Wales with Margie and a car called Toj (1 Viewer)

Wales Day 1

The journey, left at 1.45 fairly uneventful journey, 29 Red Kites and 18 Buzzards seen, the Buzzards spread evenly along the route the Kites seen on the M40.

Day 2 Anglesey
An early start saw us on the road to Anglesey arriving at about 8.15 although early in the season the only target birds we failed to see were Puffin and Shag, getting great views of Chough, Raven, Peregrine, Guillemot, Razorbill, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Wheatear, Stonechat, lots of Swallows, Meadow Pipits, Linnets and Goldfinch and despite the wind ,we braved the 300 foot drop to get pics of the Chough, we had a great morning nicely rounded off with a full Welsh breakfast at the visitor centre. On the way out of Holyhead we called in at the Harbour on the off chance to be rewarded with superb views of Black Guillemots looking awesome in their summer plumage.
On the way back to base we stopped off at the power station at Trawsfynydd the lake produced 2 pairs of Red-breasted Mergansers , 2 female Goldeneyes which had me scratching my head, a pair of Great Crested Grebes, and 20+ Tufties the surroundings produced Kestrel more Wheatears, Meadow Pipits and Pied Wags and a Reed Bunting!
Back at Dolgellau we decided to walk the Mawdach Trail superb views of a pair of Dippers, a Nuthatch, Heron, Sand Martins and Tree Pipits the best birds seen.
No Red Kites seen today but the Buzzard count reached 39 for the trip.
Pics from Day 2 here
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Day 3 World’s End
Another early start saw us on our way to Worlds End in search of Black Grouse, after a journey down some very narrow lanes crossing fords with perilous drops and hairpin bends (which Toj took in his stride) we arrived to be told by other birders present we were too late at 8.10 and the birds had flown!!Can’t believe some people take so long in the shower!!! Undaunted we headed off down the road stopping occasionally to scan, before long we had 3 Black grouse Lekking on the hillside, then 10+ birds burst outta of the heather, so very happy we headed back up the valley,loads of Mipits everywhere, a Mistle Thrush and a Stonechat were the best of the rest ,we also missed a Great Grey Shrike by 5 mins still can’t win em all!
Having tasted success we decided to head into Llangollen to buy some Fudge,a lovely place with the river Dee running through the middle of it, I was amazed to see a Dipper feeding in the torrent a couple of Grey Wagtails were added to the list and some cute Ducklings were bobbing about and I got some awesome fudge!
We headed back to base , then decided to climb the local mountain Cader Idris, then we saw how big it was so decided not to and headed on past and visited some lakes where we did climb a smaller hillock. Plenty of Mipits once again, a couple of smart Wheaters and a Raven livened up our epic ascent!
After this we down to Fairbourne where a walk on the beach Produced a couple of Rock pipits then back to base for Fish and Chips and an early night.
Buzzard sightings up to 49 for the trip with just a single Red Kite seen taking them up to 30.
Pics from day3 here sorry for the quality of the Grouse ones they ere along way away
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Day 4

Day 4 Ynys Hir

Another early start although setting the alarm 10 minutes early meant we left the house 10 minutes later, go figure! Anyway today was a trip to Ynys Hir fingers crossed that some of the migrants had arrived early. We got there in good time and started with a walk round the oak woodland , a beautiful walk with Bluebells ,Wood Anemones and Primroses starting to come out and I was pleased to see a few leaves on the trees, to start with as a profusion of common woodland birds loads of Blue and Great Tits, the odd Coal Tit, Treecreeper ,Nuthatch ,Jay, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff ,Song Thrush, Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Wrens and Robins as we approached the hide a movement caught my eye and we were looking at a cracking Male Pied Flycatcher, the bird alternated between singing and flycatching give us great views.
Tearing ourselves away we continued on the path enjoying the various songbirds singing their hearts out when another movement caught my eye this time a large raptor weaving it’s way through the trees a massive Goshawk!! Unfortunately far too quick for a picture, Margie didn’t even see it!
We then came upon the strange sight of a Hare sat in the middle of the path which we did manage a pic of, so we headed back to the visitor centre where we had a well-earned coffee before setting off round the rest of the reserve, along the trail we came across another male Pied Fly and then further on a pair checking out a nest box,a good sign!
Couldn’t see Monty the Osprey from the viewpoint so made our way round to the hides nothing much on show several hundred Canada Geese a few Shelduck a couple of Barnacle Geese and a Little Egret, they have cut all the willow around the pools and it looks quite sad not sure what the thinking is behind it but all it seems to have achieved is to make a Haven for the Canada Geese always used to be home for lots of Warblers so I’m hoping there’s a good reason for it.
On the way back towards the centre as we approached the bridge over the railway 2 birds were having a hell of a scrap the flash of red in the sunshine gave them away and soon we had connected with a lovely male Common Redstart.
Having failed to see any Ospreys we bit the bullet and headed for the Dyfi project parking was horrendous but I managed to slip Toj in next to the building site, the hide was packed but Monty was on full show, and bonus bird was a cracking Mealy Redpoll on the feeders with the Lesser Redpolls and the Siskins .
Escaping the madness we headed up the A44 in search of Red Kites I’ve had good numbers of these before along this road but today we only managed 12,after this we headed to Devil’s Bridge here we indulged in a mediocre Ploughmans Lunch and a very nice pot of tea, struggling for energy I had a bit of Dolgelly belly earlier in the morning we headed back to base. After a rest we set out on a nice drive around the back road from Transfynydd to Tan y Groes this was another Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Pied Wagtail Fest with a pair of Grey wagtails thrown in for good measure .
On the subject of Driving do they have a test in Wales? They all seem to be nutters behind the wheel and can someone tell em about indicators!! The highlights for want of a better word include numerous coming around corners and having to slam on the brakes as I’m confronted by some nutter on my side of the road trying to overtake another nutter who doesn’t want to be overtaken on a blind bend, the pinnacle of which was an arctic being overtaken by a slightly smaller lorry on an S bend on the road from Machynlleth!! Also trying to get out of a parking space in Dolgellau opposite the Ship pub seems the locals regard the Square as some kind of race track, if it was for the Tojmeisters nippy agility I’m sure there would have been several mishaps!! Rant over!
Overall another successful day.12 Red Kites today took the total up to 42 but Buzzards held on with 12 sightings also taking them up to 61 for the trip.
Pics from Day 4 here
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Day 5

Day 5 The Journey to Sufolk

We set off about 9 o’clock deciding to take the back road from Dinas to Lake Vyrnwy before heading across the country. Once again Meadow Pipits and Wheatears dominated sightings with the odd Pied Wagtail chucked in, awesome scenery all around as well,bit disappointed with Lake Vyrnwy one female Goosander was the only bird I saw on the water although I didn’t really give it a good scan and the hide just had Siskins and Chaffinches in profusion, although in it’s defence the Caramel apple pie in the café was excellent and made up somewhat for the lack of birds! That was pretty much it although 2 Red Kites near Kettering were a nice finale though 12 buzzards along the route meant they came out on top 73 to 44 for the trip which is a pretty respectable total for such a short trip.

Overall we’ve had a pretty successful trip considering I felt we were going a bit early for the migrants, the weather was lovely and the scenery impressive especially around the Dolgellau area. And once again Toj proved he’s half Corsa half Mountain Goat! Although Margie’s Knuckles maybe white for ever due to the winding single track roads with sheer drops one side and rock walls on the other and my tendency to say look another Mipit/Buzzard/Wheatear! Also great news that once again the Hunnibun Shop is back in Business!!!!!!

?????? Hunnibuns hey ???????