North Wales Trip 24th – 26th July 2025

We decided to have a couple of days away in North Wales just for a change of scenery. It obviously wasn’t going to be the best time of year for birding, but we thought we would give it a shot anyway. We hadn’t managed to get to South Stack on Anglesey yet this year, so we had missed our usual cliff-nesting birds; we hoped it wouldn’t be too late in the year to get some of the birds we would usually see but we were just a couple of weeks too late.

Day 1 – 24^th July : RSPB Conwy, Llanfairfechan & Cemlyn Bay

We stopped off at Pensarn for a tea/loo break and could immediately see that the tide was already a long way in. We tried for Dipper and Grey Wagtail at Llanfairfechan but were disappointed there, Our next stop was RSPB Conwy which was equally as disappointing. By now the tide had turned but what really threw us was the fact that all the pools were dried up. They had notices pointing out that they have limited pumping ability on site and if the river is low, then they can’t pump anything. This meant that the usual pools of water were now meadows; even at the feeders there were slim pickings. We were pretty disappointed but had some time so we decided to drive up to Cemlyn Bay where the usual sight of hundreds of Common and Sandwich Terns would greet you. As it turned out, we saw a couple of Common Terns, but the majority of the birds were Sandwich Terns and most of the birds had already left for the open sea. I suppose there was still about a hundred Sandwich Terns still on the island and a few on the waters edge but the impressive displays of yore were gone – we were just a couple of weeks to late. Obviously, we did manage to get some birds in the course of the day but the number of species was disappointing.

We had booked a room at the Nant Yr Odyn Country Hotel & Restaurant Ltd which had the advantage of being in the centre of Anglesey, not too far from RSPB Cors Ddyga so we were hoping to find a decent place to stay. Well, I suppose it had some good points but I’m not sure we would stay there again. The room was ok but the bathroom was poky, and the shower left a lot to be desired. They had a very small restaurant menu as well and it was clear that they were used to seeing all their residents going to bed by 9pm; I think the last orders for dinner were 7:45pm. Anyway, it was worth a shot and there really isn’t much choice anywhere in North Wales.

Day 2 – 25^th July : RSPB South Stack, Holyhead Fish Dock

The next day we made straight for RSPB South Stack and got there before the café opened. We walked down to the lighthouse but there was a distinct lack of birds – or, at least, Puffins, Razorbills and Guillemots. We had to make do with same late-leaving Kittiwakes and hundreds of Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls; there wasn’t even anything out on the sea except gulls. We did, however, get lucky with the Choughs, which are always one of our target birds there. It would have been worth stopping off for a bit at the lower car park as that was where two or three families had nested around. We took the long walk along the cliff path before getting there but pretty soon got good views of three Choughs feeding in a field. There were a few Ravens flying around as well so we were grateful our visit hadn’t been entirely futile. We headed off to the Fish Dock at Holyhead which has new security measures and warnings of fines for parking, but we spoke to one of the fishermen there and he said they had had to put up fences and warnings because travellers had been parking there and scouring the place for anything they could burn on fires. Nevertheless we didn’t want to outstay our welcome in case there were any automatic cameras waiting to entrap and fine people. We stayed just long enough to see one Black Guillemot bouncing up and down on heavy waves.

By this time we were at a loss for what to do, so we drove down to Valley and found a pub that was a bit shabby but at least sold Landlord. We sat outside for a bit then just decided to head off for the Premier Inn at Holyhead which we were a bit wary of but turned out to be a lot better than the Travelodge that the birding group normally stay at. The room was good, the bathroom reliable with a bath big enough to use (in fact about the same size as our own) We were expecting that the restaurant would be a Beefeater next door but it turned out to be part of the hotel and the food was quite good; it helped that they did Hunter’s Chicken – one of my favourites! They were also happy to give us ice for the room, so we retired for a bedtime drink.

Day 3 -26th July : Point of Ayr, Connah’s Quay

We were so impressed with the food service that we decided to have breakfast at the hotel which was pretty good – they even poached some eggs for me but the continental breakfast would have been good enough; I think they even bake their own Croissants on-site because they were great. The fact that both dinner and breakfast were good makes this the place to stay in Holyhead in future despite the slightly extra cost. They were all very happy and helpful too – impressed!

Normally coming back from Wales we would try to see the Little Terns at Gronant but because it is such a long walk and we suspected that the Little Terns may already have gone, we decided to go to Point of Ayr which is about the same distance. We hoped we could get there before the tide came in which was 12:30pm but, of course, you have to there two hours before or it is already too high for the birds. We got to Talacre about 11am so we thought we were going to be too late. We found one of the bars did £5 parking for the day so we opted for that; there may have been free parking on the beach, but we weren’t sure and didn’t want to risk it. Paying the fiver meant we could also use their toilets which was worth the money on its own. Relieved, we walked the half mile or so to the Point where we found new and roofed blind which we were pleased about since the previous hide had been burned out by some local kids. We were relieved that the tide was not all the way in but we weren’t sure how high of a tide it was going to be anyway, so we were just there on spec. I didn’t carry my scope, which I regretted but I suppose made sense given the distance we had to walk on quite a hot day. We settled down to see what we could see and, although it wasn’t a spectacular it had its moments – especially the large numbers of Curlews! There were also good numbers of Sandwich Terns, but I couldn’t find a Little Tern amongst them. There were dozens f Little Egrets, good numbers of Oystercatchers and smatterings of Teal and Shelduck.

Eventually we decided to walk back to the car, managing to get a Grey Wagtail on the way, and after another loo stop, we resumed our return journey with a final stop at the Deeside Naturalists reserve at Connah’s Quay – somewhere we hadn’t been for quite a while. We really just stopped at the tower where we could see both the estuary on one side and the lake on the other. The tide was just starting to turn there (having been at least an hour later that at Point of Ayr) so there were still good numbers of birds

The most numerous bids were probably the Black-tailed Godwits of which there were around 600. Redshank was next most common at about 500. There were also about 50 Avocets and lots of Canada Geese. On the pool behind the tower hide the best bird was a single Turnstone in breeding plumage but there were also good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits as well. A single Little Grebe and a smattering of Coot, Moorhen and Mallards and Teal finished it off.

We spent about an hour there but there afternoon was getting on and it was time for us to get back home. Overall I suppose you have to say that it was a disappointing birding break but we did get to some of our favourite sites – even if about two weeks too late. IT was also good to go to Point of Ayr which we haven’t been to for years and also it has been a while since we went to Connah’s Quay so it wasn’t all bad. Plus, accommodation wise, I think we have concluded that despite being in the middle of nowhere, the Premier Inn at Holyhead is probably one of our best accommodation options in North Wales

Bird Sightings

New Birds for the Year over the break

Sandwich Tern	Cemlyn Bay 25 July 2025
Common Tern	Cemlyn Bay 25 July 2025
Whimbrel	Cemlyn Bay 25 July 2025
Chough	RSPB South Stack 25 July 2025
Kittiwake	RSPB South Stack 25 July 2025
Black Guillemot	Fish Dock, Holyhead 25 July 2025
Grey Wagtail	Point of Ayr 26 July 2025