This morning Alan and Ken headed east for the River Clwyd, south of Rhyl. It was a very high tide and the whole of the saltmarsh was flooded. This high water pushed a huge flock of gulls on to the fields just west of the river. Careful scanning located a first-winter Mediterranean Gull, nice black mask and dropping black bill. Common Snipe and Rock Pipits were also pushed out of cover and showed along the river bank.
A quick look at the Rhyl Brickworks pool where best bird was a singing Chiffchaff showing off nicely, at nearby Rhyl Marine Lake their first Swallow of the spring swooped around over the water, excellent, though the poor bird must be finding it hard to feed in this bitter cold wind.
Back west to Penrhyn Bay and they called in to see the Snow Buntings and put down some seed for them, hope they stay for the weekend. Both birds were showing off wonderfully in the sunshine.
On the Little Orme they enjoyed watching Kittiwakes and Fulmars but they stayed just out of range of Ken’s camera. Offshore a Red-throated Diver rode the waves and Common Guillemots bobbed about like corks in the rough water.
A quick look at the Conwy Estuary but the Wigeon were in no mood to pose for photos. Overhead a fine Peregrine circled looking for prey.
Heading south they enjoyed views of two Red Kites and two more Peregrine sightings along with many Common Buzzards.We are giving a talk on The Biggest Twitch at RSPB Conwy on 16th April at 7pm, again a donation to the reserve will be made, do come along and hear all about our adventure and support this great reserve. Tickets available at the reserve, 01492 584091 for details.Would you like to come birding with The Biggest Twitch? Well now you can!
We are putting together a package of birding tours here in the UK, Europe and further afield using our huge experience to share our enthusiasm for birds, wildlife and wild places with you. We are offering the following trips as set departure tours:Galapagos Islands and Ecuador: April 2010 – there’s been a lot of interest already!
India, Tigers and the north: November 2010We offer custom tours to the following countries with dates to suit you for an individual tour, or you can join a group of like-minded people:Spain, visiting Extremadura and/or the Coto de Doñana
Eastern Turkey for wonderful birds and mountain scenery
Finland and Norway with the very best guides for all the owls and woodpeckersWe also offer custom tours throughout the year in North Wales, day trips or longer to see all the special birds, dates to suit you. Highlights could include Red-billed Chough, Black and Red Grouse, Dipper, Red Kite, Hen Harrier, Goshawk, Atlantic Puffin, Ring Ouzel. Expect to see over 100 species on a two-day tour!If you would like more details of any of these, please email us at info@thebiggesttwitch.com. We would love you to join us for wonderful birds and much more!