Local birding in North Wales
Escaping the computer - Local birding in North Wales
Having had wonderful views of the Citrine Wagtail the previous day at RSPB Conwy we headed back to see if the rarity was still around. We met up with Jayne W in the reserve car park and headed off on a circuit of the lagoons.
Plenty of waders were very close to the viewing screen off the boardwalk.
With head up it was easier to see it was a juvenile Black tailed Godwit.
This lovely juvenile Ruff was a great bird for the reserve.
Something caught Jayne's eye on the ground.
This toad was making his way across the path.
On the next lagoon there was plenty of action with three juvenile Great crested Grebes, Little Grebes, Tufted Ducks and a drake Pochard. Then our attention was drawn to alarm calls made by a Lesser Black-backed Gull.
For some reason the gull took exception to the Grey Heron standing on one of the islands in the lagoon. The Lesser black back really went for the heron which ducked each time the gull dived at him. It was great fun to watch but not sure the heron enjoyed it.
We had a walk right around the reserve but did not see the Citrine Wagtail but we did enjoy over fifty species of bird! Other highlights included Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, lots of Little Egrets, Peregrine Falcon, Reed Warblers, Blackcap and Grey Wagtails.
Back at the car park Jayne had a lovely surprise as she produced a box of freshly baked home made cakes from the boot of her car! Have you ever witnessed vultures on a carcass?
Jayne did not need much persuasion to join us for our afternoon trip over to Anglesey and we had spotted home made shortbread biscuits in her car!
The birding on Anglesey produced a few nice sights. Greenshanks, Common Sandpipers and Black tailed Godwits at Malltraeth. An adult Yellow legged Gull in a large flock of its commoner cousins at Llyn Coron. Jayne spotted a juvenile Marsh Harrier drifting over The Range near RSPB South Stack. Offshore here a steady trickle of Manx Shearwaters were moving north and amongst them a shearwater with a very different flight. We watched it for a good time and it remained consistant, very fast wing beats almost continuous but with very brief glide, less than one second, occasionally. This bird kept a fairly steady flight, very little shearing like all the Manx Shearwaters we watched pass. This one ondividual really stood out. Unfortunately with the late afternoon sun behind the bird no plumage details could be seen, just dark above pale below. Frustrating!
Luckily there was some wildlife that was happy to show off at close range.
Meadow Pipit, small copper and silver studded blue butterfly all allowed great views.
Oh, and the shortbread biscuits also showed very well indeed but too briefly to get a photo, yummy!
Come and join us soon for some great birds and great fun.
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