Putting a Gloss on the day
Putting a Gloss on the day
We met Doug and Eddie at RSPB Conwy and bundled them into the bird-mobile and whisked them off to the Great Orme with barely time for a hello! There was good reason for the rush, birds of course.
View looking south west from the Great Orme.
We had only walked a few yards when the distinctive calls of Lapland Buntings were overhead! Looking up three of chunky Scandinavian buntings circled above us before dropping down near the car park. But even these did not deter us from our mission and we hurried towards the hawthorn bushes inside the stonewall that borders the limestone pavement area.
And there it was - Yellow-browed Warbler! Magic.
We all had wonderful views of this tiny Siberian rarity as it moved around the hawthorn bushes, first on the left then poppoing up on the right moments later. It took us a little while to realise that we were in fact watching two birds! One much cleaner white below the second with a greyish wash to the lower breast and belly, even better. Yellow-browed Warblers are little stunners, packed with wind-bars, eye-stripes and a lovely call, just how a Sib rarity should be!
As we watched the warbler two Chough flew in and landed on the grass bank behing the hawthorns, great birding. Wheatears and Stonechats added to the enjoyment of our visit to our back garden.
Next we headed east to the River Clwyd and after a short search saw the Glossy Ibis on the marsh ahead of us, the day was just amazing. We walked north along the river bank and enjoyed great views of the Ibis through the Leica telescope. The Ibis seemed to enjoy the company of three Little Egrets, where they flew to the Ibis followed. The Ibis often dropped out of sight into ditches but soon popped up and hurried after the Egrets.
A flash of blue and orange announced the appearance of Kingfisher, the gem of bird flashed past but turned about and came right past us again, in case we missed it the first time? Goosander were in the river channel with plenty of Teal, a Kestrel hovered nearby and Skylarks flew over calling.
A Comma Butterfly posed in brambles by the River Clwyd.
Back to RSPB Conwy where there was plenty to see. Two Pintail were good to see here, also Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal, Tufted Duck and Pochard were all on the lagoons. Plenty of Common Snipe fed in the shallows and a flock of Black-tailed Godwits were here. A Water Rail crept out from the reed and showed very well, very un-rail-like!But a delightful juvenile Little Stint stole the show. This tiny wader was busy feeding on an area of wet mud and we all enjoyed long looks at the visitor from the east.
A brilliant day with wonderful birds throughout! Come and join us soon for the very best birdwatching and great fun! Drop us a line to book your trip....
info@thebiggesttwitch.com
We look forward to enjoying great birds with you soon!