South Stack, Holyhead harbour,Cemlyn bay and a few good birds !

Star birds seen on this trip 19/05/2013.
Black Guillemot, Chough, Lesser Whitethroat, Mediterranean gull, Fulmar, Puffin, Common , Artic and Sandwich Terns.

Pictures in order : 1+2 Black guillemot, 3 Guillemot, 4 Whitethroat, 5 Chough, 6 Artic tern, 7 Sandwich tern. Click images for larger view. 

 

A very early start allowed me to arrive at Holyhead harbour around 8am. I had read that Black guillemot could be seen around the end of the breakwater in the harbour but not guaranteed. I also read that they drifted out to feed at sea often before mid morning. Good light and a calm sea helped immensely and after five minutes I had picked up 3 birds close to the breakwater wall, 2 minutes later I had another 5 birds, distant but viewable through the scope. As I watched and thought about taking a few record snaps a speed boat dispatched all but one bird leaving me quite annoyed but I did manage a few shots for my records.

Arriving at South stack I went on the search for Puffins. Walking the 400 steps down towards the lighthouse I saw rafts of Guillemots and Razorbills on the cliffs but no Puffins. Gulls sat upon eggs everywhere around the lighthouse and a single Rock pipit sat kindly on a metal handrail in front of me. On the way back up  I searched the cliff faces again and picked up one Puffin quite low beneath me. Back on the cliff top views of Stonechat, Raven,Goldfinch and Meadow pipit added to the list.                                                                        

Back at the car park I walked behind the café and was shown a pair of Fulmars. Also a distant Peregrine falcon looking out towards the sea from a high rock stack.
Lower down the road from the car park I was lucky to pick up Whitethroat, Lesser whitethroat, Mistle thrush, Linnet and Song thrush. Being pleased with all these birds I headed back towards the car. As I walked 2 chough flew overhead from behind me making their raspy call.

One minute later another flew and landed in a paddock just to my right hand side. Strutting around and digging at the soft ground I was able to grab a handful of shots before it flew away calling noisily. 

The next 45 minutes or so produced nothing new so I moved towards Cemlyn bay. A small lagoon separated from the sea by a shingle ridge it is well known for terns. On my way from the car towards the lagoon I spotted 3 Turnstone on the foreshore. Looking around the lagoon I made out Artic, Common and Sandwich terns  On the same water there was a handful of Mediterranean gulls mixed in with birds, also  3 Knot and several Dunlin probed the muddy banks of the lagoon.

After awhile I headed towards the Spit, a stretch of grassy land that is flanked by the sea on both sides. The sides of the Spit are  low but sharp and rocky. A good walk around produced Ring plover, Dunlin, Stonechat more Turnstones and on the way back towards the car Sedge warbler, Whitethroat and a possible Whinchat.
North Wales , Anglesey is a beautiful place and somewhere I will visit again in the near future.

 

 

Dotterel, Dippers, North Wales and my past Month of Birding.

 Highlights this month: Cetti's warbler-Spotted redshank-Little gull-Leighton moss: Black grouse-Hen harrier-Worlds end: Dotterel-Ring ouzel-Pendle hill.

Whitethroat

Stonechat

Hi, it's been over a month since my last posting and I have managed to get out several times. First of all I visited Worlds End a moorland between Llangollen on the west side and Minera not far from Wrexham on the east side. My first trip was good with Hen Harrier, Red grouse and the target bird Black grouse being spotted. The second visit was brief and produced Peregrine falcon, Buzzard and Black grouse again.
Locally has been quite good with visits to Moor Peace near Bashall Eaves. On of my first visit there lately I met Anne Pollard a keen Bird watcher and wildlife enthusiast. Anne has visited Scotland's west coast many times and has posted me video footage of Pine martens, Badgers and lots of photographs of various animals and birds that I will share with you in a future posting I hope.
One of the highlights of the past month was a climb up Pendle hill.
A great place for passing Dotterel this time of year. It had been a poor wet start to the day but at 2pm I ventured up towards the Trig point. Zig -zagging my way  towards the trig point I was lucky to

find 3 birds to my left that flew 100 yards away almost immediately. Sneaking and crawling slowly towards them I managed to get within 25-30 yards of them. Keeping low the Dotterel became more comfortable with my presence and ran about feeding, sometimes coming within 10 yards of my camera.

On my way down the hill I was fortunate to stumble upon a male Wheatear along the footpath fanning his tail feathers. I suspect this would be part of his courtship display ?
If anyone can confirm this I would appreciate it. The female Wheatear was several yards away perched upon a stone wall.

Another cracking bird seen along the slopes of Pendle hill this time of year is the Ring ouzel. A bird that I had dipped on in my last two visits onto Pendle. Whilst watching the male Wheatear strut his stuff I noticed  a blackbird type bird in the field behind the stone wall where the female Wheatear had been sat. Using the wall as a shield I noticed I had two male Ring ouzel coming from my left towards a stone wall just to my right hand side....I hope you like this photograph as much as I do ! I am really pleased with this photograph it is one of my favourites.

Before Anne ran off towards her highland retreat she tipped me off on a pair of nesting Dippers in the Trough of Bowland. On her advice I visited the spot where she had said and grabbed some decent shots of both birds grabbing grubs from the fast flowing stream. I could sit and watch Dippers all day they are so unique.

 Tomorrow I am visiting Anglesey chasing Chough, Puffins, Razorbills and with a bit of luck Black guillemots.
I hope I can make a great posting when I get back home !