Wylfa and Cemlyn 12th May 2012

One of the bays West of the Wylfa Power Station.

Heading for Cemlyn Bay.

Nesting Sandwich Terns on the islands in Cemlyn Lagoon.

Red-breasted mergansers on the sea at Porth -y-pystyll.

Ravens on the rocks near Porth-y-pystyll.

One of the many Wheatears seen on the coast today.

Caterpillars of the Lackey Moth striving to get out of their silk tent.

Walks stats: Distance: 8.4 miles. Climb: 788'.

Time: 5 hours 21 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.2 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Mike and Celia.

This was a perfect day for walking, sunshine all day, but not too hot. In the main the gentle wind kept me cool and others a little too cool!
It's always good to walk along the coast, and today was no exception. Blue skies and sea, what more could you want!
The walk was a little shorter than usual, but Mike had to get back earlier than he had anticipated, his world record breaking daughter was coming home, but hadn't lost her key to let herself in!
We didn't see many people to talk to on this walk, until near the end where we me two young men who were walking a route for runners later in the year. The route was to run the entire coast around Anglesey, including Holy Island in three days. We declined the offer to participate!
We had lunch at Hen Borth, just before turning in land and back to the Cemlyn Lagoon.  This proved a delightful spot to stop, sheltered from the wind and still in the sunshine.  We even saw a White wagtail while we were having lunch.
This was a day for swallows, I think we were accompanied by them on the entire walk.  We must have seen hundreds of them!
The highlight of the day was the colony of Sandwich terns on the islands in the Cemlyn Lagoon, although seeing twenty or more Wheatear and at least Red-breasted merganser was good too.
Birds seen or heard today included: Chiffchaff, Willow warbler, Reed bunting, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Barn swallow, House martin, Winter wren, Common blackbird, Greylag goose, Canada goose, Curlew, Pied wagtail, White wagtail Wheatear, Common buzzard, Black-headed gull, Herring gull, Lesser black-backed gull, Great spotted woodpecker, Song thrush, Greater black-backed gull, Common tern, Sandwich tern, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Ringed plover, Wheater, House sparrow, Raven, Black-billed magpie, Meadow pipit, Skylark, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Red-breasted merganser, Mute swan, House sparrow, Shelduck and Mallard.
We also saw a Rabbit and a Brown hare and quite a few Bluebells on the coast and not just in the woods near the power station.
After walk drinks as usual were enjoyed at the Britannia Inn.

The Alyn Valley, Coed Ddu and and Around Moel Plas-yw 10th May 2012

"We're big girls now!"

Our Mam says "Neigh cast a clout before May's out".

The approach to the Alyn Valley.

Wild garlic and Bluebells on the descent to the Alyn Valley.

Young bullocks running towards the front runners in in the group.

Walk stats:Distance: 9.7 miles. Climb: 1605'.

Time: 5 hours 9 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.3 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.9.m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Phil, Sylvia and Dave J.

Numbers down again, some on Grandparent duty, some even on holiday, some with ailments and some with no excuse at all!

Five of us set off, hoping that the weather forecast would be right and that it would be mainly cloudy, warm and with a bit of luck no rain.  In fact we did better than that, we even had quite a bit of sunshine and no rain of any note.

This wasn't a walk for magnificent views, although we did get some good views of the Clwydian hills around Moel Fammau.

One surprising observation on today's walk was the fact Bluebells were everwhere, not just in the woods, but on the banks below the hedges along the roads that we walked. Perhaps we should include this as one of our annual Bluebell  wood walks.

The evidence of Spring flowers was also a delightful, as well as Bluebells standing out, some of the woods had masses of Wild garlic in flower too.

Lunch was taken in Coed Ddu, surrounded by  Bluebells, well at least a few!

We set off, and once again we didn't quite get it right, but manged to take a path that led directly to where we wanted to be!

On this occasion as we entered the wood on Moel Evan, we decided to take the path that contoured around its slope, a good choice as it meant that we didn't lose height on our way to the track around Moel Plas-yw.

Birds seen or heard today included: Barn swallow, Common pheasant, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Carrion crow, Common blackbird, Chiffchaff, Willow warbler, Meadow pipit, Skylark, Common buzzard, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Winter wren and Jackdaw.

After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Britannia Inn at Halkyn, where the hospitality as usual was welcoming and the Lees bitter in good nick!

Overall a good walk, just about right for us, well me really!

The Little Orme 7th May 2012

At the trig point on the Little Orme.

The Great Orme from the Little Orme.

At the trig point on the Little Orme.

Llandudno and the Great Orme as we approached the boating lake at Craig-y-Don.

Walk stats: Distance: 6.4 miles. Climb: 846'.

Time: 4 hours 4 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.1 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Mike, Tim, Fran and Tito.

