With my old pal Jonno Williams over from his now native France, it would have been rude not to spend a day spotting to bring in the new year. We concentrated on birds Jonno no longer sees, so found ourselves on the World's End moors as an icy dawn broke. Fifteen male black grouse were lekking by the roadside with frost on their backs, although efforts seemed a little half-hearted. We then tried and failed for waxwings in nearby Wrexham before spending a couple of hours unsuccessfully searching for the St Asaph black-throated thrush. Nice to watch redwings and we also saw a dipper, then bumped into Mark Payne who joined us for the short trip to the coast. Jonno's traditional form was unchanged when he ordered two burgers at Maccy D's. At the coast we managed some distant scoter, but the highlight was the trio of showy snow buntings a Llandudno.
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| Jonno, a special bloke. |
A quick search for waxwings at B&Q was unsuccessful, but I did see a perched single bird from the car as we left Llandudno, dropped off Mark and headed to the Decca Pools on the Dee where we finished the day with a ringtail hen harrier, short-eared owl and the unusual selection of geese and egrets. Oh and we may have had a curry later too. A very enjoyable day all round.
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