ANGLESEY PART 3

 Obviously being interested in wildlife and an amateur nature photographer  I couldn't go to Anglesey without trying to first see and then get a picture of a Red Squirrel.

Firstly we went to Newborough Forest (we had heard they were there) an absolutely stunning place but with all the people there, and the actual size of the place not one Red was seen.

Secondly we went to a wooded area on our way to Beaumaris, we parked in a small layby next to the wood where there was a very encouraging sign.

After searching for two hours we hardly saw a bird let alone a Red Squirrel. I was beginning to give up hope at this stage until I commented I was in Anglesey on social media. One of my Facebook friends asked if I had seen the Red Squirrels? after replying our wild squirrel chase had produced bugger all, he told me of a place where he always goes to see them.

Llyn Parc Mawr near Newborough forest where we had gone in the first place was our last hope on our last day, it has a lovely small area with a car park, picnic benches and bird/squirrel feeders. Luckily enough not long after we'd got there a lovely bloke turned up to feed them. He told us he only feeds them on Fridays and Sundays so how lucky were we. He was a very knowledgeable chap who used to do birding holidays abroad but he says he's retired now and only feeds the squirrels and birds on a voluntary basis. He taps the lids on the feeders to let the squirrels know that there's food there. Within five minutes to ours and everyone else's sheer delight they started showing up.

at long last

                             

What a relief to finally see and get some shots of Red Squirrel.

It ended a great week on Anglesey which we thoroughly both enjoyed. We got to see my Manchurian cousins, visited some fantastic places and saw some great wildlife.  We would definitely go back there again so lets hope this pandemic goes away pretty soon so we can all get back to normal.

Who's that fat photographer on an Anglesey beach?

ANGLESEY PART 2

We stayed at Llanfair PG as the locals call it, but if you want to say the full title please be my guest.

It was a good base from which to explore the Island and neighbouring Towns. 

The Island has many a good birdwatching site with a couple of RSPB reserves. We only visited South Stack but sadly the huge sea bird colonies have gone back out to sea where they'll spend the winter.

South Stack

The surrounding cliffs had some Oystercatcher, Rock Pipit, Rock Dove and a hovering Kestrel. The Choughs were there but trying to photograph them was a different matter.

Rock pipit

 

Rock dove

female kestrel

Just down the road from south stack was a beautiful little beach and a toilet block which we were both glad of.

Anglesey seemed to be full of these little coves and beaches.

We found a few of these and also some nice estuaries, -  here is some of the birds that inhabited them.

common (mew) gull

cormorant

curlew 

great black backed gull

little egret

oystercatcher

I was pleasantly surprised to see a small group of Red breasted merganser and on the same part of the estuary were a few male "eclipse" wigeon.

red breasted merganser

male wigeon in eclipse plumage

There's also a colony of Sandwich terns at Cemlyn bay it boasts the largest nesting population of sandwich terns in the UK. I managed to grab this image as it drifted by whilst we were out walking.

sandwich tern

That's about it for the bird images I did see a lot more - stonechat, wheatear, swallows, herons, ringed plover as well as the choughs.

I did photograph one special iconic species of Anglesey and I'll put that in my next post.

ANGLESEY

Spent a week in Anglesey with my lovely wife which was partly due to the corona virus pandemic. We wanted somewhere that would be fairly quiet but still enjoyable and as luck would have it the sun shone for most of the week.

We visited a couple of the nearby towns Bangor, Llandudno and Caernarfon and on Anglesey itself we enjoyed Beaumaris, Llangefni, RAF Valley and Newborough Forest and Warren which includes Llanddwyn Island but make sure that the tide is out before you venture out there or you could get cut off.

Menai Bridge

Snowdonia

                         

Llandudno pier

 

Llandudno sea front

Llanddwyn Island

Caernarfon Castle

We spent a couple of late afternoons at Red Wharf bay where you could walk for miles down the estuary and beach and then have a pint and a hot beef sandwich at the Ship Inn which was right on the beach.

Here's a short video of one of the planes coming into land at RAF Valley.

I think this blog has gone on for long enough, will bring you the birds I photographed on our trip to Anglesey in the next one.