Anyone who had listened to the weather forecast today, and believed what they said, would have stayed at home, but they made the wrong decision. Not only did they miss out on a walk completed entirely without rain, other than a few spots, they missed out on the treat of the day, Margaret Smith's Welsh cakes.

As ever the views from the top of the Little Orme were superb, but looking out to sea we didn't see a single seal.  Apparently February to April is a better time to see them. Perhaps I'll have to think about putting the Little Orme walk at least once a month during that period!
The only disappointment was the fact that the tide was in, and we couldn't walk along the beach.
Lunch was taken on the beach opposite the Rhos-on Sea Golf Course at a point where the groyne had been constructed seaward. We were fortunate enough to see several Wheatears on the rocks around the groyne..
We arrived back at the car, by now in glorious sunshine, having had a very enjoyable Bank Holiday stroll beside the sea.
Birds seen or heard today: Common tern, Herring gull, Jackdaw, Great cormorant, House sparrow, Greenfinch, Pied wagtail, Mute swan, Woodpigeon, Wheatear, Common blackbird, Dunnock, Winter wren, Chaffinch, Shag, Barn swallow and Guillemot.
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Britannia Inn, Halkyn, where the Lees bitter revived those that needed it!

Birds Seen on Walks In April 2012

Birds Seen on Walks in April 2012

Barn swallow, Black-billed magpie, Blackcap, Blue tit, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff,Coal tit, Common blackbird, Common buzzard, Common pheasant, Common redshank, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dipper,Dunnock, Eurasian jay, European robin, Fieldfare,Goldfinch, Goosander,Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Grey wagtail, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser black-backed gull, Linnet, Little owl, Mallard, Mandarin, Meadow pipit, Mistle thrush, Mute swan, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Peregrine falcon,Pied flycatcher, Pied wagtail, Raven, Red-billed chough, Redstart, Rook, Shelduck, Skylark, Song thrush, Stonechat, Tufted duck, Wheatear, Willow warbler, Winter wren, Woodpigeon and Yellowhammer.


Total: 58

The Lawley and Caer Caradoc 5th May 2012

Our first view of Caer Carradoc.

Our first view of the Lawley.

At the top of  The Lawley.

At the top of Caer Caradoc.

A Yellowhammer, noy quite the bird of the day.

The bird of the day, an Osprey, but you will need to use yor imagination a bit!

Walk stats: Distance: 10.7 miles. Climb: 2142'.

Time: 6 hours 30 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.1 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Mike and Dave J.

A good day for walking, no rain, a little on the cool side at times and ending in warm sunshine. Only the last half an hour was really shorts weather, so I wasn't too disappointed that I had decided not to opt for shorts!

Not a good start for Roger, he'd forgotton his flask of tea and found the zip on his gaiters had got stuck!

As we skirted along the Southern side of Caer Caradoc, a couple of walkers shouted across to us to ask if we were hoping to see the Bluebells which were at there best on the Southern / Eastern side of Helmeth Hill. Even from where we were it was a magnificent display.

Just as we were aproaching the path that led towards Caer Caradoc, we had our first sighting of a Red kite, which on most occasions would have been the bird of the day, but that was to be reserved for a bird that we saw later on in the day.

As we emerged from the wood on Hoar Edge, we were surprised to see about 50 Ravens  in the air, but even that wasn't the highlight of the day.

As we headed North east up the path leading to the ridge of The Lawley, we saw our first Common swift of the year on our walks.

Lunch was taken just South west of the summit of The Lawley.

We decided to by-pas Little Caradoc and head for Caer Caradoc ridge by taking the path to the col between Little Caradoc and Caer Caradoc. Thankfully we did, as Dave and I had superb views of a pair of Yellowhammers that we watched for several minutes.

After crossing the hillfort on Caer Caradoc, we dropped down to the track on the Eastern side. After joining the path that came from the Southern end of Caer Caradoc, Dave convinced us that w need ed to take the path on the East side of the the stream, but this wasn't the path that we should have been on! At this point we soon emerged into bright and warm sunshine, time for another shirt change when I spotted a Grey wagtail flying East. We all looked to see if we could see it again, when we spotted a large bird perched on a branch at the top of a dead tree. When viewed through binoculars this turned out to be an Osprey enjoying a catch, presumably a fish from the fisheries just below. We managed to get superb views of the bird as it occasionally looked up from its meal, giving us more of a sideways on view.  So the bird of the day was obviously the Osprey, even better than a Dotterel that we had hoped we might see!

