Birding Group Visit to Wales 29th May 2012 : The Fish Dock and Soldiers Point, Holyhead
The Fish Dock
After the birding group had finished eating the night before, Anne and I thought we would try to see if we could find the Fish Dock at Holyhead Harbour which was just over the road a bit from the hotel we were staying at. I had looked at it on a map previously so I had a reasonable idea where it was but wanted to check it to see if we could see any of the two pairs of Black Guillemots that supposedly nest in the harbour walls. As it happens it was a bit more of a walk than I thought so by the time we got there it was too dark to see anything anyway. So, back to the hotel we went but at least we knew how to get there and when we all got together in the morning it was suggested that we drive quickly down there to see if our luck was going to be in. None of us had seen Black Guillemot before so it was worth a shot.
The drive down to the dock was a bit of an eye-opener as it wasn’t exactly a short walk even though we managed it the night before.We parked up and started scouring the dock but could only see a few Herring Gulls, a Cormorant and a Pied Wagtail. We stood around scanning the far side of the dock and were about to give up when one of our number pointed to a bird just in front of us that had appeared from under the water right in front of us and – clear as daylight – there was a Black Guillemot. It gave us good views but would suddenly plunge back under the water to re-appear almost anywhere in the dock a few minutes later. I could not get the scope on the bird because it was so hard to locate it before it dived under again. However it was hardly necessary since the bird came so close to us we could see its wing patches clearly and even into its red mouth. A lifer for every one of us.
Location of the Fish Dock, Holyhead
Soldiers Point / Castle Hotel
After we left the Fish Dock at Holyhead we headed off for a site just to the north of the town. In all honesty I’m not entirely sure where it was but we went past the ruins of the old Castle Hotel at Soldiers Point. We parked up and looked around a heavily brambly bit of woodland. Swifts, Swallows and Martins flew around catching food and the woods were full of Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blackbirds, Chiff Chaffs, Wrens, Robins, Sparrows and Whitethroats. As we got past the ruins of the old Castle Hotel we came to a patch or gorse scrubland just before the water and we got good views of Stonechats.
Location of Soldiers Point / Castle Hotel
Bird Sightings : Holyhead
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Cormorant | 1 |
| Herring Gull | 6 |
| Black Guillemot | 1 |
| Woodpigeon | 1 |
| Swift | 6 |
| Magpie | 1 |
| Carrion Crow | 2 |
| Swallow | 6 |
| House Martin | 6 |
| Chiffchaff | 1 |
| Whitethroat | 1 |
| Wren | 1 |
| Blackbird | 4 |
| Robin | 1 |
| Stonechat | 2 |
| House Sparrow | 6 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
| Chaffinch | 6 |
| Greenfinch | 2 |