April North Wales trip in review PT1 OF 3

 As I have not posted for a week I thought I would give a quick review on last weeks filming trip to North Wales and post some of my photographs unfortionately due to the wind on the orme we decided to spend some time on the sand dunes at Kinmel bay looking for the Sand/Common Lizards but as we arrived we spotted a flock of Sandwich Terns down on the beach waiting for the tide to go out and I managed to get a few far shots but each day we got some better shots as they landed on the wooden groynes down on the beach as the tide went out.

 After leaving the Terns we settled on the dunes for some breakfast from Greggs bakers mmm Bacon and sausage bap after a rest we began looking for the elusive lizards but as it was a sunny day and about 9.30 I thought it would be easier to find them but boy was I wrong we ended up seeing lots but as we got closer they disappeared into the long dune grass I only managed to get closer the 2 shots below but they were a first for me and they are very fast once they have had a bask in the sun.

As we were leaving we spotted a Kestrel hunting over the dunes and I got a shot of it just before it took off and left the area.

Then about 5 minutes later it came back and dived down and came back up with a Lizard in its talons and flew off towards the hills where it is probably nesting.

After a few hours at Kinmel bay we set off to another area of Sand dunes a couple of miles away at Gronant where the Sandwich and Little Terns nest after a walk around I spotted a small pond fenced off but for some reason it had been damaged so you could get close to the water and in the pond were a number of Newts of various sizes i think they were Great crested newts or smooth newts from the distance we were at but I am not positive and I am kind of new to Newt identification.

 On the walk back to the caravan we walk along the spit by the dunes where all the birds rest and feed I managed to get close to a few Dunlin as well as the Sandwich Terns.

 That was just over 2 days I will write 2 more blog posts to cover the second part of the week from a quick walk round the Ormes to a rainy day which turned out to be quite a good day after sheltering under a fern tree next to a small pond.

Thanks for reading

Mike