No such thing as bad birding weather!
North Wales often looks like this – not yesterday!
With an appalling weather forecast for Sunday 12th April we offered our guests the chance to rearrange their Birdwatching Trip. Galeforce winds and torrential rain are not everyone’s idea of a great day out. But Mark and Janice were made of sterner stuff and after some thought decided to go ahead with their Birdwatching Trip.
We all met up at RSPB Conwy in light rain and strong winds, the forecast was coming true sadly. Despite the grim conditions we still enjoyed plenty of birds. Two breeding plumaged Dunlin were feeding with many Redshank on the estuary as a Willow Warbler braved the wind and sang from the willows. On the lagoons there were still a good few wildfowl with Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and a handsome drake Red-breasted Merganser. Swallows and Sand Martins tried to find food low over the water. Lapwings and Oystercatchers sought shelter behind the islands. A lovely male Bullfinch and a pair of Long-tailed Tits were great to see in the bushes as we headed back in the rain.
We headed south and despite the high winds and rain decided to check a site for Hawfinch. Amazingly we have two views of a pair of these bull-necked finches, a new bird for Janice so we were thrilled that the gamble paid off.
Up in the forest above the Conwy Valley the rain had eased a little and we had a super view of a Peregrine Falcon in a dead tree and also added Crossbill, Siskin and Lesser Redpoll here. Unfortunately the galeforce winds had brought a huge tree down across the road! Luckily we were not on the raod when it came down, but it did mean a long detour to re-join our planned route.
A very welcome hot drink and a chance to dry out a little before we headed into a mixed woodland where the rain really hammered down making it hard to see at all! Nevertheless we still added birds with Grey Wagtail, Goldcrest, Coal Tit and Nuthatch before the rain drove us back to the dry car.
Up into the mountains of Snowdonia and if anything the rain was even heavier! Sheets of rain swept down the valleys but despite this three Wheatears were feeding amongst a pile of boulders by the road – viewed from inside the car thankfully! Then amazingly Ruth spotted a Ring Ouzel on the slope above, what was this bird doing out and about in this weather? A male Stonechat and lots of Meadow Pipits here before we headed for the coast.
We drove through rain across Anglesey to Holyhead where we quickly found six Black Guillemots and three Common Guillemots, we also enjoyed a welcome hot lunch and watched the birds as we ate in the dry! Up to RSPB South Stack next where it was a little better, just light rain, but a real gale blowing! But we birded on and soon added Chough, Fulmar and Kittiwake to our growing list.
No auks on the cliffs due to the awful weather but the winds had blown in passing Manx Shearwaters and Gannets, then Alan picked out a Great Skua moving north over the white waves – a real bonus bird and no doubt blown in by the gale.
We finished our day on the north coast of Anglesey where at last the rain finally stopped and for the last hour the sun actually came out! We enjoyed great birds here with a noisy gang of Sandwich Terns, three stunning adult breeding-plumaged Mediterranean Gulls. Waders here included fifteen Golden Plovers several now in stunning breeding dress, Ringed Plovers and a flock of Turnstones. Offshore we enjoyed great views of passing Manx Shearwaters, Gannets, Razorbills, Shags and six Common Scoters.
We enjoyed a cuppa, outside in the sun, overlooking the bird-filled lagoon and totted up the birds we had enjoyed in the rain. We were all very pleasantly surprised to find that we had seen 91 species! An amazing total given the mostly awful weather! Hats off to Mark and Janice for giving it a go despite the very bad weather, just goes to show, there’s no such thing as bad birding weather.
[b]We would love you to join us for a great Birdwatching Trip soon. You will see a lot of birds and we will look after you very well. To book your Birdwatching Trip or for details of our tours please email us here…[/b]
[b]We look forward to enjoying wonderful birds with you soon.[/b]