25/04/2015 to 01/05/2015 North Wales Birding Trip

Saturday 25th April 2015 to Friday 1st May 2015
With Brian, Graham and Harvey - Cumbrian Birders
North Wales

I was fortunate to be invited along to a birding holiday in North Wales with my friend Brian and 2 Cumbrian birders, Graham and Harvey.  Our base for the week was a caravan situated on it's own, in private grounds, on the outskirts of Abersoch and overlooking Cardigan Bay.

The weather throughout was good with no rain and plenty of sunshine but somewhat cold early morning.  Expectations were high!

Sunday 26th April 2015

• First stop was South Stack on Angelsey to see the Choughs.  Within minutes of arrival we saw the birds and enjoyed observing their behaviour for several minutes.  Throughout our stay these birds continued to show up and delight us.

Chough
Library picture

Choughs
Library picture

• The other significant species seen was the Manx Shearwater.  We watched from the cliff tops as small groups of these lovely birds weaved their way low over the waves.

Manx Shearwaters
Library picture

• Next stop was Conwy NNR.  Here we saw many species with the highlight for me being the huge numbers of Hirundines around .

We had made an excellent start with both our target species present and showing well and I managed to add another 6 species to my year list.


Monday 27th April 2015
This was perhaps our worst day of the trip.  Despite going to some excellent habitats in the Aberdaron area there were few birds around.  The highlight was again seeing the Choughs and also watching the Fulmars nesting on the cliff edges.

Unfortunately, Harvey's camper suffered some damage and needed a new exhaust.


Very surprisingly, I was unable to add to my 2015 UK list today.




Tuesday 28th April 2015
Today was always going to be special for us.  We made the long trip south east to Ynys-hir from which a Springwatch and an Autumnwatch programme had been made recently.

After a very slow start when we went left from the reception area and saw very few birds, things picked up dramatically when we headed to the right hand section of the reserve. 

• We were delighted to see a Lesser Whitethroat in the bushes a few feet away from us.  The views were only for a few seconds but they were excellent.

• Quite soon after we heard, very clearly, a Grasshopper Warbler in the scrub area close by.  Unfortunately we were unable to see it despite our best efforts.  Thankfully we saw one later on in the week in a different area. 

• One of the biggest highlights of the day was provided by a stunning male Redstart that was feeding on the ground barely 10 metres away.

Male Redstart
Library picture

• Equally stunning were the many Pied Flycatchers we saw in the trees, some near nest boxes but several in the trees.  This was the largest gathering of these birds that I have ever seen. 

Pied Flycatchers
Library picture

• We were desperate to see an Osprey and although we did not get a sighting of one flying we did get good views of one on the nest in the distance.



Nesting Osprey
Library picture

Finally, this turned out to be a good day with some good sightings and I was able to add 6 more species to my year list.




Wednesday 29th April 2015
First stop on this quite windy day was the Great Orme with its spectacular views over the Irish Sea to the north and the Llandudno Bay and Conwn estuary to the south.



Llandudno and Conwy
Library picture

• Quite soon after arriving we made perhaps the "stand out" sighting of the trip when a Ring Ouzel was seen out in the open in a field on the eastern slopes.  In the bright light it looked magnificent as it foraged, quite oblivious to our presence.

Ring Ouzel
Library picture

• We then made the short journey to Conwy to spend a very happy couple of hours revisiting the reserve.

What a spectacular morning on the Great Orme and a stunning migrant to boot!




Thursday 30th April 2015
Bardsey Island
We were now in full swing and today we would continue the theme of the spectacular by making a 5 hour boat trip to Bardsey Island from Aberdaron

Bardsey Island
Library picture

• On the approach to the island we saw our fair share of mainly Guillemots but some Razorbills - enough to whet our appetite for things to come.

• It took us almost an hour to move a couple of hundred metres from where the boat landed to the bird observatory; such was the variety of warblers and other small birds to be seen in the hedges.  There were lots of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats and Blackcaps around but the main excitement centred on a Grasshopper Warbler showing well for a short while in the hedge and a lovely Lesser Whitethroat.

Grasshopper Warbler
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Lesser Whitethroat
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• Then followed  an unproductive period at the plantation where we were unable to find the target bird - the Firecrest.

• Harvey, Graham and I then ascended the hillside leaving Brian to continue the search for the Firecrest.  Harvey then spotted some 10 or so Puffins swimming in the water about 25 metres from the steep eastern slopes and we simply lay down and took in the spectacle along with the spectacular views our high vantage point generated.  What a life!  We sailed close to this point on the return journey, enabling Brian and others to savour what we had seen.

Puffins on the sea
Library picture

• Finally we had to come off the hill and head back to the plantation to link up again with Brian.  On the way we searched in vain for the Little Owls (2) that are a feature of the landscape here.  Brian had a similar experience during our absence.

• There was to be one final surprise on the return leg of the boat trip.  The skipper of the boat was persuaded by a splendid local character to make a short detour to Ynys Gwylan Fawr, one of 2 smaller islands near Aberdaron where we could see even more Puffins on the water and a small number occupying the burrows on the island.

This was to be the last outing of our trip - what a way to finish!



The weather forecast for Saturday was awful so I took the decision to head off home a day early.  We were unlikely to see any more new birds and I had a long way to go.  The rest of the lads took the same view and they planned to call in at Leighton Moss on the way back north to Workington


Additions to BUBO 2015 UK Bird List:
Chough   (202)
Manx Shearwater   (203)
Sedge Warbler   (204)
Swift   (205)
Sand Martin   (206)
Reed Warbler   (207)
Lesser Whitethroat   (208)
Pied Flycatcher   (209)
Grasshopper Warbler   (210)
Osprey   (211)
Ring Ouzel   (212)
Puffin   (213)



Species List for whole trip:
Mute Swan
Greylag Goose
Canada Goose
Shelduck
Teal
Mallard
Pochard
Tufted Duck
Pheasant
Great-crested Grebe   (10)
Fulmar
Manx Shearwater
Gannet
Cormorant
Shag
Little Egret
Grey Heron
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard
Osprey   (20)
Kestrel
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Ringed Plover
Golden Plover
Lapwing
Dunlin
Black-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit   (30)
Whimbrel
Curlew
Redshank
Common Sandpiper
Black-headed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Guillemot
Razorbill   (40)
Puffin
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Feral Pigeon  (Rock Dove)Swift
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Sand Martin
Swallow
House Martin
Meadow Pipit
Rock Pipit   (50)
Pied Wagtail
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Redstart
Stonechat
Wheatear
Ring Ouzel
Blackbird
Song Thrush   (60)
Grasshopper Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Reed Warbler
Blackcap
Lesser Whitethroat
Whitethroat
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Pied Flycatcher
Long-tailed Tit   (70)
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Nuthatch
Jay
Magpie
Chough
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Hooded Crow   (80)
Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Linnet
Bullfinch
Reed Bunting