Recent Anglesey and North Wales Bird news and Photos

A Glaucous Gull is currently hanging out at Llandulas. Follow the road down to the beach car park. Scanning from the shore in good conditions and some patience you should pick out the two male Surf Scoters and the odd Velvet among the more numerous Common Scoters offshore.
The gull is usually just to the east of the Car Park, bathing by the outflow, or a little further east feeding on a dead Porpoise. There has also been a Water Pipit here and another at Conwy RSPB recently. A pair of Dippers are often on this river at Llandulas about 50m back up the road. Llanfairfechan is another good spot for Dipper.
Up-to 2 Snow Buntings are hanging out with 5 Skylarks at  Kimnel Bay. Park in the beach Car Park by Asda and walk east to the first access ramp. This is their favorite area, but get there early as they become more mobile as dog walkers arrive on the beach. The beach is also pretty good for Sanderling. On Friday there was a Firecrest and Lapland Bunting at Penmon Point. There have still been upto 2 Firecrests at Benllech recently  in the scrub behind the beach car park toilets. Black Redstarts have recently been at South Stack and Holyhead Train station / docks. I had a Hawfinch up the Conwy Valley yesterday at Llanbedr-a-cennin. The first I've seen since the influx when I had 9 migrants over my house in Cemaes on the 6th Nov. There have been upto 15 in Llanbedr recently. Around the Church and just beyond are the best spots to look. Black Grouse are lecking on the moors near Wrexham at the usual spots but remember to stay in the car. The close birds usually disperse quite early when walkers and cyclists get on the moor but if you stay in your car and keep quiet they won't be bothered by you. The early bird-er catches the worm, well Grouse in this case. Goosanders are very approachable at Llyn Padarn Llanberis and along with Mandarins, they can also sometimes put on a show at Llangollen on the river.
On Anglesey at Beddmanarch bay, Penrhos by Coffee Cups Cafe there is around 308 Pale bellied Brent geese, including 1 dark Bellied bird and a Spangle breasted individual - see photo.
Also recently in the Beddmanarch Bay / Inland Sea area there have been 14 Scaup, GN Diver, Black Guillimot, 2 Slav Grebes and a Long tailed duck was seen on the 18th December. Great white Egret and Marsh Harrier were at Llyn Llewennan on the 18th. There was also Marsh and Hen Harrier and Water Pipit at Cors Ddyga on this date. Cors Ddyga  is the Reserve formerly known as Malltraeth Marsh RSPB reserve. Reminds me of Prince! Anyway, I digress. Not far from there at Malltraeth Cob keep your eyes peeled for overwintering Pintail and Spotted Redshank, plus Red Squirrels at the feeders in Newborough and 3 Cattle Egrets nearby at Pont Marquis / Paradwys. Also the usual suspects are around, Choughs at South Stack and Black Guillimots around Holyhead Harbour and the fish quay.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy the photos and I hope you see some good birds in North Wales over the winter period whether you are local or a visiting Birder, have fun.
All the best Stephen Culley

SCAN ringing talk by Phil Woolen in Bangor

Tonight at Bangor Birdgroup Phil Woolen, North West Ringer and Birder will be talking about the work the SCAN ringing group get up to. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush as if you hang out with Ringers you get great opportunities to study birds up close. Come and see what they get up to, it should be a great talk.
At Bangor Birdgroup we meet on Wednesday nights in the University of Bangor Brambell Building, Deiniol road opposite Asda just down from the Train Station. Costs are £2 per meeting (non members), or even better join as a member. Membership costs are as follows- Waged = £15, £12 for concessions and £10 for students. Not bad for 24 talks!
Doors open at 7 for a 7.30 pm start. Talks last for around 1 hour. All members of the public are welcome. 

Iceland in Bangor

Tonight at Bangor Birdgroup Local Birder Chris Jones will be doing a talk on the Birds, Wildlife and Scenery of Iceland. There should be some wonderful images of this magical place.
At Bangor Birdgroup we meet on Wednesday nights in the University of Bangor Brambell Building, Deiniol road opposite Asda just down from the Train Station. Costs are £2 per meeting (non members), or even better join as a member. Membership costs are as follows- Waged = £15, £12 for concessions and £10 for students. Not bad for 24 talks!
Doors open at 7 for a 7.30 pm start. Talks last for around1 hour. All members of the public are welcome. 

COS trip to the North-west Bird Watching Festival

 COS are running a Coach to Martin Mere on the 18^th  Nov (this Saturday).

It will be leaving Bangor at 8am (or Mona Ind Estate at 7.30), with pick-ups along the coast to Colwyn Bay.

Coach fare is £14, admission charge to Martin Mere will be collected on coach.

