Farewell to Winter

Farewell to Winter A leisurely 5 day exploration of the Dysynni Valley, Talyllyn and surrounding areas as we bid farewell to winter and its waders and wildfowl, and say hallo to spring migrants and nesting in the amazingly diverse habitats of this area. We go in search of likely haunts of the brown hare, and visit the spectacular red kite feeding station at Gigrin Farm. Day 1: Arrival and Ynys Hir. If travelling by train, we’ll meet you at Machynlleth station (just over 4 hours from Euston), suggested arrival by 14.46 at Machynlleth (or earlier if you can make it!). Days will be getting longer by now, so we’ll make directly for Ynys Hir RSPB reserve and look out or ducks and waders over some of the pools, and towards the heronry. There are plenty of hides at Ynys Hir and wildfowl galore – winter birds include widgeon, teal, shovelers, white-fronted geese and barnacle geese out on the marsh, as well as lapwings, golden plover, curlew and birds of prey. Breeding wetland birds include herons, redshank, lapwings, shoveler, teal and mallard. This short visit will give us a good taste of this wonderful range of habitats, although you’ll certainly want to come back! Barn owls and otters can also be seen at Ynys Hir, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that we’ll be lucky. View over Ynys Hir in winter We can stop until dusk starts to fall and the birds begin to settle, as the Gwesty Minffordd Hotel is less than 30 minutes’ drive from Ynys Hir. We’ll arrive at the hotel in time for you to unpack and unwind before dinner. We can have a drink before dinner, browse through your information pack and go over the rest of the itinerary for your holiday, fine tuning it for weather, recent sightings and your preferences. Day 2: Bird Rock and Hare Safari Starting at a time to suit you, we’ll spend the day exploring Wales at its wildest. In the upland between the Dysynni and Talyllyn valleys, just behind the village of Abergynolwyn, there is a little used meandering lane, providing access to 5 dispersed and isolated farmhouses. This is an area where I often see hares, so we’ll plan a very slow exploration of this area, with some short walks and long watches, taking in the birdlife and any early spring migrants. Stonechats and wheatear breed here later in the spring, so we may see some early arrivals. We’ll bear in mind that we’re most likely to see hares earlier in the morning and evening, and we’ll plan our day accordingly. Although wild and little- explored, this area is only 20 minutes’ or so drive from your hotel. Even when sighted, hares can be notoriously difficult to photograph, turning tail quickly if we’re not very quiet and still! 1 Turning tail – hare by the track in early April Female stonechat on gorse by the track, April As we move towards later morning, we can decide whether to leave the car for a while and walk leisurely part way up Craig yr Aderyn, Bird Rock, for our picnic lunch. Thousands of years ago, Craig yr Aderyn stood by the seashore with waves lapping at its base, nesting cormorants calling and wheeling out across the sea. As time passed, the sea receded, but long-memoried cormorants still fly up the valley for 4 miles to nest on this lofty rock. We’ll watch as the cormorants call and wheel out across the valley as they have for thousands of years. In addition we should see ravens, and a range of gulls, with a good chance of the scimitar, red-billed chough, peregrine, red kite, buzzards and possible kestrels, all of which nest here on Bird Rock. Craig yr Aderyn Cormorant Flying out from Craig yr Aderyn We may spot wheatears among the tumbled rocks of the crag or the rocks of the ancient fort near the top, looking for nest sites or already nesting in the walls. We should also spot pied wagtails and hosts of pipits. We’ll find a suitable site, and settle for a well-earned snack, and to do some watching across the valley from our bird’s eye view. To our left in the distance is Broadwater and the AberDysynni, and to our right is lofty Cadair Idris and beneath, the luckless Castell y Bere . From our high point, we should start to understand more about the birds’ breeding season behaviour - ravens and birds of prey are seen as threats by smaller birds, and we may see some excellent displays of mobbing. We’ll also start to understand more about the cormorants, as we see them going back and forward to their prospective nests and we’re likely to hear the call of chough, and see them as they approach from further up the valley. Saturday afternoon As we descend after lunch, we should look out for stoats and weasels, which lurk between the boulders of the valley. We’ll return to the car and wend our way back to the road and across to the Dysynni Valley. We’ll admire Craig yr Aderyn from below and maybe stop briefly for some refreshments, especially if the cormorants are displaying and uttering their guttural barking calls. If the weather is good, we’ll stop in a few places along the roadside to listen out for early chiff chaffs – this is one of the first places to spot them in the spring. 