Trip reports

Point of Ayr, North Wales

Saturday, 18 October 2008

It was a bright and only slightly breezy day when we set off through the dune complex, running parallel to the beach. Unfortunately, due to a preponderance of dog walkers, there were very few birds visible. The highlight, along with the usual House Sparrows and Blue Tits in the bushes and Meadow Pipits on the dunes, was an excellent sighting of a Stonechat. We enjoyed an extended view of it nicely posed on a twig at the top of a bank, its colours lit by the bright sun.

We then worked our way to the Beach with anticipation as to what we may see as the tide began to drive birds up the beach.

Again, there were many people on the beach which meant that the birds were not as numerous as hoped. However, a spot of sea watching and patience resulted in sightings of Grey Plover and Sanderling on the sea's edge. Other sightings included Common Scoter, many flights of Oystercatcher, Knot, Cormorant and a variety of Gulls.

We then headed back to the cars for lunch and a quick use of the local "facilities" before heading down to the Point of Ayr RSPB location. This trip had been timed to coincide with an early afternoon high tide, which we hoped would push up a good variety of birds. On the way down to the old hide, we had good sightings of a few Little Egrets, Grey Heron and Redshank in the tidal creeks. We also saw most of the waders take flight and then we spotted a Peregrine scything through the flock with no success. Behind the creek, in the trees, we watched a small group of Goldfinches and some sharp eyed members of the group spotted a number of well camouflaged Lapwings sitting in the gravel of the gas terminal. Unfortunately the old RSPB hide had been burned down some weeks before and all that was left was the wooden base. Although this meant we were much more exposed to the birds, the tide was pushing the birds up towards us and providing us with some good sightings. Among the highlights were Widgeon, Curlew, Redshank, Skylark, Black Tailed Godwit, Teal, Red Breasted Merganser and Pintail. We also had the pleasure of a Kestrel perched on a rock only 15 metres away from us.

As the tide reached its height, the birds started to move away from us and we headed back to the cars. On the way back, we managed to see Great and Blue Tits, Greenfinch, Wren and some further views of the waders on the nearest lagoons.

As the weather started to cloud over and get windier, we decided to head home via a brief visit to Flint Castle. Traditionally a good place to see Twite , unfortunately we never saw one, but it proved to be a useful place to see a variety of Gulls on the grass near the lifeboat centre. A couple of our more experienced members gave an impromptu lesson on Gull identification to those of us less proficient in Gull ID.

Overall we managed to see over 35 species on a beautiful day on the North Wales coast, which as usual had lived up to its reputation as a great place to go birding.

By Fiona & Malcolm Alderton

Library Photograph: Blacktailed Godwit