LLYN CRAFNANT - TREFRIW QUAY - TRANSFER TO WREXHAM TRAIN STATION
WEATHER; broken sunshine very light breeze, chilly.
As it was our last day we made an effort to add more species to our list, there was a full turn-out for the pre-breakfast session, we met at 6:30am.
Lake Crafnant is a natural lake and lies in a valley above Trefriw and covers some 25 hectares, it is damned and therfore, technically, also a reservoir. It is a beautiful spot surrounded by pine and mixed woodland with many peaks towering above it. We expected to see a few warblers, woodland birds and a few water-species.
Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker at the feeders in the hotel grounds showing off its red crown
It took 10 minutes to drive up to the lake, we parked the car in the designated area and started birding immediately. A pair of Goldcrests appeared, we saw plenty of families of Blue and Great Tits, we could hear Song Thrush, Chaffinch and Blackcap singing.
the view of the lake as we approached it.
For the next couple of hours we walked along the lane on the east side of the lake and found several birds, not many were singing but those that counted were! We saw a male Bullfinch, or at least I did, then further along the lane we found two female Bullfinches and everyone got to see those. We saw Willow Warblers and we spent some time tracking down a singing Garden Warbler which eventually showed quite well.
Garden Warbler
Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Robins, Chaffinches, Wrens and the odd Mistle Thrush were seen and a distant Common Whitethroat sang from a tree below us. Out on the lake there were very few birds, Grey Wagtail, a Grey Heron, Mallards, Little Grebe and we found a Common Sandpipier on the only shingle bank in view.
the beautiful fox-glove - a very common species in the area
We managed to get back to the Hotel for a late breakfast at 9:30am. and we still had time afterwards for a last walk along the 'Quay' embankment opposite the hotel. It was a good choice, we saw a few nice birds, including: Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler and two of us got a sighting of our very first Kingfisher of the trip! We also saw Red Kite and Common Buzzard and plenty of common garden species, a family party of Great Spotted Woodpeckers visited the bird-feeders in the hotel garden.
two shots of the Reed Bunting - one of the few birds still singing at the Quay
Well that was it, we had seen 113 species, plus we heard Common Cuckoo, we saw all of our target species with a couple of unexpected sightings. Despite the inclement weather for two or three days, we all enjoyed a terrific trip.
our hotel taken from the Trefriw Quay
Not one species stood out for all of us but Wood Warbler, Black Guillemot, Red-billed Chough, Common Redstart and Pied Flycatchers were all mentioned when asked for 'bird of the trip'. Not forgetting the new species: Tree-piper!!
We set off at 11:30am for the drive to Wrexham and arrived in plenty of time for Debbie, Brenda and Andrew to catch their trains. I drove back to Stoford, battling the Friday afternoon traffic on the M6/M5 and arrived at 6pm.