Trip reports

Coach Trip to Breakwater Country Park and RSPB Conwy

Sunday, 30 June 2019

Forty of us left Edgeley at just after 8 a.m. on a cloudy but dry Sunday morning. We arrived at the Breakwater Country Park just before 11 a.m. and were greeted by a very enthusiastic warden called Wilf. He invited us on an easy walk around the county park but Ann and Robert decided to take the coastal path. The weather had turned to blue skies with a breezy wind. We had 2 enjoyable hours walking along the front and saw about 20 species of birds. Not far out to sea we spotted Sandwich Terns diving into the sea for food and a Gannet flew further out flying along the coast towards North Stack. Alongside the path we spotted Rock Pipits feeding amongst the rocks down on the beach, together with a couple of very agitated Oystercatchers. The return path took us further away from the coast where we had good views of a pair of Stonechats and wonderful views of Linnets. We also spotted a number of butterflies which were difficult to identify.
It was not long before we had to return to the coach and depart for RSPB Conwy. Wilf enthusiastically thanked us for our visit and look forward to the group returning soon.
The coach pulled into the car park at Conwy just after 2:30pm and we were met by a RSPB staff member. Once we left the visitor centre we walked round the reserve. There were lots of Canada Geese on the reserve but we also spotted Godwit but were not sure if they were bar-tailed or black-tailed. We also saw a pair of Pochard and some Redshank. At various places around the reserve we identified bee orchids, roses and other wild flowers. We walked as far as the estuary where we could see Curlew feeding along way out. We returned to the visitor centre with the plan to have some refreshments before going home. As we turned down one path there was a small crowd from the coach photographing something on the verge of the path ahead. We approached with care to find that they were watching a shrew crawling along the path edge. The shrew was very small and the consensus was that this could be a Pygmy Shrew.
After an enjoyable cup of tea and some Welsh cakes we returned to the coach to resume the journey home. We had a lovely day out with the group and most people wished we could have stayed longer at Breakwater Country Park.