PRE-BREAKFAST LOCAL WALK - ALL DAY VISIT TO ANGLESEY WITH STOPS AT HOLYHEAD PORT - RSPB SOUTH STACK - CEMLYN BAY
WEATHER: at last, some sunshine. All day sunshine, with moderate to strong south-westerly wind.
Only two of us turned out for the pre-breakfast walk, so Debbie and I enjoyed some great birding and added two species to the trip list as well as seeing plenty other species. The scrub around Trefriw 'Quay' (which was in use 170 years ago) held a few birds but the bird song now was limited to just a small number of species. We heard Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Song Thrush, Wren and Robin and saw only the Song Thrush.
a Jackdaw on the bird feder at the Hotel - not a usual sighting I would think?
In the open area along the embankment we found a superb male Common Redstart which came very close to us as we stood frozen to the spot. Debbie then picked out our first Ravens of the trip and she located a couple of Sedge Warblers and then a Reed Bunting (also new for the trip). We saw Grey Heron, Little Egret and Mallards on the river and the sky was full of the usual House & Sand Martins, Barn Swallows and Common Swifts.
Common Redstart
We took an early breakfast and set off for Anglesey before 8:30am we drove straight to Holyhead and parked on the quayside opposite the Ferry Terminal. We located up to seven Black Guillemots within a few minutes but they were all very far off near the harbour entrance. But our luck was about to change for the better because four of the Guillemots took off and flew straight towards us, dropping in the water not 50 meters away from us, wowzah!!
The best view I have ever had of the Holyhead Black Guillemots
They stayed around for twenty minutes or so and dived for fish, they do stay under for a long time! Other species seen were: Oystercatchers, Little Egrets, Grey Heron, a European Shag, Great Cormorants and lots of Herring Gulls.
We moved on, passing through Holyhead Town and onto the RSPB Reserve to the South of Holyhead. The car park was virtually full when we got there but the tracks and trails were not. The viewing point just below the car park was where we headed for, spotting Stonechat, Jackdaw and a couple of Red-billed Chough along the way. The Chough came down and fed quite close to us, Brenda was fully made up, this was one of her favourite species.
Red-billed Chough
From the cliff edge we spent an hour scanning the cliff faces and the rocky mounds finding all of our target birds within a short period of time. It was difficult to find a Puffin but Razorbills, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Fulmar and Gannets were easily seen. We also found several groups of Manx Shearwaters feeding out on the open sea with large a number of gulls.
we only saw four or five of these little gems and they were quite far off
South Stack Lighthouse from the view point
Rock Pipit
A short walk produced Stonechat, Linnet and a very confiding pair of Rock Pipits. A Peregrine Falcon was a great bird to see, it flew along the cliffs dashing here and there, at one stage it appeared right in front of us as it saored from the cliff face a few meters away. A pair of Ravens appeared ver the area a couple of times as we walked back to the car park.
some Guillemots with a Razorbill
We ate a snack-lunch in the visitor's centre and took a hot drink too, we then drove across to Cemlyn Bay to finsih off our birding day. Terns are King at Cemyln, there are over 2000 breeding pairs of Sandwhich Terns and hundreds of Common and Arctic Terns, it was sunny, noisy and very windy there.
Cemlyn Bay today
This year a pair of Roseate Terns have chosen to breed there, according to the warden they have one egg so far, we were told where the nest site was and we quickly found the birds. Looking into a strong wind was difficult, keeping your scope still was abig problem, but we all managed to see the sitting bird.
the bird with the black bill is the Roseate Tern, its sitting with Common Terns
a second shot - none of them were very clear, you can blame the wind not the photographer!
adult Mediterranean Gull, one of two pairs at Cemlyn
We scanned the Bay for Red-breatsed merganser without successbut we did see a couple of Mediterranean Gulls, five Dunlin and a Grey Seal. The wind eventually drove us away.
I would say that we had a very successful day on Anglesey, we plan to return on Wednesday to look for more species, our list is now 102 and we have a few more to find.