Birds seen or heard today included: Osprey, Red kite, Common buzzard, Common blackbird, Greenfinch, Redstart, Willow warbler, Raven, Jackdaw, Common crow, Grey wagtail, Pied wagtail, Meadow pipit, Common swift, Barn swallow, Chiffchaff, Yellowhammer, Blue tit, Great tit, House sparrow, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch. Long-tailed tit, Mallard, Moorhen, Rook and Collared dove. We also saw a Pintail, Crested pochard and a Garganey, but these were obviously birds that were part of a wildfowl collection.

After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Buck's Head in Church Stretton, where Marston's "me duck" went down well.

Maen Achwyfan, Llyn Helyg and Crown Bach Wood 3rd May 2012

"Is that our group?"

Bluebells in a newly planted wood East of Bryn-digrif.

Maen Achwyfan - is anyone interested?

Llyn Helyg.

Bluebells in the wood around Llyn Helyg.

Walking in the wood around Llyn Helyg, for the second time on this section!

Walk stats: Distance: 9.9 miles. Climb: 567'.

Time: 5 hours 34 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.2 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Roger, Phil, Tim, Celia, Paul, Sylvia and Dave J.

This turned out to be almost a perfect day for walking, not too hot and not too cold, and no rain - definitely shorts weather, and thankfully one or two of us had made the righjt descision!

We set off at a cracking pace, but by the end I managed to slow them down to a more leisurely pace, after all it wasn't a race!

Lunch was taken at the Western end of Llyn Helyg, where fallen/felled trees provided just enough dry seating for everyone.

Our planned excursion into Crown Bach and Crown Wood didn't prove a good option, we became blocked by a stream which was too wide and too deep to cross, and we even lost Roger. We even ignored his whistles for help! Shamefully we hadn't noticed he wasn't with us, but thankfully the stream that we couldn't cross made us retrace our steps and thankfully we found him again!

The next section across the fields from Crown Bach Woods was very wet, and we were lucky if we kept our feet dry.

After that everything was fine, even negotiating the former nursery, alas no orchid this time!

Overall this proved to be a good walk, just about the right length, but failed in that we arrived back at Whitford just as bell signalled the end of the school day at the Primary School!

Birds seen or heard today included: Shelduck, Canada goose, Blackcap, Common pheasant, House sparrow, Barn swallow, Linnet, Goldfinch, House martin, Common coot, Mute swan, Mallard, Mistle thrush, Sparrowhawk, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Common buzzard, Blue tit, Great tit, Chaffinch, Chiffhaff, Willow warbler, Treecreeper, Black-billed magpie, Rook,  Common blackbird, Greenfinch, Winter wren, Skylark, Collared dove, Woodpigeon, Common blackbird and Common coot.

After walk drinks were enjoyed  at the Britannia Inn at Halkyn, where the Lees bitter went down well, but the background music on the radio wasn't acceptable to everyone!

Pendle Hill 1st May 2012

Pendle Hill from North West of Downham.

Our final approach to the Scout Cairn end of the plateau.

The descent along the track to Pendle House.

Our descent of Pendle Hill from our lunch spot.

Dave alongside one of the many guide posts across Great Coppy and Pendle Hill End.

Walk stats: Distance: 8.3 miles. Climb: 2875'.

Time: 6 hours 1 minute. On the move walking average: 2.0 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.7 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn and Dave J.

As we were about to set off from the car park, we got talking with a walker that had just returned from the summit of Pendle Hill, and he informed us that he had seen two Dotterels in the usual place South-west of the trig point. This encouraged us to continue optimistically, despite his warning that really was very unpleasant conditions on top.  Although we didn't get the rain that he experienced, the height gained on the GPS was probably winded assisted, but it did reflect the amount of effort that we had to put in to battle against the fierce wind.  At one point it was almost impossible even to stand still, and binoculars were shaking so much that any bird seen could have been a Dotterel.

Alas we didn't find the Dotterel, but at least we did see 4 Golden plover in breeding plumage along the plateau and near Pendle House we saw a Ring ouzel, probably a female as it appeared more brown than black.
Birds seen or heard included: House sparrow, Jackdaw, Common blackbird, Willow warbler, Chaffinch, Winter wren, Eurasian curlew, Lesser black-backed gull, Meadow pipit, Skylark, Barn swallow, Mallard, Common starling, Greenfinch, Golden plover, Ring ouzel and Kestrel.
We arrived back at the car a little later than I expected, as we ended up doing an extended route around the Eastern slopes of Pendle Hill, rather than the direct and shortest route back to Downham! A good walk, despite not seeing any Dotterel, we'll just have to come again next year!
After walk drinks were enjoyed at the Downham Arms (renamed Barnaby's Inn, I assume for the BBC film being shot there and expected to be shown in October.) Dave enjoyed a pint of Thwaites Wainwright, whilst the drive quenched his thirst with a pot of tea.
Traffic on the motorways was quite busy, but nothing compared with Chester, it took me 45 minutes to get from the Fountains Roundabout to Saltney!