A Visit To Anglesey

The island of Anglesey, particularly the cliffs at South Stack RSPB reserve, is always worth a visit and the Birdwatching Group has frequently made a coach trip here. During the spring and summer months the cliffs are home to large colonies of breeding auks and seabirds while local specialities such as chough and peregrine also breed. So when I heard that the peregrines had nested right in front of the public viewing area I just had to go along to see for myself.

[click on a photo for a larger view]

01%20Anglesey%20%28005%29%20South%20Stack%20in%20the%20mist_w.JPG

It was mid May and a bright sunny morning when I set off. However as I drove up the approach road towards the reserve I could see a thick mist rolling over the top of the hill. Difficult to see in the photo, the eyrie is on a small grassy ledge in the bottom right.

02%20Anglesey%20%28000%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG

Peregrine chick. It is not in the nest, that is off the photo to the right.

03%20Anglesey%20%28001%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG

It is quite well developed and its adult feathers are coming through.

04%20Anglesey%20%28006%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG

Some wing stretching.

10%20Anglesey%20%28021%29%20Chough%20pair_w.JPG

A pair of chough were foraging on the cliff edge above the eyrie.

11%20Anglesey%20%28011%29%20Chough_w.JPG

Probing in the soil.

12%20Anglesey%20%28019%29%20Chough_w.JPG
13%20Anglesey%20%28025%29%20Chough_w.JPG

Note the leg rings.

21%20Anglesey%20%28029%29%20Peregrine_w.JPG

One of the adults, further along the cliff. Having a nibble at some food.

20%20Anglesey%20%28034%29%20Peregrine_w.JPG
19%20Anglesey%20%28009%29%20Peregrine_w.JPG
22%20Anglesey%20%28038%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG

The chick is frequently calling for the parents.

23%20Anglesey%20%28039%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG

More wing stretching.

24%20Anglesey%20%28042%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG

A good view of the emerging feathers.

25%20Anglesey%20%28046%29%20Peregrine_w.JPG

The adult is content to sit in the sun.

26%20Anglesey%20%28055%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG

The chick is now in the full glare of the sun and pants a lot to keep cool.

27%20Anglesey%20%28058%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG
28%20Anglesey%20%28059%29%20Peregrine%20and%20chick_w.JPG

Eventually one of the adults flew in to the nest.

29%20Anglesey%20%28060%29%20Peregrine%20and%20chick_w.JPG
30%20Anglesey%20%28062b%29%20Peregrine%20chick%20begging_w.JPG

The chick is begging for food.

31%20Anglesey%20%28062c%29%20Peregrine%20adult_w.JPG

However, the adult doesn't appear to have brought any food.

32%20Anglesey%20%28066%29%20Peregrine_w.JPG

The adult poses at the nest. Click! and the job is done.

33%20Anglesey%20%28068%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG

Back to wing stretching for the chick.

34%20Anglesey%20%28070%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG
35%20Anglesey%20%28079%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG
36%20Anglesey%20%28080%29%20Peregrine_w.JPG

At least one adult was always present to keep an eye on the chick.

37%20Anglesey%20%28111%29%20Peregrine_w.JPG
38%20Anglesey%20%28256%29%20Peregrine%20chick_w.JPG

The chick is now sitting beside the nest. If you look carefully you can see an unhatched egg.

50%20Anglesey%20%28087%29%20South%20Stack_w.JPG

The view of South Stack cliffs now that the mist has gone.

51%20Anglesey%20%28109%29%20Crowd_w.JPG

Some of the crowd at the viewpoint.

52%20Anglesey%20%28270%29%20Viewpoint_w.JPG

The viewpoint from another angle. The cafe is in the background.

53%20Anglesey%20%28245%29%20Guillemot%20colony_w.JPG

The auk colony.

54%20Anglesey%20%28248%29%20Guillemots_w.JPG

Guillemots on the ledges.

55%20Anglesey%20%28251%29%20Grey%20Seal_w.JPG

Grey seals could be seen swimming past the cliffs.

56%20Anglesey%20%28260%29%20Lesser%20Black-backed%20Gull_w.JPG

Lesser black-backed gull. The adult peregrines occasionally had to chase them and herring gulls away from the eyrie.

60%20Anglesey%20%28093%29%20Foxglove_w.JPG

The South Stack hillside.

61%20Anglesey%20%28098%29%20Barn%20Swallow_w.JPG

Barn swallow sitting on the wire.

62%20Anglesey%20%28105%29%20Badger_w.JPG

This badger was lying on the hillside. I don't think it was sunbathing, I think it was dead!

63%20Anglesey%20%28229%29%20Magpie_w.JPG

Magpies forage round the cafe area. They are not just black and white, look at the blue on the wings.

64%20Anglesey%20%28233%29%20Magpie_w.JPG

A more typical black and white view.

70%20Anglesey%20%28145%29%20Cemlyn%20Bay_w.JPG

Cemlyn Bay, on way to the tern colony.

71%20Anglesey%20%28137%29%20Oystercatchers_w.JPG

This pair of oystercatchers was in the field by the car park.

72%20Anglesey%20%28140%29%20Oystercatcher_w.JPG
73%20Anglesey%20%28143%29%20Oystercatcher_w.JPG

The feathers are being blown by the wind.

74%20Anglesey%20%28155%29%20Red-breasted%20merganser_w.JPG

Red-breasted merganser. This is a male coming in to drab eclipse plummage. He has mostly lost his green head and red breast.

75%20Anglesey%20%28158%29%20Red-breasted%20merganser_w.JPG

Time for a spot of bathing.

80%20Anglesey%20%28163%29%20Sandwich%20Terns%20bathing_w.JPG

The sandwich terns also enjoy bathing.

81%20Anglesey%20%28166%29%20Sandwich%20Terns_w.JPG

Part of the sandwich tern colony. They seemed to prefer nesting in the long grass.

83%20Anglesey%20%28177%29%20Sandwich%20Tern_w.JPG

A sandwich tern. Note the shaggy crest, black bill with yellow tip, and black legs. It is the largest tern breeding here.

84%20Anglesey%20%28184%29%20Common%20Tern_w.JPG

A common tern. Smaller, it has a red bill with black tip and red legs.

85%20Anglesey%20%28173%29%20Common%20Tern_w.JPG

Common tern

86%20Anglesey%20%28192b%29%20Common%20Terns_w.JPG

A pair of common terns share a fish. Courtship and pair-bonding behaviour.

87%20Anglesey%20%28200%29%20Common%20Terns_w.JPG

Looks like the male is getting some earache from the female! You can see the nest and eggs behind the right hand bird.

88%20Anglesey%20%28220b%29%20Arctic%20Tern_w.JPG

Arctic tern. Only a small number present. The bill is darker and lacks the black tip.

90%20Anglesey%20%28215%29%20Black-headed%20Gull%20chicks_w.JPG

As well as the terns there is a large black-headed gull colony here as well. There were many large gull chicks present. I couldn't see any tern chicks. The terns were still on eggs or at the courtship stage. This is reasonable since the gulls are resident while the terns are summer visitors.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License