A Rather Blustery Day in North Wales

I had another trip to the seaside today with Purple Sandpipers as my main target species.  These hardy little winter visitors from the Arctic visit Rhos Point at Rhos-on-Sea each year and the best time to see them is at high tide when they are roosting on the breakwater rocks along the shoreline.

I'd managed to get some shots of Purple Sandpipers last month at New Brighton, but they were roosting on the marina pontoons and this is hardly a natural setting, so I was looking for better natural habitat for my photos today.

As can be seen and heard in the video, it was blowing a gale whilst I was there and this made taking photographs and video very difficult - despite using a heavy tripod and gimbal system, I couldn't really keep the camera steady.
 

At first I struggled to find these birds, and when I thought I had spotted one it turned out to be a dark Dunlin.  But with a bit of perseverance walking up and down the promenade, I eventually spotted one bird feeding on the rocks and then later a group of four roosting.

Other birds present included Turnstones and Ringed Plovers as well as the ubiquitous Oystercatchers.  I did think I might have seen some Twite feeding on the beach, but they turned out to be Linnets.

 

Unfortunately this is not a Twite as I first thought, it's a Linnet.

Later I went on to RSPB Conwy a little further up the coast as I'd heard that a male Hen Harrier had been seen in recent days.  I did get a very brief glimpse of it and took the worst record shot in the world!

There was also a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers in front of one of the hides - here's some shots of the male.

And this female Scaup was also present in the deeper water, along with some Pochards.

And finally, this little Robin came incredibly close, but then Robins do, don't they?