Upland birding in North Wales
There was no time for jet lag as the alarm went off at 4am on our first morning back in the UK. We were guiding John who'd come up to North Wales for the weekend from Buckinghamshire, and there was one target bird on all our minds: lekking Black Grouse. The day dawned bright and clear as we drove up onto the open moorland and jumped out of the car. As we set up the scopes, we heard a distinctive bubbling call: phew, the birds were still lekking, although it is quite late in the year for them. Now all we had to do was see them, and it wasn't long before we spotted the distinctive white bums of a gang of males, all busily trying to out-do one another, strutting, threatening and posturing but no actual combat taking place. A gang of puffed up males high on adrenalin but all too proud to get their feathers messy in a real fight! We watched spellbound for an hour as up to 23 males engaged in their early morning display. It has to be one of the best sights in British birding and certainly one of our favourite spectacles.The grouse were supported by calling Cuckoos, displaying Curlews, singing Skylarks and Meadow Pipts, a wonderful start to a day. We also had great views of both Whinchats and Stonechats sitting up on the tops of heather bushes in the sunshine.The rest of the day was spent birding our way slowly north back to Llandudno. We watched raptors on the moors where we also found breeding Teal and Common Sandpipers; Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts and Wood Warblers in ancient woodlands; Dipper on fast flowing mountain streams; Red Kite against blue skies; waders and wildfowl at RSPB Conwy before ending the day at the seabird city on the Great Orme just round the corner from home.Not quite the end, a great Chinese meal finished the day off and we left John having enjoyed a great day's birding and made a new friend.If you would like to join us for great birding and more just drop us a line info@thebiggesttwitch.com, we would love to share our great birds with you.