NE Wales birdingwatching (2 Viewers)

[bartolli]

This morning, for the first time in months, I spotted 2 brown hares in the field behind airbus, quite close to the road.

Wednesday, I had a dipper on the Eglwsyg river behind Vale Crucis abbey, heard a green woodpecker by velvet hill and found a pair of nesting redstarts feeding their chicks in an old tree stump on the path above.

 

[bartolli]

Yesterday we visited Chirk Castle, wonderful place and beautiful gardens. On the walk up to the castle there was a newly fledged jackdaw at the side of the road, the castle itself and its outbuildings were swarming with nesting swallows and house martins. The gardens are beautiful, swallows swooping over the lawns, goldfinches, tits and song thrushes were also seen.
The main reason for this post is the sunken HaHa wall, which consists of a 5-6ft high wall which is sunk into a ditch at the eastern end of the gardens. I guess the reason for the ditch/wall is so that it doesn't obscure the views. Anyway below the HaHa is extensive grazing land, currently occupied by a herd of White Park cattle, I was pleasantly surprised to see a pair of redstarts. They are nesting in a crevice of the HaHa wall. Both were bringing food to the nest generally oblivious of the people nearby, who were likewise oblivious to the redstarts. If people are too close to the nest, the redstarts sit and wait on the thistles below the ditch or in the tree at the end of the wall.
Unexpected bonus seeing these! They are at the right hand end of the wall, when you stand above the HaHa with your back to the castle.

 

[bartolli]

Wednesday at worlds end, not much chance of proper birding cos i had our new, untrained dog pulling me all over the shop. But did see plenty of mipets, a few stonechats and a lovely male whinchat.

 

[Peugeot]

Wouldn't like to say really. They could have moved locally, but if their reason for departure is failure of local food supply then they could have decamped to an entirely other part of the coast. Not sure when I'll get the chance to go looking again, as June through July is pretty packed with birthday parties (spanning several generations), dance performances and rehearsals for such, not to mention that perennial time-thief that is work, but hopefully someone else will get to the bottom of it and post here.

Cheers

James

I've had verification, that I was in fact CORRECT, regarding the Little Terns breeding at Talacre, within the fenced off area, along the beach.

Apparently,....there was a very high tide at Gronant, which washed out the Little Terns at their usual breeding colony, and they relocated further along the coast on the shingle area at Talacre, but unfortunately, they don't appear to have been successful.


Whilst on the subject of breeding terns,.....

I dropped into the steelworks at Shotton this morning, to see how the Common Tern colony was doing, and was delighted to see, that they are doing very well, with circa 350-400 breeding pairs recorded.

Also there.....

c350 breeding pairs of Black Headed Gull
Oystercatcher
Common Sandpiper 2
Green Sandpiper 2
Gadwall 3
Tufted Duck 8
Little Grebe 2

 

[Dick-E-Dipper]

Wouldn't like to say really. They could have moved locally, but if their reason for departure is failure of local food supply then they could have decamped to an entirely other part of the coast. Not sure when I'll get the chance to go looking again, as June through July is pretty packed with birthday parties (spanning several generations), dance performances and rehearsals for such, not to mention that perennial time-thief that is work, but hopefully someone else will get to the bottom of it and post here.

Cheers

James

Just had a look at`Gronant Little Tern/Facebook` now gives more infomation.
i.e. 29 June - 320 Adults + 14 chicks @ Gronant. So all appears well, perhaps they moved back from Talacrs

Richard

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Just had a look at`Gronant Little Tern/Facebook` now gives more infomation.
i.e. 29 June - 320 Adults + 14 chicks @ Gronant. So all appears well, perhaps they moved back from Talacrs

Richard

Brilliant, cheers Richard, and Gronant Little Terns on Facebook if it comes to that. Return trip imminent methinks.

James

 

[bartolli]

This new dog needs a lot of work lol, so proper birding seems to be off the agenda for a while. Anyway whilst being dragged up the leete path at loggerheads did see a lovely dipper on the alyn, posing nicely on the opposite bank long enough for several photos except I had a lively dog instead of a camera. Also grey wagtail + close up treecreeper.

 

[Huwgo]

Had a nice couple of hours around Gronant Dunes this evening. Plenty of Little Terns around with 400 counted on 23rd according to the board. It seems most of the chicks have fledged with lots of juveniles hanging around on the beach. Lots of Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover and Cormorant on the beach. Saw a Little Egret in the small channel running next to the Tern colony. Lots of Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat, Skylark and Reed Bunting in the dunes. The highlight however was a Short Eared Owl hunting around the large pool (now dry), totally unexpected and the first one I've seen around here!