It is the North-west Bird Watching Festival (Saturday and Sunday), with guest speakers, exhibitors, talks, tours, workshops etc. And lots of wild birds to see, including Ruff, Tree Sparrows, Whooper Swans, Pinkfeet, Kingfisher and various raptors.

Anyone wanting further information can  phone Geoff ASAP on (01248 681936).

Many Thanks

Wales and Dolphins at Bangor Bird-group this Wednesday

When Kathy James left Bangor Birdgroup it was to move down to Mid Wales to work for the Sea Watch foundation. This Wednesday at Bangor Birdgroup Kathy's Boss Peter Evans will be coming up to talk to us about the interesting World of Dolphins and Cetaceans in his appropriately named talk, Wales and Dolphins!
At Bangor Birdgroup we meet on Wednesday nights in the University of Bangor Brambell Building, Deiniol road opposite Asda just down from the Train Station. Costs are £2 per meeting (non members), or even better join as a member. Membership costs are as follows- Waged = £15, £12 for concessions and £10 for students. Not bad for 24 talks!
Doors open at 7 for a 7.30 pm start. Talks last for around1 hour. All members of the public are welcome. Hopefully see you there, all the best, Stephen Culley (Programme Organizer, Local Birdwatcher and Naturalist).

Bangor Birdgroup : Honduras and the Anglesey Skerries

Will outside Left, Molly outside right.

Two former  Bangor University  Students are returning to Bangor Birdgroup tonight to let us know what they have been up-to since qualifying. Molly Foulds will be talking about some of her work in Honduras and the birds that she saw there and Will Smith will be talking about The Anglesey Skerries, where he has worked for the RSPB for the last two summers. I'm really looking forward to what they have to say tonight. Doors open at the Brambell building at 7pm tonight, members free, non members £2 on the door. All welcome.

Big Seabird Movement Point Lynas 29/10/17

There was a large movement of seabirds past Point Lynas yesterday morning. I arrived at dawn, and began watching the sea at 6.45am. The wind was NNW 6/7. The previous day had had a strong westerly wind which continued through the night. This had undoubtedly driven some birds into Liverpool Bay. The first bird I saw was a Manx Shearwater at very close range, so it had a good feeling. Over the next four and a half hours the numbers and variety of species were very high, particularly in the first two hours. At one point I couldn't lift my eyes from my binoculars for at least five minutes! This was one of my most memorable watches at Lynas over the past 30ish years, for the sheer numbers and closeness of the birds. The Grey Phalarope at about 600m off the rocks was, I think, my first here on a seawatch. I also think the cumulative effect of Storm Ophelia and Storm Brian in the past two weeks may have certainly moved a lot of seabirds into the Irish Sea.

Species Recorded 06.45 to 11.15 am. (all birds moving west)

Shelduck 5
Eider 1 (fem/imm)
Common Scoter 16
Red-Throated Diver 3
Fulmar 1
Manx Shearwater 5
Storm Petrel 1
Leach's Petrel 2 (petrels appeared later and further out)
Gannet 249 (25 fishing)
Shag 6
Grey Heron 1
Curlew 1
Oystercatcher 5
Grey Phalarope 1 (following a group of auks very close)
Great Skua 20
Pomarine Skua 4 (2 ads with 'spoons', two juvs)
Arctic Skua 11
Black-headed Gull 104
Common Gull 41
Mediterranean Gull 3 (2 ads, 1 Ist w.)
Herring Gull 70
Great Black-backed Gull 6
Lesser Black-backed Gull 5
Little Gull 1 (ad.)
Kittiwake 2600
Arctic Tern 1 (juv)
Black Tern 1 (surprisingly late)
'Auk sp' 4230 (about 80% Razorbills, but more Guillemots than previous watches)

Also 3 to 5 Bottle-nosed Dolphins for five minutes moving east, leaping and feeding.

Hopefully this is of interest, and will encourage more people to watch from Point Lynas. Please contact me if you want any help or advice on access or the best times to watch.

New book out on the "Scarce and Rare Birds in North Wales".  All historic records up to and including 2016. 320 pages, 100+ Images, finder's accounts of the rarest, full colour and more. Limited print run.

Contact me on robinsandham@hotmail.co.uk. to order a copy. £16:99 local pick up from Conwy RSPB. Or £19:99 p+p UK.

Thanks 

Robin

Yoav Perlman comes to Bangor Birdgroup on Thursday this Week

Yoav Perlman will be talking to us about "Birding in Israel, where migration is defined!"
It's one not to miss!
It's on Thursday, not wednesday, doors open at 7 for a 7.30 start. It's in the usual Brambell building, but in the upstairs lecture theatre. Numbers are limited to 50 seats so get there early to avoid disappointment.See you on Thursday!
Yoav says this about himself 
"I have been birding since the age of 9, and from the age of 15 I started working professionally in birding. I have been working for the Israeli Ornithological Center since 1998. I was a member of the Israeli rarities committee between 2001 - 2007. I have an MSc in Ecology from the Ben Gurion University. I did my research on the ecology of Nubian Nightjars in Israel, and spent hundreds of nights with these fascinating birds. I lead tours in Israel, and especially focus on Nubian Nightjars obviously. I traveled and birded Asia extensively, and also Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and North America. I am married to my lovely wife Adva and father to two sons - Uri and Noam, and one daughter - Libby. Currently I live in Norwich, where I am starting a PhD project at UEA."

