Lockdown At Birdwatching Trips HQ But The Birds Keep Coming Just

Fulmars are just one of the many star birds within a few minutes walk of home.

We are all living through very strange and frightening times, none of us know how long these lockdown conditions will last for or who will contract the virus next. One thing is for sure staying at home and keeping distance from other people will slow the spread of this awful virus. So that is what we are doing spending the vast majority of time indoors at home, we do have plenty to do of course with all Aprils tours cancelled. It is amazing how many emails a cancelled tour generates – guests, flights, hotels, hire cars and so it goes on. If you have a tour booked with us please don’t worry we will be in touch and let you know just what is happening, rest assured your money is safe.

Seeing Fulmars zoom low overhead really lifts the spirits such wonderful birds.

Each day we are allowed out for exercise and here we are luckier than most as we live at the base of the Great Orme, a limestone headland north of Llandudno, Wales. We can walk out of our door and be on the headland in minutes and of course are very careful to keep well away from everyone we might see, very few people out and about good to report.

We are always thrilled to see Red-billed Chough so close to our home.

Our walk takes us along spectacular sea-cliffs with wonderful views across Llandudno and to the mountains of Snowdonia beyond. One of the first birds we usually see is the Northern Fulmar, a wonderful seabird that nests on the cliffs here. These stiff-winged birds fly back and forth low overhead and then land on the ledges, eventually as they are hopeless at landing. They make a wonderful braying laugh of a call and that always makes us smile. The same cliffs are home to a pair of Chough which we have been watching nest-building coming in with red beaks full of moss and still managing to call “cheeow, cheeow” as they swoop along the cliffs, just magical. The local pair of Peregrines are also often on view and we have had spectacular views of these speedy falcons, chasing birds and attacking Ravens and Carrion Crows that venture into their air-space. Peregrine Falcons are another of those birds that really lift the spirits whenever and wherever you see one, just the tonic we all need.

The views of Stonechats are often just stunning this one seen on 26th March.

In areas with scattered bushes Stonechats are often sitting up and giving their lovely “Chat-chat” calls and allowing great looks especially in the lovely sunshine of the last few days. Rock Pipits are singing and displaying at the moment and early mornings they are very active and easy to see. A few lovely Northern Wheatears are coming in and again so happy to see these newly arrived migrants back from Africa. We also recorded our first Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps of the Spring on the headland, we hope for many more migrants soon.

The female Stonechat was nearby too posing in the sunshine.

Although we can’t see the main seabird breeding cliffs from our short walk we can still see some of the species. We had super views of three Black Guillemots on the calm sea below the cliffs before they flew off and round the cliffs out of sight. Common Guillemots and Razorbills often zoom past and occasionally land on the sea in view. Kittiwakes and Gannets also fly past along with Cormorants and Shags. Atlantic grey seals are often hauled out on a small beach below the limestone cliffs and always fun to watch.

These three Black Guillemots were on the calm sea below the cliffs.

Atlantic grey seals are a regular sight during our daily exercise walks.

By keeping scanning the skies above we have also enjoyed Common Buzzards, Sparrowhawks and Kestrels and we hope to add lots more to our lockdown bird list. We do appreciate just how lucky we are to have such birds on our doorstep. We can all keep looking at birds even if only through the window, we are always keeping one eye on the sky as we type emails! One of the many wonderful things about birdwatching is it can be done just about anywhere, so keep looking and see which birds are in your lockdown area.

We are so lucky to have so many species and habitats within easy reach here in North Wales, and once the world returns to normal, we would love you to join us for one of our Best of North Wales Birdwatching Trips days out. We expect to enjoy a lot of birds during these relaxed pace tours and we can tailor make the day to suit you. We would love you to join us on our Birdwatching Trips in the future just drop us a line to arrange a custom tour and please see our tours pages for set departure trips. If you have any questions at all please fire away here….

info@birdwatchingtrips.co.uk

We look forward to enjoying wonderful birds in beautiful places with you soon!