Birding group Trip to Conwy and North Wales 14-15th February 2023

The first birding group outing of the year that we could make it to (we had been on holiday in Lanzarote) was to RSPB Conwy and North Wales. We decided, though, that we would rather stay overnight and come back the next day. This gave us a chance to see some other sites than we had time for just doing the 14th of February. We stayed at the Groes Inn just outisde Conwy again but it wasn’t as good as previous visits. Wethought that perhaps we should try the Tal-y-Cafn Hotel but it is a bit pricey and perhaps not any better. Still, the ovvernight stay gave us a god chance to fit in a couple of extra birding sites.

14th February 2023

We set off from Manchester at 9am and had high hopes for the day because the weather forecast was for sunshine and 0% chance of rain. As it happened we drove through a constant thin fog until we got to the coast when things brightened up a bit. We stopped to meet the other car at the Pantri Bach at Pensarn and had a cup of tea and a quick look at the sea where we found a good number of Common Scoter but we wanted to press on and the only sites the others were interested in stopping at Llanddulas and Little Orme.

At Llandulas there were more Common Scoter – at least a hyndred of them and although there were reports of Surf Scoter and Velvet Scoter amonst them, we only managed to see Commons and a pair of Surf Scoters; the latter not too far out and clearly identifiable by scope. There were also Great crested Grebe’s and at least one Red-breasted Merganser.

We moved on to Little Orme which was pretty disappointing giving us just a few small birds in the bushes and a lot of Cormorants on the rocks. There was at least one Shag amongs them. There was hardly anything on the water, however, and no signs of Choughs. It also started to rain (despite the weather forecasts) so we moved on to RSPB Conwy.

After more tea and a quick use of the much improved toilet facilites (the cafe isn’t any kind of improvement for the public but is perhaps better for the staff) we started off round the site. There wasn’t too much of particular interest (it was low tide) but there was a Pintail and a pair of Wigeon. Other than that, it was the usual suspects. The bird feeders have had a very good addition in the shape of a screen that affords good views of the birds without scaring them off. There were Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Long-tailed Tits, great Tits, Blue Tits and Dunnocks and Blackbirds, all on or under the feeders.

We didn’t go all the way round like the others did; instead we decided to look for Dippers at Llanferfechan which was our next port of call. We didn’t actually see any Dippers this time but we did get a Grey Wagtail – perhaps not the sighting it might be since we have one in our garden daily as we do every year. Usually it stays for a couple of months and it is joined by it’s partner before they go off to nest somewhare. We got a nice group of Oystercatchers and Dunlin at the point where the stream enters the sea but that was about it. The afternoon was wearing on and we wanted to head up to Llanbedr-y-cennin to see if we could get any Hawfinches. We didn’t have any luck so we drove down to the hotel and checked in to our room – a ground floor room this time and perhaps not as good as the upper rooms.

15th February 2023

After our Valentine’s Day stay at the Groes Inn, we started out in the rain and decided that we would drive on to Llanddulas again and look for the Velvet Scoter. When we got there it was very wet but I got out of the car and had a look. Another birder turned up and he got ont he Velvet Scoters straight away; however, he lost them just as soon as he found them and could not put me on them – oh well. In fact the only Scoters I could see were of the Common variety and with the rain quite heavy I returned to the car to dry out.

We stopped at Pensarn on our way back for anothe cup of tea and loo stop and found a large flotilla of Common Scoters and a pair of Great Crested Grebes. Better was a Red-throated Diver that as soon as I was on it lifted itself out of the water, shook its wings, and was off – as is so often the case, flying directly away from you.

Birdguides had a listing the previous day for a Black Redstart at Horton’s Nose Nature Reserve, which is a part of the general Kinmel Bay site, so we thought we would check out that this place was like. It is at the mouth of the River Clwyd at Rhyl harbour and is a sandy beach with dunes. The black Redstart was supposed to be there and wwe came across a group of birders who, when we later spoke to them, had seen it very briefly among the boats in the dry boatyard. We didn’t manage to see it for ourselves, which was disappointing, but they also put us on to a single Snow Bunting which we eventually found among the dunes about 20 feet in front of us quite unbothered by us – as often seems to be the case with Snow Buntings. Also we got a nice group of about a couple of Dozen Brent Geese feeding just at the mouth of the river. Among the rocks on the beach were a Ringed Plover and a Turnstone. There were also Redshank and a Curlew. Quote a successful visit (apart from the Black Redstart) and a useful site to remember for the future.

We moved on to Connah’s Quay next in the hope (thwarted) of seeing some Twite. The usual suspects were there – very large numbers of Canada Geese, a single Pink-foot, a pheasant and Shelduck, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck and Redshank and Curlew. So nothing special and a little bit disappointed about the Twite. We have been there at this time of year before and they had been luring them for their annual count by putting food out for them. I don;t know why this wasn’t the case this time and there wasn’t anyone in the know there that we could ask.

We were going to finish off our day with a visit to Burton Mere Wetlands but they were cosed for the afternoon due to some loacal electrical problem.

We decided just to head off home and that finished out two-day birding trip to North Wales. We did get some nice ticks, Red-throated Diver, Surf Scoter, Snow Bunting etc. In total the list of bird-species seen was fifty-one

Bird List for North Wales 14-15 February 2023