It was to be a day on Anglesey courtesy of Alan Northern with Rob and Mike Stokes. Worlds End seemed a good idea for starters and ultimately was (just about)! Heavy rain and mist do not help and it was with some amazement we all picked up a single Black Grouse flying close to and then away from the car!
Would the Hawfinches oblige at Llanbedr-y-cenin? No, of course not, so after a search here and another neaby known site, we left for the coast.
Conwy? Well I should have known better! There had been a Spotted Redshank but we couldn't find it and there was nothing else of note!
We called in at the Spinnies nature reserve - high tide and just a few Redshank moving around the coast....
Holyhead harbour at least served up one of our target birds - a lone Black Guillemot, with a bonus Common Guillemot and three Purple Sandpiper also seen.
South Stack was cold, wet, windy and miserable. There were NO Guillemots or Razorbills, hmm! At least here we managed Chough (5), Kittiwake, Gannet, Fulmar and on the return down the road a single Hooded Crow.
Cemlyn bay was next and I'll be honest, I don't remember much of it. After ticking Sandwich Tern, I returned to the car with steadily growing abdominal pains. It then got worse and I was nearly out for the count with the pain and probably frightened the life out of the the other three (not to mention totally ruining what remained of our 'fantastic' day!!)
The decision 'lets get him (me) home' was made and after a scary stop along the A55 where I had to get out feeling nauseous from the pain - ending up flat out on the roadside, it became - Bangor Hospital next stop....
The agony was easing and after thinking through the logistics of being stranded there, (banged up in Bangor) we opted to get back to Shrewsbury and I'm now fully recovered.....
At least it wasn't appendicitis! Renal colic or a bowel spasm the most likely cause, I did at least get my humour back later in the day - thanking the lads for not leaving me by the roadside! "Your health is more important than a few ticks" was the response - "but you'd have been on your own if that Calandra Lark was nearer".....
Of course the pain could have been much worse - missing that Black Lark!! Sorry Jase ;-)
