North Wales Birding

Alarm set for 4.20am and out the door by 5am can only mean one thing. A birding day trip.
With the clocks now on British Summer time, it is getting light by 6 o'clock, and when you want to travel 120 miles to North West Wales it requires an early start.
We arrived at South Stack with a grey blanket of cloud overhead. Not the blue skies we were promised. A pair of Chough greeted us in the car park, and these were one of the main reasons I wanted to come here. Unfortunately they didn't hang around but they are super birds.

We took the path down towards the cliffs to see what sea birds were about when I noticed a Peregrine sat nicely on a rock surveying the landscape. It stayed sat there for a good 15 minutes or so, which allowed Phil and I to get some decent close views and pictures.
Pipits of the Rock and Meadow variety were heard and seen with some regularity.

Peregrine Falcon keeping watch.

We went in search of Stonechats, which we knew should be in the vicinity. There is a great area of heather and gorse which is ideal for them, and after just a few minutes of looking a stunning male popped up. He was shortly followed by a female.

Male Stonechat on the gorse.

The female.

A Northern Wheatear. Probably fresh in after it's migration.