On 7th May 2022, I visited the following sites:
World's End and the Ruabon Moors, Denbighshire
Nant Ffrancon in the Snowdonia National Park, Gwynedd
RSPB South Stack and Holyhead Harbour, Anglesey
World's End is a narrow vale located between Wrexham and Llangollen. It lies at the head of the Eglwyseg Valley enclosed by the cliffs of Craig y Forwyn, Craig y Cythraul and Craig yr Adar. A remote 11 mile single track road with panoramic views between the small village of Minera and Llangollen crosses Esclusham Mountain and the Ruabon Moors to a public car park at the top of the Eglwyseg valley.
Photo: World's End
I have visited World's End many times and it is an exceptionally good site for upland birds including a well-known Black Grouse lek.
I arrived at the Black Grouse lek at 5:35 a.m. and noisy displaying male birds were already evident. I spent around 1.5 hours here watching and photographing the birds from my car in order to avoid any disturbance.
The highlights, amongst 30 species recorded during my visit and from the road between Minera and Llangollen, were as follows (heard only records in italics): Black Grouse (12 males at the lek and 2 other males seen further south), Red Grouse (7 plus at least 8 calling males heard), Wheatear (12), Whinchat (3 males), Stonechat (1 pair, 2 males and 1 female), Common Redstart (1 singing male), Grasshopper Warbler (2 “reeling” males), Common Whitethroat (1 singing male), Wood Warbler (1 singing male), Willow Warbler (3 singing males), Chiffchaff (6 singing males), Blackcap (1 singing male), Cuckoo (4 calling males), Swallow (1), Reed Bunting (1 male), Skylark (2), Meadow Pipit (c.20), Mistle Thrush (1), Linnet (2), Siskin (1), Canada Goose (2)
Additions to my 2022 year list: Black Grouse, Red Grouse, Wheatear, Whinchat, Common Redstart, Mistle Thrush
This was an excellent start to my trip on a beautiful sunny morning surrounded by the sound of bird song.
Nant Ffrancon is located between Bethesda and Llyn Ogwen. It contains the A5 Holyhead to London trunk road, which was re-engineered by Thomas Telford between 1810 and 1826, but a parallel minor single track road also provides access to some very good habitat for upland birds. Nant Ffrancon itself is a steep-sided glacial valley dropping to Bethesda between the Glyderau and Carneddau mountains of Snowdonia.
Nant Ffrancon is a site that I have visited several times although this time it was not as productive as on previous occasions.
However, the highlights, amongst 15 species recorded during my visit, were as follows (heard only records in italics): Wheatear (2), Common Redstart (1 male), Cuckoo (2 plus 2 other calling males heard), Willow Warbler (5 singing males), Swallow (1), Mistle Thrush (1 singing male), Meadow Pipit (c.5)
Unfortunately, I failed to see either Ring Ousel or Twite, both of which I have recorded during some previous visits.
Photo: Nant Ffrancon in the Snowdonia National Park
Having spent so long at World's End, I aborted my planned visit to RSPB Conwy on the north coast (which in hindsight would have added several species to my trip list) and headed straight for Anglesey.
I initially visited Holyhead harbour, not the most scenic birding location, but an almost guaranteed site for Black Guillemot and certainly much nearer to home than the west and north coast of Scotland. I managed to locate this species very easily and saw 4 birds.
I then visited RSPB South Stack, a site that I visit most years for its wonderful scenery, its seabird colony and its most notable species, the Chough.
The highlights, amongst 14 species recorded during my visit, were as follows: Chough (1), Guillemot (+++), Razorbill (+), Herring Gull (++), Lesser Black-backed Gull (++), Raven (1), Rock Pipit (1), Linnet (3)
Additions to my 2022 year list: Chough, Guillemot, Razorbill, Raven, Rock Pipit
The major disappointment was not seeing any Puffins. Although this auk breeds in small numbers at RSPB South Stack, it is usually fairly easy to locate a few birds at the base of the cliffs amongst the rafts of Guillemots and Razorbills. Seeing just a single Chough was also disappointing since I normally record around 5 and up to 20+ birds during most visits.
After leaving RSPB South Stack, I drove for around 2.5 hours to my campsite …. Edens Nook near Llangadfan and 3 miles from RSPB Lake Vyrnwy. Before arriving at the campsite, I saw a singing male Tree Pipit at nearby Pen y Fford in the Dyfnant Forest, an addition to my 2022 year list.
Edens Nook is a campsite comprising a small field surrounded by hedges and woodland plus shower, toilet and cooking facilities and costing £15 per night. I received a warm welcome from Jayne who showed me around and told me about the wildlife that they had managed to attract to the site since acquiring it. It is a very quiet and peaceful site with an abundance of birds. I was the only person camping there other than 2 others who arrived together.
Campsite records (heard only records in italics): Wood Warbler (1 singing male), Willow Warbler (2 singing males plus another singing male heard), Blackcap (1 singing male), Chiffchaff (2 singing males), Tree Pipit (2 singing males), Swallow (1), Siskin (c.5), Goldcrest (1 singing male), Nuthatch (1 calling male), Great Spotted Woodpecker (1), Marsh Tit (2), Mistle Thrush (2), Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Pheasant
💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
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