27th February

A much nicer day with wall to wall sunshine and lighter winds (which were still very chilly though); a walk round South Stack cliffs produced a Hooded Crow which flew north along the cliffs – my first ever out-of-range one I think, at least 8 Chough, 4 Stonechats and a Sparrowhawk.   I then went back to Cemlyn Bay for a better walk around in the improved conditions where birds included the 2 Long-tailed Ducks, 160 Wigeon, 4 Little Egrets, 13 Purple Sandpipers, 8 Grey Plover, a Sparrowhawk and 6 Stonechats.

Chough

Hooded Crow

Stonechat

26th February

Very windy and cold but some good spells of bright sunshine; spent some time at Cemlyn Bay but it was difficult in the strong winds although a stream of Kittiwakes and Auks were moving close in to the headland as a result.   Other birds included an adult Mediterranean Gull on the lagoon along with 2 Long-tailed Ducks, a Greenshank, 11 Shoveler, 4 Red-breasted Mergansers, 9 Goldeneye, 3 Grey Plover and a Little Egret.

Kittiwake

Auks

Shag

More Auks

25th February

A surprisingly nice day with lighter winds and some bright spells; first stop in the morning was Penrhos Coastal Park where an adult Mediterranean Gull on the beach by the carpark was the highlight before a scan of some floodwater along the A5 at Valley produced 4 Black-tailed Godwits and 35 Shoveler along with plenty of Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Wigeon etc.   A look at the mouth of the River Alaw (spotted from across the water at Penrhos as a likely site!) then produced an adult male Peregrine which missed a Bar-tailed Godwit out over the water by inches and a good total of 205 Pale-bellied Brent Geese.   A random drive around was then highlighted by another adult Mediterranean Gull in fields by Trearddur Bay and a smart adult male Sparrowhawk at Roscolyn Bay.

Mediterranean Gull

Peregrine action

More Pale-bellied Brent Geese

24th February

Inevitably still very windy but a bit brighter in the afternoon than it has been with a walk around Lligwy Bay up to Dulas Bay late morning producing two Black Guillemots offshore and a few waders roosting in fields at high tide including a single Sanderling with 224 Dunlin and 33 Ringed Plover.   A productive little look at Red Wharf Bay on the dropping tide then produced brilliant views of the male Snow Bunting which has been lingering here, a good total of 51 Pale-bellied Brent Geese (including three darvic ringed birds), a single Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 2 Greenshank, 3 Little Egrets and 80+ Wigeon.

Snow Bunting

Greenshank

Dark-bellied Brent Goose in with the pale-bellies

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

23rd February

Still very windy with frequent, nasty showers sweeping through; walked round Penmon Point in the morning, there was nothing too startling but there were loads of birds off the point with hundreds of Guillemots and Razorbills along with Kittiwakes, Shags, Red-throated Divers and blizzards of Herring Gulls starting to think about the upcoming breeding season, 4 Purple Sandpipers on the beach with Turnstone and the peculiar highlight of two Bullfinches coming in off, across the sea (separately, with about 20 minutes between them), they were only coming from Puffin Island but still, it was rough weather for a sea crossing, even a short one!   Two Chough in fields along the approach road were a year tick.

Turnstone coming in

Turnstone and Purple Sandpipers

Summer and winter Guillemot comparison

Guillemot and Razorbill comparison

Bullfinch in off (looking forward to some proper spring migration!)

Lesser Black-backed Gull

22nd February

Nicer than the previous couple of days – dry at least although we kept the very strong westerly wind and a look at Maltraeth Cob Pool with a bit of a walk up the River Cefni produced a good total of 203 Pintail on the pool along with 4 Black-tailed Godwits, a Little Egret, a Merlin over the fields, plenty of Ravens going over, heading to roost in Newborough Forest, 2 Mistle Thrush and a Bullfinch.

Pintail

Raven

Bullfinch