Wales Break : Waxwings and Winter Thrushes : 14 – 16 December 2016
Wales Break : Waxwings and Winter Thrushes : 14 – 16 December 2016
We went on a two day break to Wales with the intention of trying to get some more species to add to my year list of 196. It was also a nice little break before Christmas and although the weather forecast was poor, it actually turned out to be rather mild and sometimes quite sunny.
14th December
We were staying in Llandudno so we decided to bird our way there starting at :
Shotwick Boating Lake and Fields
The boating lake was gated closed and there was a mass of construction work, some of which was fibre optic laying, which made the whole path a bit of a mess. However we managed to drive as far as the gate and we could see a group of Swans from the car so we parked up and got out. These swans seem to have moved to SHotwick West Fields from their previous field which has been turned over to solar panels so is not of any good to them anymore.
Good views were available and after a bit of searching it was possible to pick out some Bewish Swans amongst the Whoopers and Mutes; no Black Swans though.
We actually managed to see a small group of Twite here which is generally supposed not to be that common; they are alleged to prefer the other side of the Dee estuary.
Connah’s Quay Nature Reserve
We moved ont o Connah’s Quay reserve where the tide was actually quite high. We only really looked down at the Tower Hide but, even then, we saw large numbers of Curlew in the fields next to the path and got a couple of Reed Buntings. There were good numbers of both Linnet and Twite and the usual array of Ducks.
Flint Castle
The tide was also well in at Flint Castle but we had a walk along the coastal path anyway
St Asaph
On of the specific targets we hd was at St Asaph where I had read that there was a flock of Waxwings near the football ground. As it happens we did not have much luck there but a photogrpaher we spoke to suggested that we go over the the bridge and down to the car park of The Pharmacy where they had been showing well most of the day. Here we were in luck immediately and se saw the flock high up in the trees over the river. They kept on dropping down to a row of Rowan trees right in front of us affording close views (about 30 feet in front of us at head height). Although they were very flighty and easily flew off to the safety of the taller trees, they did come back quite readily and were continuing to do so even as we left. This gave us our first – and last – year tick on our trip.
The whole area (and the football ground are) was full of berry trees and bushes and this had drawn a lot of Blackbirds and Thrushes including Redwing and Mistle Thrush.
Pensarn
As the day wore on we were getting very hungry so we headed off for Pensarn where we stopped at our favourite cafe there, the Pantri Bach Cafe & Gift Shop on the promenade. We had a look out for sea birds and we did see about thirty Common Scoter but we could not pick out any uncommon ones !
We finished up the day by driving to Llandudno where we stayed at the Llandudno Travelodge , a somewhat minimal hotel with clean but small rooms and, handilly, right in the centre of town.
15th December
Caerhun St Mary’s Churchyard
The morning of the 15th had a visit to Caerhun as a priority. It is well known that this can be a good spot for Hawfinches in winter so we had high hopes of adding this bird to my year list.Unfortunately we were out of luck. We got to St Mary’s Churchyard about 9am (which is pretty much first light) on a fairly pleasant morning. Unfortunatley there was no sign of them in the churchyard or in the trees leading down to the village. We searched the trees in the grounds of Caerhun Hall from a distance and it was pretty quiet all round. Rather annoyingly, though, on our return to Manchester I read that eight were seen the day after at Llanbedr-y-cennin village though. It would seem that I really did not do my homework very well. We must make a return visit to both those sites early in the new year and look a bit harder. I was very disappointed in myself !
RSPB Conwy
We needed a cup of te and a bacon sandwich so we headed down to the RSPB reserve at Conwy. There the nicest sightings wer some very close views of Robins, all very tame and easily persuaded to eat from your hand if you have the right food. I didn’t – I had left it in the car and all I had was a rather sticky trail bar thing which they ate bits of but I think they would have preferred proper food. We got a range of Ducks there and some Finches and Waderrs but we did not go all the way round because we wanted to get to our next destination in time and, because it is winter, the light is only good between 9am and 3pm.
Little Orme
I had been keen to go to Little Orme for a while but did not really know how good it would be. I was rather hoping (in vain as it happened) that I might get Chough there but it did prove to be very interesting and I imagine it is wonderful in Spring or during migration. Anyway we had a walk to get the lay of the land and the best brids were a group of Fulmars chasing off Jackdaws from their ledges – or any ledges even remotely ear them ! We also stopped to listen to a Song Thrush in a tree, close to us and quite low down, which snag a lovely range of notes and was still singing as we drove away in the car. This is a definite must visit site marred only by the incredible numver of dog walkers in a very small area.
Pensarn
Again we had tea and scones at our favourite cafe at Pensarn and again looked for sea birds. I do not know if the mild weather and flat seas was causing the lack of birds but apart from Common Scoter there wasn’t much. I did get much closer views of the Scoter this time so I could confirm that there were no uncomon ones amongst them. Frustraing as I felt sure I could get a Surf Scoter at least over a couple of days.
Llanddulas
By this time the afternoon was wearing on so we thought we would just have a quick look an Llanddulas before driving home to Llandudno. We crossed the bride and walked down the path to the rocky promontary and we did get some nice Turnstones and some Redshank but mainly it was Gulls. Our visit was perked up, though, by a sighting of a Kingfisher standing on the seaweedy / mossy rocks at the outflow of the river competeing with the gulls for fish.
We returnd home and later went to the Cottage Loaf pub where we had taken to drinking and had a good dinner.
16th December
We probably should have tries Caerhun for possible Hawfinch again but we needed to get home before Friday night rush hour in Manchester so I opted for guaranteed Waxwings again instead.
