Day Two A Day On The Dee With Iolo Williams Best Of North Wales
Day Two A Day On The Dee With Iolo Williams Best Of North Wales 20 February 2023
Wonderful to see Pied Avocets at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands such beautiful birds.
The day started on the doorstep of the hotel looking for Woodcock, we had seen these lovely birds regularly on our last stay at the hotel. Sadly, on this tour we didn’t see any, perhaps they had already returned to their breeding grounds? It was lovely to hear bird song though and each day more songsters joined the dawn chorus. Always plenty to see from the hotel over looking the Conwy river and valley. We enjoyed seeing drake Mandarin, Goosander, Kingfishers, Great and Little Egrets, Grey Wagtails, Redpolls and Red Kites on our pre-breakfast walks during the tour.
Our Day on the Dee Tours are always to enjoy lots of waders - Spotted Redshank.
After a wonderful freshly cooked breakfast we headed out for the Dee Estuary. First stop was at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands nature reserve where welcome hot drinks and lots of birds awaited. Pink-footed Geese were all over the place with flocks in the fields and wet grasslands and more back and forth overhead giving their lovely “wink-wink” calls. On the lagoon newly arrived Pied Avocets swept their amazing up turned bills through the water, Ruff joined lots of Black-tailed Godwits, six Spotted Redshank loafed on the edge of the lagoon, Northern Lapwings, Common Redshank and Dunlin all feeding in the shallows. An adult Mediterranean Gull put in a brief appearance amongst the masses of Black-headed Gulls. A flock of Whooper Swans was visible on an arable field just off the reserve.
We then headed down to Burton Marsh where there was not a lot to see surprisingly but Skylarks were on the wing singing above us and plenty of Great Egrets out on the saltmarsh.
A short drive took us to Parkgate Marsh, where we had booked a table for lunch. The food here at the Boathouse Restaurant is wonderful and it has spectacular views across the Dee marshes. As we tucked into delicious food, we were able to marvel at a stunning male Hen Harrier! This “grey-ghost” of a raptor floated over the marsh and sparred with Marsh Harriers. It was fantastic to see the two species of harrier in the same binocular view. As you can imagine lunch took a while with so much to see! Not just the harriers there were plenty of Pink-footed Geese, Black-tailed Godwits, Curlews, Kestrels, Skylarks and Stock Doves and more. After lunch we walked north to the Old Baths car park and again enjoyed more of the same birds.
Two drake Surf Scoters with Velvet Scoters photographed at Llanddulas beach by Tony Pope.
As it was calm and bright, and we had seen so much on the Dee, we decided to head west and return to Llanddulas Beach where we had not see the Surf Scoters earlier in the tour. This time the light was so much better and the sea was somewhat calmer. Again lots of Common Scoter offshore here and luckily others bird watchers told us roughly where the Surf Scoters had been seen earlier that day. Armed with this information we concentrated our search in that area and sure enough, bingo! The two drake Surf Scoters were out there and gleaming in the sunshine, wow! The rare visitors from North America really stood out with their white patches on the head and orange beaks. Alongside the Surf Scoters were a small group of Velvet Scoters another great bird to see in North Wales. The top of the range telescopes really came into their own here allowing good views of these rare ducks and everyone enjoyed prolonged views. A super end to a bird filled day.
We run our Birdwatching Trips throughout the year a mix of set departure tours and custom-made trips perfect for you! To book your custom tour or any of our set departure trips please email us here….
info@birdwatchingtrips.co.ukWe can then make all the arrangements for your perfect Birdwatching Trips tour.