Anglesey and Conwy Birds

Sorry, the formatting of the post is a mess and the pictures are mixed up at the moment, but I'm working on it.

Sarah and I took a short Wedding Anniversary trip to Anglesey last week to do a spot of birdwatching and geocaching (see my other blog here) - sad aren't we?  Anyway, this post includes some of the better pictures I took (although none are that great) mainly at South Stack Lighthouse and the RSPB Reserve at Conwy.

On our way down to Anglesey we stopped off at the beautiful Bodnant Gardens to have a look a the Larburnum arch in full June bloom.  I just had to include a piccie of it here and can thoroughly recommend a visit if you are in the area.

At the entrance to Bodnant we were greeted by this peacock:

Peacock outside Bodnant entrance

Who's a pretty boy then?

The Laburnum Arch at Bodnant Gardens

We stayed at a very pleasant B&B with a lovely big garden run by a couple who by coincidence had more than a passing interest in birds too.  As we sat having breakfast looking out on to the garden a nuthatch and great spotted woodpecker were pecking away on the feeders and there were frequent visits from greenfinch, blue tits, great tits and a robin.  Unfortunately, when I returned with my camera after breakfast, most of them had disappeared!

A robin in the B&B garden

We spent the first day at South Stack and the first birds we saw were the ubiquitous razorbills, guillemots and various types of gull.  I was quite disappointed that even with my 500mm zoom lens I couldn't get any real closeup pictures from the viewing point at Ellin's Tower.  Here are some of the better pictures I took:

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Next we went down the steps towards South Stack Lighthouse, and here we had our first very brief glimpses of some Puffins, but not good enough to photograph.

The best photographs I took at South Stack were actually of a Chough which fortuitously landed right in front of me as I was looking for Puffins - however none of these are perfect as it took me by surprise and kept moving about.

Chough at South Stack

After our day out at South Stack we did some geocaching in the Rhoscolyn area and in the evening went to Conwy for a free guided walk round the RSPB reserve there.  Here are some of the better photographs from the informal tour:

Canada Geese

Swans with their cygnet

The following day we did some more geocaching on Anglesey and whilst we were out and about I took these photographs:

Song Thrush battering a snail

Greylag Geese on Afon Braint

An Oystercatcher on the Menai mudflats

Carrion Crow on the Menai mudflats

Although I was a little disappointed with the overall quality of my photographs, it didn't matter too much as we'd had a great few days in the Anglesey and Conwy.  No doubt we'll be back.