I always try and get a day on Anglesey during May to check out the popular sites, celebrate some overdue obligatory year ticks and generally have a good day’s birding! Yvonne thought it would be a good day out too…..
A late decision to take in ‘Worlds End’ got the day rolling with a good number of Black Grouse eventually on view, somewhat distant but the highlight – a group of nine males lekking made good viewing through the scopes.
First stop on Anglesey was Fedw Fawr – I don’t get lost anymore in this neck of the woods as I’ve invested in a new means of transport and travel in by sea!!
Not sure whether the two Black Guillemot seen here were impressed by this though……
South Stack was hard work, seabird numbers appeared ‘down’ to me and the higher crevices normally holding good numbers of Kittiwake and Fulmar were quite barren! Just two Puffin were found after a lot of seacrching from the lighthouse steps. The lower cliffs held 100's of Guillemot and Razorbill as ever though with a few Fulmar and Kittiwake on the wing plus Gannets out to see. Given the calm conditions, we didn’t expect to see Manxies and this proved to be the case! Chough put in a late appearance, just as we were beginning to wonder where they were hiding!!
We got to Cemlyn at about 2.00, it was stiff with Terns and at least 800 Sandwich Terns have been counted in with up to a hundred Arctic Tern and Common Tern. The blue skies and direct sun meant that Terns flying in from the sea gave the only possible angle for photography! Never mind, we eventually coped with the tricky light – here’s all three species….
Sandwich Tern, plenty of fish in the sea, small or large.....
Arctic Tern....
Common Tern.....
The time seemed to slip away like crazy and we suddenly realised at 6.00 that we still had a bit more travelling, back in North Wales, to do to catch up with one more species….. Little Tern at Gronant!
They were doing quite nicely too! A huge area of the beach has been roped off and 300 odd Little Terns were busy pairing up, dangling fish for all they were worth, trying to attract a partner! With the light fading, one or two record flight shots…..
A spat with the local Ringed Plovers provided useful comparison - just hown small Little Terns are!
Here's one very obliging Ringed Plover……
It certainly had terned out nice....
