We headed west from Llandudno along the North Wales coast and through the grey drizzle to Caernarfon. First stop was the Age Concern building, no we are not in need of help just yet, but the small car park here gives good views over the River Seiont. Just south of the imposing Caernarfon Castle this stretch of river attracts gulls to wash and preen. With the tide fairly high numbers were pretty low and nothing unusual amongst the Herring, Common and Black-headed Gulls. A Little Egret was roosting in a tree over hanging the water.
Taking the narrow coast road further west we met local birder, Simon Hugheston-Roberts who advised us to hurry to the south end of nearby Foryd Bay if we wanted to look for gulls as the tide would soon flood the resting areas. We took the advice and hurried towards the shallow bay. We stopped briefly to check a roosting flock of waders, the majority Bar-tailed Godwits.
Reaching the south end of the bay Simon was proved right the tide was rising fast and very few gulls were left on the almost completely flooded mudflats and saltmarsh. It did not take long to see no scarce birds were present. Plenty to see though and flocks of beautiful Pintail were the main attraction, surely one of the most handsome ducks? Two Greenshank flew in and landed on a tiny island displacing Common Redshanks as they came in. A flock of dark looking geese came flying low south down the bay and we focused our binoculars on a lovely sight of 65 Pale-bellied Brent Geese they swept by and landed on the now completely flooded saltmarsh, wonderful birds all the way from Arctic Canada.
With next to no gulls now with the tide full we moved further west to Dinas Dinlle and the new RSPB reserve. No visitor facilities here yet as the land management is at an early stage, fine views of the wet fields can be had from the road north of the hamlet of Dinas Dinlle. A lot of work has been done already and fields look good with plenty of water in the shallow scrapes. Could well be an area to keep an eye on this spring. Today a scatter of Eurasian Teal and Lapwing fed on the fields and a flock of some six hundred Golden Plover wheeled over head.
We then turned south and drove down to the pretty town of Criccieth and another castle, not quite so well preserved as Caernarfon but still impressive. The promenade east of the town is a good birding site and we scanned the sea in a surprisingly cold wind under low grey skies. Plenty of gulls loafed on the choppy sea and we checked them carefully but drew a blank other than the expected common species. With the poor light and waves it was hard to see birds far offshore and we found only Common Scoter.
At Porthmadog we had a walk along the embankment by the inner harbour where good views of the pools and marshes to the east can be had from near the sluice gates. A nice flock of eighteen Black-tailed Godwits roosted on a grass island amongst Common Redshank and Curlew. Eurasian Wigeon and Teal fed around the edges of the pools and Little Grebe dived for fish in deeper water. A white blob was transformed through the binoculars in to a Little Egret looking very fed up with the cold wind, we agreed! 
Before heading home, we took a slight detour to the marshy fields of the Glaslyn Valley to look for some particular over-wintering regulars.  At first we thought we were out of luck as we checked all the fields on either side of the road, with no sign of any birds.  Turning round and checking them all again on the way back, a distant flash of white caught our eye, and with the bins we could make out an elegant white neck: a Whooper Swan.  We had to brave the bitter wind, but with the extra foot of height once we were outside the car – a low-slung Audi, not the ideal birdmobile – we could make out eleven Whoopers tucked into a hollow in a far off field.  A small flock of these elegant swans winters here every year, and it’s just not possible to bird here without catching up with them.  Then as if to prove the point, while we waited by some temporary traffic lights at yet another stretch of roadworks, a single Whooper Swan emerged right beside the road.  So we took full advantage of the enforced stop to do some digiscoping, though this time the bird was almost too close to photograph!
Back north again and we decided to give Foryd Bay another try in the hope that the tide had dropped.  We parked at the south end and were delighted to see the tide was just dropping nicely, exposing a patch of mud right in front of us.  We were not so pleased to see a crazed dog charging into the water and flushing the gathering crowd of gulls.  This demented canine swam out into the bay but luckily seemed to attract the gulls to mob it rather than frighten them away.  Thankfully the dog returned to shore and the gulls settled back onto the mudflat.  We started scanning through the flock but we this time didn’t have to scan far:  one bird leapt out at us!  Bulkier than the others, about the size of a Great Black-backed Gull, and the colour of milky coffee, it was a juvenile Glaucous Gull.  We got on the phone to local birders to share the news about the bird, just as two other birders from Shropshire turned up.  It wasn’t long before Simon joined us and we all sheltered in the lee of the car to scope the bird and take some record shots.  A Peregrine Falcon scooted low over the water, disturbing some of the birds, although the majority continued to feed and roost peacefully, the peregrine’s tactic of hiding low over the water proving successful.  A sudden dive and a flurry of waders flew up in alarm but the hunter had missed its target and carried on up a gully and out of sight.  Something had rattled the gulls though, as the mixed flock the Glaucous Gull was hanging out with all took to the air.  They circled overhead for a moment, and we had a good opportunity for size comparison, the Glaucous dwarfing the Black-headeds and Herring Gulls around it.  Then they headed inland towards some ploughed fields and sadly landed out of sight.  That seemed our cue to call it a day and head back home, leaving Simon to try and track down the gulls in some sheltered field nearby.