Birding in North Wales

I was recently staying at the Youth Hostel in Conwy, North Wales, the weather was on our side with bright sun and temperatures reaching 15c.

Above is my favourite photo from the trip - a male Linnet in the sand dunes on RSPB Point of Ayr, Dee Estuary. 

RSPB Point of Ayr is a fantastic nature reserve with sand dunes, beach, saltmarsh and reedbed. There were many Meadow Pipits (Anthus pratensis) flitting about in the dunes singing as they flew; this one perched really close by on a Evening Primrose stem.

Distinguishing Meadow Pipits and Skylarks (Alauda arvensis) can be quite tricky though there are some ways you can tell them apart, the most reliable way is the size; Meadow Pipits are quite a bit smaller than Skylarks which are taller and have a longer body. 

Skylarks have a crest (which is sometimes not visible) and although plumage is quite similar they are usually lighter.

Here's a Skylark for comparison and you can see it has its crest raised.

Sadly, the UK Skylark population has declined 75% since 1972. RSPB states that the main cause of this is the widespread switch from spring to autumn-sown cereal crops which has resulted in a dramatic decline in chicks raised each year.

Unless our farming practice changes soon, we may not continue to hear the Skylarks wonderful song.

Just a short walk away from the Youth Hostel is Conwy Mountain. One evening I walked to the summit and was rewarded with fantastic views of the Great and Little Ormes, the North Sea and Anglesey. This Raven flew in and perched on a rock right above Conwy making a nice environmental portrait as it ruffled its feathers.

Walking down from the summit on one of the small paths, I heard a flock of Long Tailed Tits flitting about in a clump of gorse. Stopping to have a closer look, one came and perched, with some nesting material it had collected. Unlike most Long Tailed tits I see, which flit from tree to tree very quickly, this one didn't seem to be moving on, so I had a closer look in the gorse bush and... yes! There was a Long Tailed tit nest, my first one ever. 

They are amazing and beautiful constructions; the LTT collects moss and lichen to cover it and even gathers spider-webs to bind the whole structure together, allowing the nest to expand as the chicks grow. 

"You miss so much when your looking at your own reflection..."!

Here's the previous photobombing Little Grebe trying to catch a fly!

I heard the distinctive call of a Little Egret behind me and turned to see 2 flying down the estuary with Conwy Castle in the background.