Wales birding spots? (1 Viewer)

[Katy Penland]

Hi from dry, windy, alpine NE Arizona! Just joined the forum -- what a goldmine of info here!

I'm going to be in Aberystwyth for 2 weeks in late June/early July, mostly for research in the darkness of libraries, but I want to escape and do a little birding especially in the north and northwest of the country. I know it seems rather early to be asking, but most of the internet-based information is about wintering birds, not what can be expected in the early summer or where.

Any recommendations or suggestions will be gleefully, greedily and gratefully accepted. Thanks very much!

Katy

 

[Reader]

First of all, on behalf of the entire forum Moderators make I take this opportunity to give you a warm welcome to this friendly forum.

Please say Hello to everyone in the Hello forum. That way it will give everyone a chance to welcome you into the forum.

We have enough knowledge in this forum to cover virtually any subject on birding / photography plus many other subjects and hopefully you will get all the info you need regading Wales.

If you are wanting to do the North West I can highly recommend the isle of Anglesey. there are many sites on that island including Newborough Forest, Malltreath, Rhosneigr, South Stack(an RSPB reserve) RAF Valley, Llyn Alaw, Cemlyn Bay (for the Tern colony) Point Lynas (for a bit of seawatching) plus many more spots. The island is an excellent place to visit. Nearby to that island you have Aber Falls, Llanfairfechan, the Great Orme (above Conwy). Around Bettws-y-Coed you have the Snowdonia Forest Park with many trails and all our summer passerines should be here.

Further down take a look around Criccieth(near Porthmadog) and the bay to the east of Porthmadog. There is an RSPB reserve at Dollgellau (of which the name escapes me for the moment) Another treat (which is about 40 - 50 miles due east of Aberyswyth, is Rhayder where the Red Kite feeding station is.
Check out http://www.gigrin.co.uk/

I am just about to go to work so can't do too much in the way of any more info. I will look at the thread tonight and if there is any info I can add to what you have been given I will do so.

Back to the forum. Take a good look at the gallery (if you haven't done so already) and you will be amazed at the quality of most of the images contained in there.

Finally, I speak for everyone I would think, we are looking forward to the many birding day out reports you can put into the forum and also any photos you can put into the gallery.

I hope you enjoy being a member of the fastest growing bird forum in the world.

 

[Andrew]

Katy, Welcome to the forum.

Trust John's info, he is well travelled!

 

[andythomas]

Hi Katy

I agree with John that Anglesey (Ynys Mon in Welsh) is excellent especially South Stack which has breeding seabirds such as Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin, Kittiwake and Fulmar as well as Peregrine, Raven and Chough, and Gannets and Manx Shearwaters passing offshore. Your timing is just right to see these birds at their best.

The Lleyn peninsula to the south of here has similar birds but they require more time to find and are not served up to you on a plate as at South Stack.

I assume that when John mentions a RSPB reserve near Dolgellau he is thinking of the information centre at Penmaenpool on the Mawddach estuary. It is possible to walk along the southern side of this estuary along a disused railway line. Breeding birds here include Shelduck, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher. This estuary is one of the most beautiful in Europe.

There is another excellent RSPB reserve south of here on the Dyfi estuary called Ynys Hir. This is famous for its warblers such as Wood Warbler, Redstart and Pied Flycatcher. However the best time for these is May to early June, and they will have stopped singing and will be hard to find when you are here. But the reserve also looks over the estuary and has similar birds to the Mawddach, as well as a heronry. There are also other passerines about such as Stonechat, Whinchat and Wheatear, and a reedbed with Reed, Sedge and Grasshopper Warblers.

At the mouth of the Dyfi there is a reserve called Ynys Las where there is a large sand dune complex. There are usually a few terns, gulls and waders on the beach. Similar birds can be found at Aber Dysyni north of the Dyfi.

