4th September - 11th September 2021 Anglesey

 

This report is not the usual day or half day birding trip but a whole week in Anglesey but as it was with my brother and our wives bird spotting was not the main reason for the visit, but we did see 56 species during the week. We stayed in a small town called Benllec on the northeast coast where we had a distant view of the sea. When we arrived the first thing, we noticed was we had House Martins nesting under the eaves and Collared Doves were on the wires these two were ever-present. House Sparrow, Starling and Swallow were also seen as we surveyed our surroundings. The following day we stayed fairly local and visited some of the local villages including Moelfre which houses a lifeboat station and as we traveled, sometimes on foot or by car the species numbers began to build up Black Headed Gull, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Fulmar, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Gannet, Robin, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Great Black Back Gull, Raven, Wood Pigeon, Magpie and Dunnock were all seen. After lunch we headed for the RSPB reserve at Cemlyn Bay, in the summer this site holds a large breeding colony of terns and a rare Elegant Tern spent a while there but had long gone, as had all the other terns before we got there. We did see Mallard, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Canada Goose, Curlew, Greylag Goose, Shelduck and Kingfisher plus a Great White Egret this was a surprise as we didn’t realise, they had spread this far north. We also added Great Spotted Woodpecker, Rook and Blackbird before the end of the day.

On Monday we visited Plas Newydd a National Trust house and gardens overlooking the Menai Straights on the day we saw a Rock Pipit and a Jay, but the highlight of the day and one of the weeks highlights was 2 Red Squirrels visiting a well-rotted fallen tree trunk that was laced with goodies that they loved, and this also brought Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Blue and Great Tits. Later we found a few Redshank on the water’s edge.

Red Squirrel - Bath Birdwatcher

Tuesday was forecast to be a hot and sunny day, so we decided to visit South Stack but call into RSPB Valley for coffee on the way. At Valley which is an RAF base fighter jets seemed to be taking off every few minutes, but the birding was ok but in the time we had, we were unable to get to the viewing point some 600m away so made do with a flyover Snipe and a Reed Bunting on top of a shrub and a small flock of Gadwall that flew over. Walking back to the car we noticed a small bird in the long grass and shrub, but it was just deep down enough making it impossible to get an identification, we were able to follow it by watching the moving grass stalks, it did eventually break cover revealing a Sedge Warbler. I must admit that I was hoping for something a little rarer. On to South Stack where the car park was choker, but luckily we did find a single space overlooking the sea, lots of corvids were seen but the Chough were playing hard to find until I heard one call and had a brief glimpse before it disappeared down the cliff, But as we sat having our lunch later we were able to watch a flock of 15 harassing a Peregrine we watched this spectacle for what seemed ages before they drifted away. A bit later Bryan and I did a walk and found a Stonechat and a flock of Goldfinch. Walking back up the road to the car park we noticed a few people just stood looking in an area where we had seen Chough land and on investigation found a small flock which we had great view off. A flyover Raven and Curlew plus a Magpie were the last, new weekly sightings

Chough - South Stack (Bath Birdwatcher)

Wednesday was another garden visit day this time to Plas Cadnant another very hot day lovely gardens but nothing to add to our bird list but there were lots of butterflies mostly Small Tortoiseshell.

Small Tortoiseshell - Bath Birdwatcher

After our visit we drove just down the road for a walk around a small island that has a Church and graveyard on it and at high tide only accessible by a footpath but on our visit the tide was out leaving lots of mud showing Redshank were everywhere with a few Curlew for company and the odd Grey Heron but new for the week and the year was a single Knot. Walking around the island we also saw Little Grebe, Shag and Little Egret. In the trees walking back to the car were Long Tailed Tit and Goldcrest.

Knot - Bath Birdwatcher

Thursday, we visited Beaumaris Castle a very spectacular ruin and well worth a visit if your in the area. We sat overlooking the sea for lunch and on several occasions had a flock of c20 Turnstones fly past and a bit later fly back. Nothing else of note bird wise.

Friday our last day we decided to return to where we were on Wednesday and do the walk around the island but to extend it to the Menai Suspension Bridge. Again, the tide was low but coming in and as before lots of Redshank a single Curlew. A Kingfisher was sat on a rock viewing a small inlet and a Mistle Thrush flew into a tree laden with berries obviously a feast for it. A single Goosander flew past and 8 Grey Heron were resting on a small islet along with a Little Egret. After stopping for coffee, we walked to the Menai Bridge that was designed by Thomas Telford and at the time was the first major suspension bridge in the world. We bought a cooked chicken in Tesco for lunch which we had back in the flat. After lunch we walked to the local beach in Benllech where we sat looking along the north coast of Wales as far as the Great Orme and to our right the Mountains of Snowdonia here, we had our last sighting of the week a Mute Swan.

Menai Bridge - Bath Birdwatcher

This holiday was the 1^st time that we had ventured any farther into Anglesey than the station with the long name Lanfair PG for short. But I would certainly visit again as the countryside is so varied, we were only able to cover a fraction in the week we were there.