Oystercatchers and one Herring gull on the shore at Craig-y-Don.
A Fulmar at its chosen nesting site on the quarry cliffs East of the Little Orme.
Grey seals in Porth Dyniewaid (Angel Bay) on our first visit.
"Are you looking bat me?"
A Grey seal close to shore in Penrhyn Bay.
Turnstones on the rock sea defences in Penrhyn Bay.
Looking towards the Clwydians from St Trillo's Chapel.
A few more Grey seals on the beach in Porth Dyniewaid (Angel Bay) on our second visit.
At the start of the climb up the incline to the upper quarry.
A ship in the Irish Sea with snow capped hills in the Lake District behind.
Snow on the Carneddau.
At the trig point on Little Orme Head.
Looking across Llandudno Bay to the Great Orme from Little Orme Head.
Walk stats: Distance: 8.7 miles. Climb: 975'.
Time: 4 hours 34 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.5 m.p.h. (2.7 m.p.h. on my newest GPS).
Group: Martyn, Sue and Michel and Ed.
We arrived at the Craig-y-Don start just as it stopped raining. On the cool side at 5 Celsius, but that was what we were expecting. The wind was only slight and it wasn't long before the warm sunshine made us feel inappropriately dressed in our Winter gear.
As a change on this occasion we left visiting trig point on Little Orme Head until the return journey, and instead went round the South side of the Little Orme to the Porth Dyniewaid (Angel Bay) quarry to look for seals.
I got it wrong, and we arrived at Porth Dyniewaid (Angel Bay) just before high tide . With very little beach exposed, there was little chance of seeing lots of seals. We did see about five grey seals , three on the beach and a couple in the bay. our trip to Porth Dyniewaid (Angel Bay) hadn't been a complete waste of time asnd seeing the Fulmars taking up nesting sites was a bonus.
The sun stayed with us all morning as far as Rhos Point, but unfortunately disappeared behind clouds as we sat down for lunch on the seats next to St. Trillo's Chapel.
The tide was still too far inn for us to entertain any hopes of walking along he beach, so we had to retrace our steps to Porth Dyniewaid (Angel Bay).
This time we did see more Grey seals, at least fifteen on the beach and about ten more in the water waiting for the tide to recede a little more before coming ashore.
As we reached the cliffs above the upper quarry, spent a good few minutes looking across the sea, first seeing ships sailing an the noticing that mountins covered in snow behind - thery could only be the Lake District Fells.
Arriving at the top of Little Orme Head, the view of the snow covered mountains of Snowdonia was much better being a little nearer.
All that was left now was to return to the Coastal Path and follow it back to the start at Craig-y-Don Paddling Pool.
Birds seen or heard today included: Herring gull, Black headed gull, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Common starling, House sparrow, Common blackbird, Collard dove, Woodpigeon, Great cormorant, Sonechat, Jackdaw, Carrion crow and Eurasian curlew.
Overall a very enjoyable walk, not a cold as we had expected and thankfully no more than a few minutes when it threatened to rain.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Britannia Inn at Halkyn, where the Lees Bitter was excellent. It's a pity that I don't appreciate the landlord's sense of humour/comments to customers.
We all agreed that climbing up the incline from the Porth Dyniewaid quarry is easier than descending as was the the path leading to the cliff tops above the upper quarry. A route well worth considering in the future.
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