July 18, 2013 archive

Jul 18 2013

Visit to Cemlyn Bay : 18th July 2013

Visit to Cemlyn Bay : 18th July 2013

Whenever we go to Anglesey we make sure to go to the North Wales Wildlife Trust’s reserve at Cemlyn Bay to see the nesting Terns. Again we were a bit late in the year so we were not sure what to expect but, sure enough, there was no shortage of Terns. As we arrived and parked up we scanned the little lake between the car park and the main lagoon and we saw a pair of Oystercatchers but also the rather grizzly sight of a Herring Gull trying hard to pull apart what appeared to be a chick of some indeterminate origin. It was pretty big and in the end it opted for swallowing it whole; a task that took it quite some time and many failed attempts before finally getting it down ! Continue reading

Jul 18 2013

Visit to the Fish Dock at Holyhead : 18th July 2013

Visit to the Fish Dock at Holyhead : 18th July 2013

After we left South Stack we dropped in at the Fish Dock at Holyhead on the off chance that we might see the Black Guillemots there again and, very obligingly, not only were they there but they gave us a fine flying display showing off their red bills and legs beautifully. There were about half a dozen of them but most of them were just past the harbour mouth and only a single pair were happy to give us near views. This was the second time we had been there and both times we had seen them within a minute or two – very helpful. Continue reading

Jul 18 2013

Visit to RSPB South Stack : 18th July 2013

Visit to RSPB South Stack : 18th July 2013

We have had an absolute wash-out of a Spring and it has prevented us this year from going to some of our usual haunts at that time. These would normally include a seabird colony or two but this year we had not got to one during Spring and we had left it a little late in the year. Even so we thought, “better late than never” so what better place to go to than South Stack ? We suspected that we would be a bit late for some of the birds we would have liked to have seen and we were disappointed not to see Kittiwake or Fulmar. However there were the usual plentiful numbers of Guillemots and Razorbills – too many to estimate properly – and we even managed to see half a dozen Puffins still around. Continue reading