Kingfisher or Water Rail. A few good waders had been reported at Frodsham and as we where passing we called in. As we slowly made our way along the bumpy track to the tanks, Steve K said, Reeling we knew what he meant, a Grasshopper Warbler. With a bit of pishing etc the bird nearly flew into the car and landed a few feet away, nice when this happens! Along the track it became apparent that some construction work was going on, more wind farm nonsense and the usual barrage of no entry sign`s etc. It did not stop me having a good walk through the barriers(the guard on site was okay with us) and being rewarded with views of Ruff, Black Tailed Godwit, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover, a birder on site did help me locate a couple of the birds though!

Yesterday Carys & I headed to the World's End area, but this time in the afternoon with a different species in mind.

We headed to the start of the Offa's Dyke path and first did a scan over the moor, but with low cloud & fine drizzle the visibilty was very poor and we couldn't see much at all. Lots of mountain bikes were heading out so we had our doubts about finf=ding birds but decided that we were there and we might as well give it a try. So donning waterproofs we headed out across the moor. On the way across we had great views of many Red Grouse and added to the ones heard calling we had a count of over 20 individuals, the most I have ever had here, they seem to be doing pretty well. On reaching the far side of the moor we scanned around and Carys found the long-staying Great Grey Shrike on the ridge to our right. Later on it came closer and gave great scoped views as the weather lifted a little and visibility was good.

We headed back and took a slow drive sown the road past the old 'plantation car park' following the river down the valley. On the way back up we finally got views of the bird we had been looking for in this area with a Dipper on the rocks to the right of the road. Then on the way back up we noticed at least 20 Black Grouse out on the moor at one of the lek sights, followed by another 11 at the known lek close to the road. Having struggled for photos in the half light this was a godsend and I digiscoped away to my hearts content. We stayed 20 minutes on our own & left all the birds still there, occasionally squaring up & calling, more half-heartedly than the early morning lek but still a great spectacle to see. This was at 3pm if anyone wants to try as an alternative to a dawn start

A great afternoon and with the unexpected bonus of great photographic opportunities at an afternoon lek!!

We were at Kinmel Bay about 10.30.  The snow buntings were elusive, but we found them in the fenced off area at the east end of the boardwalk, together with at least 2 pairs of Ringed Plover. Skylarks were singing until the clouds came down, and it was good to see lambs in the fields.  There were plenty of scoter but too far offshore to distinguish between them.

Today was another reminder that we should never be slaves to the weather forecast.  Though chilly, and a little breezy, the sun shone all morning and there was only the briefest rain shower.

Highlights....

Kinmel Bay (8:45 to 9:30) - Snow Bunting 1, 200 yards east of Asda, on the sand, just beyond the sea wall.  Also Reed Bunting, 2 Skylark, 7 Ringed Plover.

Llanbedr-y-Cennin - Easiest Hawfinches ever.  A couple watched in top of tree on road beyond church (heading eastwards), followed by at least another eight in flight, possibly more. 

Little Orme - f Black Redstart at bottom of quarry, just above Angel Bay, but then ascended quarry wall.  c6 Fulmar on ledges.  Raven and two Chough.  Pair of Stonechat. Shag.  Single Common Scoter close offshore from Penrhyn Bay, and small flock of Wigeon.  Three Rock Pipits near storm drain, but no sign of Twite.

Colwyn Bay - there was very little on the sea all morning, but a Great Northern Diver was fairly close offshore at the eastern end of the prom.

Home by 14:00.

Anglesey is a wet place at the moment.  Fields west of Valley, normally dotted with feeding crows, are now home to ducks: Mallard, Shoveler and Gadwall were all dabbling happily, while Redshank and Curlew fed along the edges.  The flood water at the foot of Gorad Hill, which hosted two White-fronted Geese a couple of weeks ago, is now home to a pair of Mute Swans.

The main objective of my weekend visit was to help with the December WeBS count.  As a new recruit, I act as a utility player, so my third count of 2015 took me to my third different location: the series of bays on the North West coast between Porth Penrhyn Mawr and the mouth of the Alaw, finishing with a section of Beddmanarch Bay visible from Penrhos CP. 

Happily, though there was some drizzle about, the weather was a good deal kinder than the previous day.  It was not a bad place to be asked to look over, with a fair variety of birds, but no enormous numbers to tax the counter.  There were at least two Great Northern Divers around the river mouth, and probably a different bird opposite Holyhead harbour.  Singles of Slavonian Grebe and Black Guillemot (in winter plumage) were in the channel at Penrhos CP, along with seven Great Crested Grebes, a pair of Red-breasted Merganser and c30 Wigeon.  As the tide dropped, 100+ Pale-bellied Brent Geese dropped in.  The highest counts of waders were 375 Dunlin and c80 Grey Plover roosting on rocky islets off the NW shore at high tide.  There were decent numbers of Curlew, Redshank and Oystercatcher, while Ringed Plover and Turnstone both appeared in lower numbers.  Some of the best birds were out of scope for the count, with the wet fields attracting big numbers of Golden Plover (500+) and Lapwing (300+).  Nine Pintail, on the sea, were just outside the boundary.  Non-water birds included Chough (three on the beach at Penrhyn), Stonechat, Linnet and Reed Bunting plus Jay and Coal Tit in the woods at Penrhos. 

Saturday was nearly a write-off.  However, five Fieldfare, a Lesser Redpoll and c150 Lapwings flew over my base at Silver Bay when the rain finally stopped.  I dropped in at a very flooded Malltraeth Marsh late afternoon, where 18 Whooper Swans were on the floods.  On a late walk over my patch on Sunday afternoon I had an unexpected find in a flooded cattle field to the south of Bodior: a feeding Greenshank.

Elsewhere, there were two Great Northern Divers and a Scaup on the Inland Sea WeBS count.  Two long-staying Firecrests are still at Porth Eilian.

I managed to find a brief window in the weather at Silver Bay on Saturday morning.  Visiting winter thrushes are still around in good number, with marked increases in Blackbird and Song Thrush and a few Redwings feeding.  A double figure flock of Greenfinches has taken a liking to the seeds from the burnet rose hips at the foot of my garden.  Also visiting the garden is the Great Spotted Woodpecker that has taken a liking to my palm tree.

There were few waders on the beach, but I put up a Woodcock from the edge of the cattle field by the plantation and three Snipe from the headland.  Star of the show was also on the headland: a Firecrest feeding alone in low bushes favoured by Reed Buntings; there seems to have been quite an influx of them in North Wales over the past few weeks.  It gave wonderful views for a couple of minutes before moving into denser scrub.  It is my third record here, the first since March 2013.

Not much birding done in Sunday's hideous weather, but there was a good selection of common waders around the mouth of the Alaw, and eight Pintail a little further upstream.