Sunday 14 October 2012

South Stack and the Menai Strait

I have really enjoyed this weekend away as I have enjoyed playing with my friends and of course birdwatching. Having a field next to the cottage meant my friends and I got to jump on top of the bales.


Due to all the rain we have had, the river has next to the cottage was flowing really fast. The are high mud banks further down the river which are perfect for Kingfishers, but I never even got a glimps of one.


The first full day of the holiday was when I visited South Stack and unfortunately, because the colonies of birds have pretty much finished breeding, the cliff ledges were empty.


The views were as spectacular as ever though. I did see a Meadow Pipit and a grassy field full of Oyster Catchers.


The one bird that was good that I did see was the rarest bird in the crow family in this country, a Chough. Richard, I did look in the fields off the minor road, but they weren't there. There were quite a few flying over the cliffs though.


Here is a picture of the view from the top of South Stack, a great shot for Sky Watch Friday.


After SouthStack I visited the Menai Straits where I saw loads (mostly Ostercatchers) of waders such as Curlews, 1 Whimbrel, a single Redshank, plenty of Litttle Egrets and other stuff as well (which I will mention in my blog tommorow).


As you can see in this picture the Oyster catcher had caught a mussel. Oyster Catchers are my Dad's favourite birds.


There were some lovely little bays near South Stack.


 And the after a warm sunny day, I was very surprised in the night when it was white over!!!!!!!!!!  


RSPB Conwy Nature Reserve blog to follow tomorrow. A brilliant weekend.


18 comments:

  1. Birds aside, the view from the top of South Stack is excellent Findlay, and what a surprise for you with some early snow in the night.

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  2. Hi Findlay..what spectacular place and photos...I think they are all great! I do have a favorite..the South Stack...so sorry you didn't get to see any birds there though!!
    What a nice treat to have you share some of your holiday with us!
    Grace

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  3. Wow! Findlay I didn't expect to see snow yet. South Stack is a great place to visit in spring when the cliff birds are raising their young.

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  4. Sounds like you're having a great time.
    Just a little envious lol
    A fantastic place to visit.

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  5. Wonderful post and fantastic photography ~ love ocean and birds and was that snow? ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^

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  6. I can see you had a lovely time Findlay, it all sounded like great fun and looked a very interesting place. You certainly saw some good birds.

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  7. I forgot to say the photos were all lovely too!

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  8. Fantastic captures, Findlay, such incredibly beautiful skies and birds! Thanks for encouraging your Mom to join us! She had some great shots, too!! Have a fun weekend!

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  9. A lovely sky-post. A lot of details in every photo!

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  10. Some great landscape shots there. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  11. Beautiful pictures.... ohhh but that snow... its coming too soon....

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  12. Snow?!

    What spectacular shots of this dramatic scenery!

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  13. Lovely shots. Happy sky watching.

    Skywatch

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  14. Really beautiful scenery shots, I especially love the haystacks, light house and glimmer of sunlight on the water in the view from South Stack! And the birds - I'd never heard of an Oyster Catcher, but they're a very handsome critter and I can see why they'd be your dad's favorite bird (probably not an opinion shared by the oysters, however!)

    I can commiserate with your snow, we've had our first snowfall here too, also right after a warm, sunny day! I don't mind the snow, but it's a bit rude when it arrives like that!

    I love the name of your blog, btw... very clever!

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  15. Beautiful sky, and lots of lovely birds :)

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