2 Kestrel mobbing raven at Craig yr Aderyn Chough in flight at Craig yr Aderyn As the afternoon draws towards evening, we’ll drive the short distance across the valley floor, away from Craig yr Aderyn and over Pont y Garth, into the Peniarth Estate, a beautiful wooded area and another good spot for hares, both in the woodland and the open grazing pastures. We’ll spend some time appreciating the woodland and its birds, just gently walking, watching and waiting in the hope some hares will oblige! As evening draws in, we’ll return to your hotel close by, even though we seem to have been in a different world all day! Evening at Pont y Garth and Peniarth Woodlands Young hare at Peniarth Day 3: Talyllyn Lake, Dolgoch Falls, Broadwater and the AberDysynni After breakfast, our first stop is to explore the lovely Talyllyn Lake. There are lots of stopping points around the lake where we can use the car as a hide (with hot refreshments!), and walk along the edge of the lake to look out for cormorant, mergansers, little and great crested grebe, late teal chattering on the far side of the lake. There’s a chance we might see a bobbing dipper at the end of the lake, and we’ll also look out for small birds along the wooded shore: groups of long tailed tits, treecreepers and reed buntings. We’d have to be very lucky, but there are also otters in the lake, though rarely spotted. Otter on Talyllyn Lake 3 Talyllyn Lake Next we stop at Dolgoch Falls, taking in the wonderful falls and the beautiful ravine. Our first impressions of Dolgoch ravine must be the magnificent viaduct of the Talyllyn Railway, soaring high above the river and the path. We walk underneath one of those inspiring arches and see the skeletal branches of the trees seeming to hang over the river. In the bare branches, it’s much easier to see the woodland birds such as blue tits, great tits and robins, with blackbirds and the retiring dunnock possibly foraging in the undergrowth. Dippers are regularly sighted in fast flowing bubbling streams such as these and there may be a ‘kronk kronk’ of a raven or the harsh call of a grey heron flying overhead – so we need to keep our eyes peeled. Dolgoch Ravine in Winter Winter blue tit, Abergynolwyn We’ll head on down to the seaside town of Tywyn to the mouth of the Dysynni River. As it approaches the sea, the Dysynni dramatically opens out into a broad, flat coastal lagoon which is barred by extensive sand dunes and shingle banks along the coast. Broadwater is a gem of an area for winter/spring birdwatching – a host of ducks, geese and waders overwinter here, sometimes in large numbers. The short grazed turf also often attracts feeding chough, and is habitat for meadow pipits. There’s also a small group of mute swan here, and some of last year’s cygnets might still be with their parents. As well as its birds, Broadwater also offers stunning views over Cadair Idris and Bird Rock, Craig yr Aderyn, and, on sunny days, unbelievable reflections. Day 3: Afternoon We can have our picnic lunch at Broadwater, although possibly in the shelter of the car, as the wind comes straight in from the Atlantic here! As we walk along the banks of Broadwater, we may still see overwintering teal, Canada and other geese and many mallard as well as cormorants spreading their wings on the far side of the lagoon. We should also look out for waders, possibly ringed plovers running around on the shore line, redshank and godwits in the shallows. 4 If the tide’s still low enough, we can turn around and walk under the railway bridge of the Cambrian Coast Railway, and up along the shingle banks out to the shore, alongside the Afon Dysynni as it flows into the sea. This short walk is often rewarded by some excellent sightings.

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