Welsh Castle Quest Day 5 – Birds on the Beach

Posted on by Stuart Templeton

Greetings fellow Adventurers!

Today’s trek took us eight miles further and across a county boundary. We set off from the ‘Point of Ayr’ in Flintshire to Rhyl in Denbighshire.

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Endless sands! 

The first half of the walk stretched for four miles across a vast beach to the seaside town of Prestatyn.

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Me in the desert, feeling like Mad Max… (Where’s my V8 Interceptor!?!)

As we walked along the beach, we marveled at the wonderful variety of bird life around us – I can only assume that where the estuary meets the ocean a plentiful supply of food is ensured – it certainly seemed to benefit the Little Tern colony nesting behind a fenced off area.

Here are some of the characters we met along our way!

birds
Oyster Catchers and Cormorants (or Shags) taking a rest
Gulls
Assorted ‘Gulls’ – Alas I’m not very up on Gulls and I’ve left my Field Guide in Buckinghamshire D’oh! 
Oyster
Lovely little Oyster Catcher – I love the noise these make
shags
Cormorants (or Shags) having a rest!
tern 4
I think this is a Common Tern – there did seem to be a few flitting about as well

Co

Tern
A little Tern bringing lunch back to his young! (oh no – not fish again Dad!) 
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Little Tern fishing. There were several of these lovely birds hovering above a river outlet, and now and then they would dive down into the water – presumably having eaten something 
tern 6
More fishing! 
terns 3
Little Terns on the way out from the colony. I assume they’re off to get lunch – we did try to tell the that Tesco’s was the other way but I don’t think they heard us
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Another ‘Gull’ out on the lookout for ice creams and chips
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A ‘Gull’ youngster – presumably resting after pinching somebodies lunch

At Prestatyn we stopped off for a nice cold glass of wine, which was a very welcome on a hot day. And then, suitably refreshed we then set off along the brilliantly long promenade that stretched all the way along the seafront to Rhyl.

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mmmmm… Mine! Very welcome after a few hours walking and birdwatching!

Until tomorrow my friends.

20 thoughts on “Welsh Castle Quest Day 5 – Birds on the Beach”

  2. I’m enjoying these blogs Stuart as they compliment Alli’s but from a different perspective – and I love that picture of the tern with the fish. Those drinks look inviting too 🙂

    Like

    1. Thanks Malc – I’m really glad you’re enjoying them. I’m also glad you think they compliment each other – that’s certainly the idea anyway.
      The Little Terns were amazing. We get a lot of Commons around MK but these were something else. They’re like little angles flitting about.
      Both these drinks were mine – and were indeed as nice as they looked. Alli also enjoyed her wine too!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I am not good at identifying birds. I did a quick search to see if you had Silver Gulls but the nearest I could find is your common gull but the beak and legs are a different colour. Close cousins I’d say.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Gulls can be tricky – We have several large species here that all look pretty much the same. They probably were Common Gulls, with maybe some others thrown in. When I get back home I’ll pull my books out and check.

        Liked by 1 person

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