Rhuddlan to Rhyl via Brickfield Pond NR 6th January 2024

 

Rhuddlan Castle as we crossed the Afon Clwyd.

It's nearly low tide, but there is still lots of fast flowing water heading to the estuary.

Evidence of some recent high tides on the Afon Clwyd.

Not many birds around at first, but at least we saw these Eurasian curlews.

At last a few more birds on the mud flats in the middle of the Afom Clwyd.

A Little egret resting in one of the fields.

A new notice and a new area to explore, but when everywhere hs dried out a bit!

The new path s leading to the Wildlife Oasis.

A Mutes swan on s Brickfield Pond NR.

A Wildlife and Pets Murial.

A different view of Pont y Draig (Dragon Bridge) at The Foryd, Rhyl.

The Foryd Road bridge from Pont Y Draig.

The beach at Th Foryd.

Th Great Orme from The Foryd.

Goosander on the Afon Clwyd.

A few more birds put in an appearance on the sand banks of the Afon Clwyd.

In the background are a few Wigeon on the Afon Clwyd.

Canada geese fly into the Afon Clwyd from a nerby field.

Moel Famau on the skyline.

The Clwydian Hills ahead.

Walk Stats:
Distance: 8.9 miles. Climb: 168’
Time: 4 hours 7 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.7 m.p.h.
Overall walk average: 2.2 m.p.h.
Temperature: 9.2 – 10.4 Celsius.
Beaufort Wind Force: 0-2. Mainly calm but in the morning it occasionally just made a 4.1 m.p.h. Light breeze.
The weather today was better than the forecast, the feel like 5 Celsius never materialised and we were able to enjoy the warmth of temperatures around 10 Celsius, feeling warmer than that at times.
Birds seen or heard today included: Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Common blackbird, Black billed magpie, Mallard, Great tit, Blue tit, Long tailed tit, Bullfinch, European robin, Common coot, Moorhen, Mute swan Tufted duck, Woodpigeon, Little egret, Eurasian curlew, Oystercatcher, Wigeon, Dunlin, Pied wagtail, Great cormorant, Goosander, Herring gull, Black headed gull, Dunnock, Stonechat, Goldfinch, Lapwing and Common chaffinch.
This walk was chosen as a good option to avoid getting muddy boots after all the rain that had fallen in our area over the last few days, especially if we avoided using the path on the west side of the river.
Lunch was taken at The Foryd where we took advantage of one of the many picnic tables by the harbour.
The surprise of the day was at Rhyl Marine Lake that looks as though it had been drained, supposedly to allow some maintenance to be done, but had now started to refill with rain water!
Overall an enjoyable walk, especially for me as I could do a bit of birdwatching at the same time. On my way to the start I was listening to a radio program and they started to discuss “pate”, and I decide that is exactly what I would have for my tea – what could be better than “Black pudding and Beer Pate” with a glass of Conwy Brewery’s California Ale!