Spain comes to Bangor

I will be doing a presentation tonight along with Richard Bird and Bill Slade. I will be doing a 30 minute presentation on the Birds I saw over two trips to the region to look for the Birds of the Pyrenees and Dupont's Lark. Richard will be doing a 15 minute film on a similar subject and Bill will be showing us some of the photo's he got from the photographic hide including the Bearded Vulture!

This Weekend

This Dotterel was at the Range by South Stack over the weekend and was still there yesterday at the Southern end by some small pools by the coastal footpath on the heath. The Red necked grebe was in Beddmanarch bay as scoped from Coffee cups cafe. No Slavs are back yet. A Great White Egret was visible from the Anchorage pub ob on Sunday. Also the American Golden Plover was still at Caernarfon Airport on Sunday. I had 3 Swallows at Llanfaethllu and a Wheatear on the Range on the 10th and Ken had Redwings on the 9th.

Bangor Birdgroup re-starts next week, the first Wednesday in October.

Are you interested in Birds, Wildlife and Wildlife photography? If so , why not come along to Bangor Birdgroup this up-coming season. Bangor Bird group is based at the University of Bangor and is currently celebrating it's 70th year and is one of the oldest Bird clubs in Britain. We also share one meeting a month with the North Wales Wildlife trust, so although primarily bird orientated our talks cover all aspects of natural history. This next season as well as birds, covers Badgers, Otters, Wildcats, Dolphins and other Cetaceans, Butterflies and Moths. Also many of the Bird talks cover other aspects of wildlife as well.
Our first talk of the season is by Alan Davies and Ruth Miller of Bird-watching breaks and The Biggest Twitch 2008 World record breaking Year List, for the most species of birds seen on the planet in one year! They have lived in North Wales for many years so they will be giving us their insight into the Best birdwatching sites in North Wales.
Other talks before Christmas include The Spanish Pyrenees and the search for DuPont's Lark, Fabulous Feathers, Birding in Israel by renowned Israeli Ornithologist and Birder Yoav Perlman and a research Talk on Urban Bird ecology. Then we have a joint effort by two former students Will Smith and Molly Foulds talking about some of the things they have got up to since leaving Bangor University, including wardening on the Skerries and research in Honduras! Then there are talks on Iceland and Bird Ringing in North Wales before the Christmas Quiz and party! Talks in the new year cover Trinidad and Tobago, Sulawesi to the Seregeti (the Earth's Ultimate Wildlife), North Carolina Pelagic Birding, The Upper Conwy Project, Spurn Bird Observatory, Japan in Winter, The Arctic North West Passage, Gronant Little Terns, The Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil, Chile and The Caucasus Mountains of Georgia.
So that's 24 meeting covering topics from North Wales, Britain and the rest of the World.
We meet on Wednesday nights in the Brambell Building, Deiniol road opposite Asda just down from the Train Station. Costs are £2 per meeting, or even better join as a member. Membership costs are as follows- Waged = £15, £12 for concessions and £10 for students. Not bad for 24 talks!
Our first talk on the Best Birdwatching sites in North Wales kicks off the season on the 4th October, doors open at 7 for a 7.30 pm start. All members of the public are welcome. Hopefully see you there, all the best, Stephen Culley (Programme Organizer, Local Birdwatcher and Naturalist).

Dotterel on The Range, South Stack (The four bird theory).

On Sunday, Rhys Jones sent me a text early afternoon to say he has just had just flushed 2 Dotterel at the Range and they appeared to land at the North West End. So I picked up Tony White and off we went. Rhys only saw the birds briefly in flight, but we hoped to relocate them. It was quite wet so I donned my waterproofs and we worked the North West part of the Range, only to put up two Golden Plovers.Trudging around in the rain doubt started to set in, "were these the birds Rhys had seen?". So we headed further North in case there were any Lapland buntings in with the Mippets and Skylarks. Twenty minutes later we put up two more Plovers, with a softer call and stonking supercillium, bingo Dotterel! Sorry for ever doubting you Rhys, so we managed to turn the "Two bird theory" into the "Four bird theory"! The Dotterel were still present on Monday and there were also 2 Lapland Buntings present. Also of note on Monday, Tony White had a flock of 15 Ruff at Cemlyn, a very big count for Anglesey.