 

[Huwgo]

Had a Short Eared Owl at Gronant again this evening along with the usual Stonechats, Meadow Pipits, Skylark, Reed Bunting, Linnet around the dunes.

 

[Huwgo]

Spent a couple of hours at Connahs Quay today, highlights were Twite from West Hide and Spotted Redshank from Middle Hide - this is the best place I know to see these two species.

Also had Greenshank, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Lapwing, Dunlin, Black Tailed Godwit, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Little Egret and more commoner species.

A White Tailed Eagle was reported early afternoon which would be an amazing record for the region, no sign of it by the time I got there though.

 

[Huwgo]

Two Black Redstart at Little Orme today along with Rock Pipit, Stonechat, Raven, Kestrel and at least 10 Grey Seal in Angel Bay, including a couple of pups.

The flooded fields along Llanrhos Road held good numbers of Curlew and Lapwing and the juvenile Scaup is still at Eirias Park hanging around with the Mallards.

 

[Huwgo]

Snow Bunting on Kinmel Bay beach showing extremely well, I had the dog with me and it wasn't even bothered. Good number of Common Gull on the beach too with Herring and Black Headed Gulls, also plenty of Turnstone, Dunlin, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover.

Over on Rhyl Marine Lake there were 12 Red Breasted Merganser with roughly 30 Lapwing on the island.

 

[IvanS]

Snow Bunting on Kinmel Bay beach showing extremely well, I had the dog with me and it wasn't even bothered. Good number of Common Gull on the beach too with Herring and Black Headed Gulls, also plenty of Turnstone, Dunlin, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover.

Over on Rhyl Marine Lake there were 12 Red Breasted Merganser with roughly 30 Lapwing on the island.

Hi Huwgo

Where is the best place to park for the snow bunting? We might give it a go tomorrow (in between the showers)

 

[Huwgo]

There's a car park at the end of St Asaph Avenue in Kinmel Bay just after the Asda, the Snow Bunting is about 100m East along the beach from the car park.

 

[IvanS]

There's a car park at the end of St Asaph Avenue in Kinmel Bay just after the Asda, the Snow Bunting is about 100m East along the beach from the car park.

Thanks!

 

[IvanS]

Directions were perfect - on the beach now! Great bird thanks once again

 

[Huwgo]

No worries! Glad you saw it, it's a cracking little bird.

 

[Bananafishbones]

5 Snow Buntings on the beach at Pensarn today (15.00hrs)
Right infront of the car park
Dave

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Penrhyn Twite: Site info request!

Hello all

So I've included Penrhyn Bay several times recently on North Wales itineraries, dropping in to look for the Twite that's been hanging out there, and drawn a blank each time. I've never seen anyone else looking for it, nor have I definitively found the "concrete steps" or "storm drain" it is supposed to be near "at top of beach", whatever that means for a two mile stretch of bay. So I reckon I'm going to call it a day on this one, but just to put me out of my misery, can anyone please provide precise directions to where the damn thing is supposed to have been?! It's driving me nuts! I can't even see all that much decent Twite habitat, nor any of the Linnets it's supposed to be associating with. And then almost without fail, I get back home to find it's been reported as present, yet again! (Most recently today!)

Yours in confused desperation

James

 

[IvanS]

Hello all

So I've included Penrhyn Bay several times recently on North Wales itineraries, dropping in to look for the Twite that's been hanging out there, and drawn a blank each time. I've never seen anyone else looking for it, nor have I definitively found the "concrete steps" or "storm drain" it is supposed to be near "at top of beach", whatever that means for a two mile stretch of bay. So I reckon I'm going to call it a day on this one, but just to put me out of my misery, can anyone please provide precise directions to where the damn thing is supposed to have been?! It's driving me nuts! I can't even see all that much decent Twite habitat, nor any of the Linnets it's supposed to be associating with. And then almost without fail, I get back home to find it's been reported as present, yet again! (Most recently today!)

Yours in confused desperation

James

When we headed back to the car after a walk along the prom at Rhos we bumped into a couple yesterday who were looking there for the twite but weren't sure where it was - we'd parked just west of the golf course in Morfa Road - there is a pump house on that side of the prom road, an outlet pipe on the beach side just to the west of the shingle groyne so I wonder if that was the area?