Despite some predicted rain, the birding group braved a trip to North Wales with visites to RSPB Conwy and Little Orme. The former was pretty much as expected with a good range of, mostly, small numbers of ducks and waders but Little Orme turned out to be exceptional with a good number of year ticks, some very desirable ones that are not ticked every year.
We usualy visit RSPB Conwy for a cup of tea and a loo stop before venturing further. It is really a better site in the spring when there are more migrant passerines but in winter you still get a good smattering of ducks and waders so we got all the usual ducks. Of particular note were large numbers of Curlew on one of the islands and with Gadwall, Pochard, Shoveler, Sheldcuk, Little Grebe,Tufted Duck and Teal we were not disappointed in that department. The highlight of the day wasn’t Conwy, though. We moved on to Little Orme and gor good first of year views of the Fulmar, already starting to nest and Stonechats, Greenfinch, Robin,Blackbird and Long-tailed Tit flitting around in the bushes or atop them calling. A Peregrine sttod atop a rockface watching the comings and goings of the Jackdaws and Fulmars until it eventually took off giving us a great display of it’s prowess and it stooped towards the beach.
When we got to a good view of the sea we were greeted with three Red-throated Divers close to the shore and showing extremey well. There were also a few Cormorants for comparison. I knew the site was good for these but they are usually way off in the distance and, all too often, flyng away from you.
When we walked over to the bay we saw the usual seals whiling away the day but on one of the big rocks on the beach was a single Chough showing well before flying off. Out on the water there were two Shags very close in and in amongst the seals was an Iceland Gull that apparantly had been there for a whiile.
In short, it was probably one of the best visits to Little Orme we have ever had – and it didn’t rain all day!
Bird Sightings : RSPB Conwy 15 February 2022
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 50 |
| Blackbird | 4 |
| Bullfinch | 2 |
| Canada Goose | 4 |
| Chaffinch | 3 |
| Coot | 3 |
| Cormorant | 1 |
| Curlew | 100 |
| Dunnock | 1 |
| Gadwall | 8 |
| Goldfinch | 1 |
| Greenfinch | 2 |
| Greylag Goose | 2 |
| Herring Gull | 10 |
| House Sparrow | 4 |
| Lapwing | 30 |
| Little Grebe | 3 |
| Moorhen | 8 |
| Oystercatcher | 1 |
| Pheasant | 1 |
| Pochard | 2 |
| Redshank | 30 |
| Robin | 4 |
| Shelduck | 4 |
| Shoveler | 10 |
| Teal | 4 |
| Tufted Duck | 12 |
Bird Sightings : Little Orme 15 February 2022
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Chough | 1 |
| Cormorant | 6 |
| Fulmar | 30 |
| Greenfinch | 1 |
| Iceland Gull | 1 |
| Jackdaw | 30 |
| Long-tailed Tit | 1 |
| Peregrine | 1 |
| Red-throated Diver | 3 |
| Shag | 2 |
| Stonechat | 3 |