Tuesday to Friday Sept 22 to 25 - North Wales

 This week Lyn and I did something we rarely do nowadays, we went on holiday.

Technically a mini-break, our destination was a friend's house half way up a mountain close to the tiny village of Llanllechid, near Bethesda. We were actually staying in a Premier Inn on the outskirts of Bangor, and commuting. It was something of a working holiday as we had volunteered to help our friend in clearing stuff prior to a possible down-sizing move next year....maybe.

Inevitably there were challenges (the Premier Inn room did not contain certain important facilities, and access to our friend's house involved slopes, a rocky driveway, a wheelchair ramp and stone steps) but we just about managed.

Importantly I got some birding in.

On the first morning, while exploring the garden I was surprised to hear the call of Choughs coming from the slopes above. Eventually I counted six birds in flight and got some distant flight shots. Later on I had another look and tracked down a pair in a nearby field.

Chough

My big day out was scheduled for Thursday. Back in the early 1980s, I used to visit Aber, just south of Llanfairfechan, where huge flocks of Curlew and Oystercatchers roosted at high tide. This week I managed to get there while the tide was still high, although I still needed my scope to count and identify the waders present.

I was quite relieved to find that the Curlews were still present in vast numbers. The species has been declining as a breeding bird in Wales, but I counted 1780 Curlews plus approximately 700 Oystercatchers before the receding tide led them to disperse along the Menai Straits.

Sorting through the plethora of larger waders I picked out 25 Bar-tailed Godwits, five Black-tailed Godwits, 15 Knot, many Redshanks, and an unexpected juvenile Ruff. About 50 Dunlins were counted on the wing, while offshore there were lots of Wigeon, and 180 Pintails. Bear in mind this was the first time I'd seen the sea for about five years.

Some Black-tailed Godwits in flight

Curlew and Oystercatchers (mostly)

Unfortunately the light was on the dull side, and the waders too distant for any decent shots.

My plan was to walk from Morfa Aber to Morfa Madryn and back, looking for birds on the way, and plants on the way back. Obviously I was hoping to find a rarity, but that didn't happen.

Wheatear

Rock Pipit

Other birds seen included a few Sandwich Terns, numerous Rock Pipits, a Ringed Plover, a Wheatear, a Great White Egret with about 20 Little Egrets, and a Common Sandpiper.

The botanising gave me lots of new plants, all very common in Wales but not necessarily in the Midlands.

Rock Samphire

Weld

Maidenhair Spleenwort

Other creatures seen include a Clouded Yellow, but arguably the highlight of the week was a large bat which flew through the open front door to the house in Llanllechid and proceeded to fly around the living room before it was eventually persuaded to leave. Our friend, Carol, showed a remarkable turn of speed as she rushed to another room in panic.