News from North Wales

Hi all
As not much seems to be happening in Calderdale in recent days I thought I might update you all on whats around here on the Llŷn Peninsular. For the first time ever I have kept the feeding station going through the year. Its around 6 feet from my office window in the caravan so I get very good close views of the birds and as its being going since last Autumn they have got used to my presence.

Several species have obviously bred successfully somewhere in the vicinity as this week we have had several broods of Blackbirds with parents, whats seems like millions of young Chaffinch, several Greenfinch, one Songthrush and several rooks from the rookery across the field hanging around in the trees waiting to be fed and in the meantime waking me around 4.30 am every morning with their loud cawing. Other birds seen on the feeders regularly are a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers who come down to feed every 30 minutes or so. A pair of Nuthatches with the obvious difference in colouring showing up well now the male is in full breeding plumage. The female is made even more obvious as she flutters her wings constantly whilst feeding which seems to be due to preventing the male chasing her off the feeder as he does with every other bird apart from the Great Spotted.

We also have had a male Siskin coming on a regular basis to feed and this morning he was joined by the female so hopefully they have bred nearby as well. Goldfinches are regulars at the feeders but I have not seen any young birds yet. The "Tit" tribe are obviously well dispersed for breeding as although they are regulars on the feeders they are not as common as they are in winter.


I have kept up with the Buzzard feeding station but have not seen any birds come down to the carcases which disappear quickly overnight, no doubt taken by Foxes and Badgers which are both common in the area. As an aside to this although Foxes are shot in numbers around the area because of worries about them attacking stock they are left well alone from January to summer as they may have cubs and no one wants the cubs to die of starvation in the earths if the vixen is shot. A different attitude to the one I experienced in Calderdale where the idiots who like to torment Foxes with dogs couldn't care less about the animals well being. Speaking with local farmers suggests that they quite like having badgers on their land and do keep an eye on the setts to make sure the baiters don't get them. One local farmer who had been threatened by some guys with dogs and guns near a sett went and got his tractor with a bale spike on the front, rammed the spike through the windows and picked up their parked car and placed it on top on a wall !Along the coast Wheatears are around in some numbers and I have seen some large flocks of Curlews in recent weeks. We have not seen many raptors in recent weeks due to the poor weather keeping us nearer home than usual.

Just to issue our invite again to anyone who fancies a trip to the area. You are more than welcome to visit us and we do know of some good B&Bs and self-catering accomodation in the village.