St Asaph
This time we went straight to the car park of The Pharmacy where we had seen them before. It was a much gloomier day so my photos were not as good as before. Even at ISO 1,000 I was only getting 1/8th of a second at F5.. Still it was clear enough to see them well by eye. As we were trying to get closer to their roost trees on the river bank, a Grey Heron came and flushed them.
We decided to go to The Welsh Maid cafe for a cup of tea and an egg roll. On our return we passed a tree on the bridge that was full of small birds including at least two Goldcrests. We drove from the car park down to the football ground. We had seen the Waxwings head off down in this direction so we thought that this might be their second choice location. We did see the odd few flying around but they did not settle. Again there were large numbers of Blackbirds and Redwings but, in the end, we thought we should get moving. This was at exactly 9.30 am and to my total frustration, when I returned home, I read online that one of he many photographers around for the Waxwigs had reported that at exactly that time he had taken a photograph of a female Black-throated Thrush !!! – and we missed it grrr.
Riverbank Road, Heswall
We needed to get a bit nearer home and a high-ish tide of 9.9m at 12.30 was due so we drove from St Asaph directly to Riverside Road. No sooner had we driven into the car park and got out of the car than we saw two Harriers to our right. I quickly ran up my scope and was just in time to get fantastic scoped views of an adult male Hen Harrier as it flew from left to right – i.w. from the area f the Sheldrake Restaurant towards Parkgate. As far as I can remember I haven’t seen an adult male since Mull ! I presumed that the other bird was a Ringtail.
As the tide came in we got a large flock of about 150 Brent Geese, 200 Shelduck and wonderful views of a murmuration of around 1000 Black-tailed Godwits. I dom’t recall seeing such a good display by Godwits before. We also got the very reliable Merlin there and good numbers of the usual Redshank and Little Egret, the latter about twenty in number but presumably a very small part of the Deeside “flock” There was also a flock of Pink-footed Geese that passed by.
Of note was the rather noisy work going on there as the whole row of very mature trees that lined the field behind the car park had been cut down !!! Who knows why ?
Neston Old Quay
I Needed to find a loo by then so what better wasy to address that than got to Neston Old Quay and the Harp In for lunch. Even though it was the 16th December I was quite happy sitting outside with a pint and a toastie. Oddly I didn’t see any Owls which is a bit unusual here as they can be seen here pretty much regardless of tide.
Be that as it may, I had a nice forty-five minutes and the wheeling Lapwing were entertaning and a scan of the trees around showed lovely miced groups of Fieldfare, Redwings, Thushes and Goldfinches. A flock of Linnet was also bouncing around the marsh.
RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands
We could not resist just dropping in briefly at Burton Mere Wetlands where we were amazed to discove just a few cars inthe car park and, when we went into the reception hide, the woman in charge was entirely on her own and rather lonely. She explained that when the adult male Hen Harrier had done a fly-by she didn’t even have anyone in the room to tell !
From just outside the receptionhide you could make out the flock of Swans on Shotwick West Field and I managed to pick out at least one Bewick’s Swan. Again there were Pink-footed Geese around and we walso got two Marsh Harriers showing well. A Stonechat was a nice additiona nd we got a few Dunlin and the usual Ducks.
So, all in all the mini-break had not been too succesful in getting up my year list with just the one addition and three left to go. Still, I suppose there is a little time left yet and it was a most enjoyable couple of day sanyway and gave us a nice break before Christmas.
Species seen on Wales and Wirral Trip 14 – 16 December 2016
| No | Species |
| 1 | Pink-footed Goose |
| 2 | Brent Goose |
| 3 | Canada Goose |
| 4 | Mute Swan |
| 5 | Bewick Swan |
| 6 | Whooper Swan |
| 7 | Common Shelduck |
| 8 | Gadwall |
| 9 | Eurasian Wigeon |
| 10 | Mallard |
| 11 | Northern Shoveler |
| 12 | Common Teal |
| 13 | Tufted Duck |
| 14 | Common Scoter |
| 15 | Meadow Pipit |
| 16 | Red-breasted Merganser |
| 17 | Fulmar |
| 18 | Cormorant |
| 19 | Grey Heron |
| 20 | Little Egret |
| 21 | Marsh Harrier |
| 22 | Hen Harrier |
| 23 | Buzzard |
| 24 | Moorhen |
| 25 | Coot |
| 26 | Oystercatcher |
| 27 | Lapwing |
| 28 | Redshank |
| 29 | Curlew |
| 30 | Black-tailed Godwit |
| 31 | Turnstone |
| 32 | Dunlin |
| 33 | Common Snipe |
| 34 | Black-headed Gull |
| 35 | Herring Gull |
| 36 | Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| 37 | Great Black-backed Gull |
| 38 | Wood Pigeon |
| 39 | Kingfisher |
| 40 | Kestrel |
| 41 | Merlin |
| 42 | Jay |
| 43 | Magpie |
| 44 | Jackdaw |
| 45 | Rook |
| 46 | Carrion Crow |
| 47 | Raven |
| 48 | Blue Tit |
| 49 | Wren |
| 50 | Goldcrest |
| 51 | Robin |
| 52 | Stonechat |
| 53 | Blackbird |
| 54 | Fieldfare |
| 55 | Redwing |
| 56 | Song Thrush |
| 57 | Mistle Thrush |
| 58 | Starling |
| 59 | Pied Wagtail |
| 60 | Waxwing |
| 61 | Reed Bunting |
| 62 | Chaffinch |
| 63 | Greenfinch |
| 64 | Goldfinch |
| 65 | Twite |
| 66 | Linnet |
| 67 | House Sparrow |
