We set off around 6am from Hartwell with a long drive ahead. By around 10am we arrived in Holyhead (Anglesey). We first of all had a look around the harbour for Black Guillemot. There were sadly none to be found, only several Shag and Gannet offshore (both yearticks).
After this, in the stunning sunshine we then headed for the RSPB's South Stack reserve nearby. Here, it wasn't too long before we had a couple of flyby Choughs, my first ones for years. The cliffs here held lots of Guillemots and Razorbills, as well as 3 distant Puffins down on the water. It was great to see a seabird colony as again this was something I hadn't seen for several years. There was a Raven on the cliffs predating eggs, 1-2 Rock Pipits, several Gannet and Fulmar going past.
We had a further wander along the cliffs in the hope of seeing better views of Chough. They were though proving to be quite difficult to see, only showing distantly and briefly. There were plenty of Stonechat about though, as well as several more Raven. Butterfly wise, we managed to see our first Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary.
Back by the visitor centre we managed to see 2 Chough on the ground feeding opposite the visitor centre, they showed well but were annoyingly obscured by fencing! We had our lunch and then headed back to Holyhead for one more shot at Black Guillemot.
Again there was no sign of the Black Guillemots. We did however find signs to the fish quay. Here we came across a bird tour minibus...this was looking more promising! It wasn't long before we were all watching a stunning summer plumaged Black Guillemot on water by the fish quay, fantastic! It was fairly distant but wasn't diving, so in fact showed quite well. Also off Holyhead there were 2 distant Red Breasted Merganser. The guy leading the minibus happened to be a leading North Wales birder and gave us some info on where to go next, legend!
We next headed for Llangollen not far from Wrexham. There were apparently a pair of Dipper nesting under a restaurant by the riverside there. On arrival it was clear these Dippers could be a bit more difficult due to the shear volume of people around with the weather being absolutely scorching. This was spot on..there was no sign of the Dippers, just a couple of Grey Wagtails bombing around. We didn't hang around too long before heading north to a minor road crossing 'World's End', a remote area of upland/moorland habitat. Using the directions of the birder back in Holyhead we managed to find our way up there. We parked up and had a bit of a wander around. It was scorching however quite windy and not too many birds were venturing out. We did see several Stonechat as well as one or two Lesser Redpoll. We got back into the car and gradually edged our way along the road stopping at regular intervals looking for Black Grouse, a speciality of the area.
Scanning around I managed to latch onto a distant Merlin flying rapidly across the moor. This area had a backdrop of pines and looked like particularly likely Black Grouse territory. Eventually 3 male Black Grouse flew across in front of the trees. I managed to get Dave onto one of them. Managed to watch them for about 20 seconds before they dropped down. Was well chuffed to see them, only the second time and seen them, though shame it wasn't more prolonged! Further along the road 5 Red Kites flew past and a nice pair of Whinchat were on show by the roadside. I then noticed to our right a large pale raptor in flight. We managed to screech to a halt and Dave had enough time to get it in his bins....a male Hen Harrier! Fantastic! We got out to try and see it a bit better but sadly it vanished over the brow of the hill never to be seen again, bugger! By this time it was getting on towards 7 o'clock and also had reached the end of this fabulous road. Our last bird was a very tame Wheatear by the roadside before leaving the Moor. After this we headed home via a chippy in Wrexham. Great day out and it was now time to nurse our sunburn!!
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