I visited North Wales today with my partner, Jenna, and we saw some wonderful birds on our travels. We started off at Newborough Warren, but no firecrests were seen, although we did catch a brief glimpse of a red squirrel.
Red Squirrel
Further along the road at Malltraeth, we observed a significant number of Wigeon and Pintail ducks.
Malltraeth
Wigeon
Pintail
Continuing from here, we stopped at Aberffraw, where we had great views of a little owl sitting in the morning sun. Then a second bird joined it.
Little Owl
The next stop was Holyhead Mountain, where we saw two choughs. Holyhead Harbour held a winter-plumaged Black Guillemot and a distant Red-throated Diver.
South Stack
Chough
Holyhead Harbour
Black Guillemot
Driving past the inland sea, we stopped at Penrhos Country Park, where eight pale-bellied Brent geese were visible near the car park. A Slavonian grebe was also seen, along with good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits, Sanderlings, and Grey Plovers.
Pale-Bellied Brent Goose
We heard news that two Surf Scoters were sighted at Llanddulas, so we made our way there. We were able to connect with the birds, although they were quite distant. In addition to the Surf Scoters, we also observed a couple of thousand Common Scoters, two Velvet Scoters, and two Red-throated Divers.
Llandullas Beach
Leaving Llandullas Beach, we stopped at Kinmel Bay near Rhyl, where we soon found a female Black Redstart that showed really well, along with a Snow Bunting.
Black Redstart
Snow Bunting
It was a great day of birdwatching with some fantastic sightings.