John mentions the Red Kite feeding station at Gigrin but there is one alot nearer to Aberystwyth at Nant-yr-Arian. This is a Forestry Commission reserve which is good for woodland birds. There is a trip report on the RSPB Walsall Local Group website: http://www.rspb-walsall.org.uk/

You might also like to consider travelling south from Aberystwyth to Pembrokeshire. This is probably the best place in Wales to see nesting sea birds. There's a report of a trip I made there in 2001 on my website: http://www.thomas1976.freeserve.co.uk/solfach.htm

Map references for most of these sites can be found on the Fatbirder website: http://www.fatbirder.com/links_geo/europe/wales.html

Finally if you are considering buying a book I can thoroughly recommend Where to Watch Birds in Wales by David Saunders, published by Helm.

If there are specific birds that you are hoping to see which I haven't mentioned let us know and I'm sure someone will know a good spot.

 

[peter hayes]

Katy

Lovely to have you with us on BF! I do hope you gain a lot from being a member, and I'm sure you'll have a lovely time when you come over.

 

[Johnny1]

Hi Katy, I can't add much to all the info you've been given but I can tell you Wales is a beautiful country and you'll enjoy every minute there. I'll be visiting myself for a week at the end of April.

 

[Reader]

Katy

I'm sorry I didn't come back earlier but I have been extremely busy tonight. I am just getting reasdy to gp to Norfolk, early tommorow morning and realised that I hadn't added any more info.

Andy Thomas has certainly added some good pointers for you but below are a few links you might like to browse through.

BTW once you know your dates, who knows. One or two of us might meet you if you want. Late June / July I will more than likely do a visit to Anglesey any way. If you are around then I would be happy to guide you around a few sites.

Have a look at these links:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/conwy/index.asp
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/valleylakes/
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/southstack/
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/mawddachvalley/
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/ynys-hir/
http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/lakevyrnwy/
http://www.croeso-cynnes-wales.co.uk/activ/birds/
http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/northwales/reserves.htm
http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/ukwales.htm
http://mysite.freeserve.com/cambrianos

It should give you a flavour of the north Wales area.

Hope that is of some help.

 

[Katy Penland]

Wow, thank you guys SO much for all the great info and links. I've already started downloading and printing pages, and hauling out all my Ordnance Survey maps to see where everything is located. I may end up doing very little library research and spend most of my time birding come June and July! <g>

I've been to Wales only once before, in July 2001, and then only for 3 madcap days in a rental car, zooming around from Cardiff to Newtown to Aberystwyth and castle and abbey ruins in between. What incredibly beautiful country. And I fell in love with the people I met. I can't wait to see the north and Anglesey. Just reading some of the bird lists at some of your recommended places has me drooling already.

The great thing about birding other countries is just about everything you see is a lifer! I'm not that big a lister, truth be told. I know when I'm seeing something I've never seen before, but I couldn't tell you how big my "life list" is. I'm far more interested in behaviors and photography of birds than I am in quantities. Not that there's anything wrong with that, don't get me wrong! I think I'm just basically too lazy to bother. I do, however, keep a very detailed "yard list" that includes photos, feathers, feeding strategies, nest locations, weather, other occurring wildlife, etc., that'd bore the stuffing out of anybody but another crazed birder. We've had 89 species in the yard in the 18 months I've lived here. Not bad for someone from the beach who's never lived at this elevation before (7,000 ft.).

I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner, but I was out of town all weekend doing a birding Big Day with a couple friends down in the Phoenix area. We ended up with only 87 species for the day, but considering the amount of driving we had to do to cover everything from riparian to desert to semi-alpine habitats -- and how windy it was -- I think we did pretty well. We were a little too early for migrants and a little too late for the wintering ducks and other water birds. But I got 3 lifers, one of them a Wilson's phalarope, of all birds -- in the desert! At a wastewater treatment facility! Having lived in southern California most of my life and doing quite a bit of pelagic birding, red and red-necked phalaropes were common in the summer. But I'd never seen a Wilson's until last Saturday. In CA, we whale- and bird watchers call phalaropes "whale birds" because we would invariably see blue whales if we found phalaropes as they feed on the same krill. No whales in Phoenix, sad to say. <g>

Again, the generosity of spirit in sharing so much information -- and even the offer to join up to do some birding -- is just overwhelming. I'm sure once I've digested some of the info, I'll have more specific questions, and will be back to bother y'all again.

Diolch yn fawr!

Katy