Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: Pen Llyn & North Wales....August 5th

Tracey and myself had booked to stay away in a lovely cottage near Tudweilog on the Llyn Peninsula in lovely North Wales for 4 nights and the following is the places we visited and some of the brilliant wildlife,birds and wild flowers we encountered.

Day One - Monday 5th August

Travelling bright and early we eventually made it to our first stop at Betwys-y-Coed,this was only really a stop for a drink and a few photos and we were quickly on our way to stop number two,a personal favourite,Beddgelert.
Here after a cuppa and some lunch,we walked part of the impressive Aberglaslyn Pass.This is a very impressive part of the Glaslyn rivers journey through the area and has to be seen to be believed with some lovely scenery.
After walking this area,it was time to check in at the cottage and we made our final part of our journey to Bryn Odol,just outside the village of Tudweilog.The cottage was situated on a working farm and was in a fantastic setting.
After un-packing the car,we decided to travel to one of our favourite places on the nearby coast,Porth Dinallaen.
On arrival a quick swipe of our National Trust membership card and we were off exploring.The weather was superb and it wasn't long before we were seeing some of the local wildlife.
Over the sea,at least 70 Manx Shearwater were passing by south,no doubt from their breeding grounds on Bardsey Island.Also from the headland here were at least 7 Grey Seals,Harbour Porpoise,a few Kittiwakes and a couple of Shag roosting on the rocks.
The nicest surprise though,was a flock of 24 Mediterranean Gulls in the bay and they gave some great photo opportunities as they flew about and loafed on the beach.I also managed to find a colour-ringed adult which had been ringed as a 3rd calendar year at Antwerp in Belgium and had subsequently been seen in Portugal and Germany.
Back at the cottage,a bit of garden watching from the balcony saw Spotted Flycatcher,1 Raven and 2 Chiffchaff being seen.

Day Two - Tuesday 6th August

A busy day today,saw us having a quick watch in the garden at breakfast seeing a Common Buzzard,a few Goldcrest and Coal Tits.
First stop today was the superb Braich y pwll,right at the very tip of the peninsula and looking out towards Bardsey Island.
Here we saw the expected Chough with only two birds seen today,7 Raven including a group of 4,6 Stonechat and over the sea 40 Manx Shearwater and Harbour Porpoise.
After a hearty welsh breakfast in Aberdaron,we travelled onto destination number two,Borth y Gest where we had a lovely,if slightly hot walk along the coast to Black Rock Sands and back.This is a beautiful stretch of coastline along the vast Glaslyn Estuary and has some nice beaches and rocky coastline,making for more photo opportunities of the stunning scenery.Birds were a bit harder to find along here and included 5 Raven,2 Common Tern and a hand full of Sandwich Terns.
A noticeable amount of the quite rare Ivy Broomrape were seen in several areas along our walk,the most i have seen anywhere.
The final place of the day we visited today was Porth Oer,with its famous 'Whistling Sands'.This is another beautiful stretch of coast and i managed to spot another Med.Gull here,a juvenile,but little else.

Day 3 - Wednesday 7th August

Garden watching again this morning over breakfast,saw some great sightings being seen and included 4 Raven,Spotted Flycatcher,Great-spotted Woodpecker,Chiffchaff,Nuthatch,Grey Wagtail and superb close views of a Tawny Owl as it flew right past me.
Our first port of call today,was another visit to the lovely Porth Dinllaen,with more birds and the local wildlife showing well.Today's highlights consisted of 10 Shag,including a colour ringed juvenile bird from nearby Bardsey Island,3 Med.Gulls,Sandwich Terns and Kittiwakes in the bay and a Wheatear on land with 3 inquisitive Grey Seal showing brilliantly.
A drive further along the coast up to Pistyll,saw us seeing the most Choughs for the trip,with a nice flock of 14 birds watched over the hillside,the calls being heard all over the place!.Also seen here were a Stonechat and 3 Raven.A nice sighting from the insect world,was a stunning male Beautiful Demoiselle watched flitting along a nearby stream.
Final stop for today,was the very impressive Nant Gwrtheyrn,what an amazing place to visit.The soaring cliffs and mountainside scenery of Yr Eifel and the now redundant granite quarries make for some really fantastic scenery.
Apart from the lovely views,the only highlights bird wise were 4 Raven,but this place is a must for any visitor to the area.

Day 4 - Thursday 8th August

Our last day today,before travelling home,saw us visiting just two places on the beautiful island of Anglesey.First stop of course,was South Stack RSPB reserve and we walked all the way down to the lighthouse on today's visit(Beware there are 420 steps back up),and we also went up the lighthouse tower which was really impressive.
Bird highlights here were 3 Stonechat,15 Manx Shearwater and 3 Chough,the latter showed brilliantly,allowing some superb photo opportunities of a juvenile as it begged for food from its parents.
Our final place we visited,was the quite impressive Trearddur Bay,here we just had a nice leisurely walk after those steps earlier!.
After returning back to the cottage and packing ready for our journey home in the morning,we had a last look in the garden from our balcony watchpoint and this time saw 3 Common Buzzard,5 Raven,Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaff,what a fantastic place to stay!.

Day 5 - Friday 9th August

Sadly it was time to travel home from our lovely cottage and this beautiful area of Wales and we certainly will be back again next year as the Llyn is a hidden gem,where you can enjoy fantastic scenery and encounter some special wildlife and birds.