North Wales - 2
And so the rain came in. And it rained lots, but we were determined to make a day of it.
We headed first to the Dyfi Osprey Project Centre where the day before, the first Osprey had arrived. This was however 'Blue 24' a female from the Rutland Water project but related to birds that have bred at the centre.
This was great news for the team of volunteers as it was their first Osprey sighting of the year, but had predictably moved on presumably to its Rutland breeding site. The Lottery Funded visitor centre is an impressive structure towering high over the landscape and out towards the nesting site. The wardens there are working hard to continually improve the habitat for other breeding species such as waders and reed-dwellers. It's a fabulous place and a great project.
In the absence of any Osprey, we headed a few miles down the road to the Ynys-Hir RSPB reserve, an area of mature woodland and salt-marsh. Another utterly impressive reserve with helpful volunteers and great wildlife, which I'm sure will come to life with birdsong over the next few weeks.
It was a rewarding morning despite the gloom. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker called high from the woodland canopy where on the scrape, my first Sand Martin of the year were hawking insects with at least twenty there.
The real surprise was a drake Garganey that emerged from the far shoreline associating with Teal as it drifted along the flood.
Along the estuary, a distant Sandwich Tern paused briefly before continuing further inland.
The weather had turned wild, but we headed north in the afternoon to Caernarfon Castle to take in this impressive 13th Century fortress.
We headed first to the Dyfi Osprey Project Centre where the day before, the first Osprey had arrived. This was however 'Blue 24' a female from the Rutland Water project but related to birds that have bred at the centre.
This was great news for the team of volunteers as it was their first Osprey sighting of the year, but had predictably moved on presumably to its Rutland breeding site. The Lottery Funded visitor centre is an impressive structure towering high over the landscape and out towards the nesting site. The wardens there are working hard to continually improve the habitat for other breeding species such as waders and reed-dwellers. It's a fabulous place and a great project.
In the absence of any Osprey, we headed a few miles down the road to the Ynys-Hir RSPB reserve, an area of mature woodland and salt-marsh. Another utterly impressive reserve with helpful volunteers and great wildlife, which I'm sure will come to life with birdsong over the next few weeks.
It was a rewarding morning despite the gloom. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker called high from the woodland canopy where on the scrape, my first Sand Martin of the year were hawking insects with at least twenty there.
The real surprise was a drake Garganey that emerged from the far shoreline associating with Teal as it drifted along the flood.
The weather had turned wild, but we headed north in the afternoon to Caernarfon Castle to take in this impressive 13th Century fortress.
The beach at Dinas Dinlle is my father's resting place so I wandered along the beach to pay him a visit.
Along the beachside is what seems to be a new area of wetland now managed by the RSPB that was bursting with around 500 Golden Plover some in smart summer plumage. The area looks great for moorland species.
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