Wild Autumn along the Coast Path

03 Friday Nov 2023

Posted by theresagreen in Birdwatching on North Wales coast, Wildlife of the Wales Coast Path

Tags

autumn, beachcombing, common gull, Curlew, herring gull, little egret, Llanddulas, October, rip-rap, sea defences, strandline

October 25th

As the effects of recent storms were subsiding, albeit it temporarily as it’s turned out, a sunny warmish day finally presented an opportunity to get out beyond my local patch for fresh air, some not-too strenuous exercise and above all, the sight of some wildlife. I was also keen to see how the weather might have affected the coastline, so settled for one of my favourite stretches of the Coast Path between Llanddulas and Pensarn, one of the best walks I know for amazing views, wildflowers, birds and so much more.

The car parking area at Llanddulas, located immediately behind a defensive wall of rip-rap, or rock armour (piled up giant-sized boulders that serve to protect against erosion and to diffuse the power and velocity of high seas), is still frequently scoured by over-topping waves and spray, which carve out numerous deep pot-holes and craters. Following the most recent storms, it was worse than I’ve ever known it. The Coast Path running past it seems to have survived unscathed though, as far as I could see.

Herring gulls will claim any perch that has some height, and are often on duty here drawing attention to signs stating the rules for parking. Taking on their winter plumage now, they are looking particularly handsome.

The tide was going out, so it would be unlikely that I’d find gulls and cormorants occupying the posts of the lines of groynes further along the shore as they do at high tide, but I was pleased to see at least a few cormorants were out on posts at this end of the shore, before the outgoing tide fully exposed them.

Afon Llanddulas

Running beneath the viaduct that carries the main train line, the river is full and flowing fast towards its end. Where it bends to follow the line of the path the mud and flattened vegetation show that it has flooded recently well beyond its usual boundaries, but again, no serious damage seems to have been done.

Beyond the footbridge, while the water was still travelling fast, it is fairly shallow.

A little further on, guided and contained by a high wall of more rip-rap it reaches its final destination and escapes into the sea.

The far side of the rip-rap wall is more sheltered and has been colonised by a variety of plants. Sunning itself on the leaf of alexanders, which in recent years has become the dominant wild plant throughout this whole site, was a hairy shieldbug.

Lichens pattern some of the rocks, and in some spots, cushiony moss, revived by rainfalls, helps to soften their harshness.

Perched on top of a high rock, a jackdaw gleaming brightly in the sunlight sat sentry-like surveying his kingdom, his steely blue-grey eyes matching the colour of the sky behind him.

Beyond, the flat stony seashore stretches for miles in front, curving gracefully around to the headland on which sits the town of Rhyl. It may not have the aesthetic appeal of miles of unbroken sandy beach, but there’s no denying that it has great dramatic impact, emphasised by huge skies.

Several curving strandlines mark the reaches of various recent high tides.

A high fence of sturdy wire enclosing heavy machinery indicated that some storm-damage has occurred here. It’s not at ground level though, they seem to be reinforcing the cliff where it looks as though there has been a landslip, perhaps caused by water running down from above, where mobile homes are lined close to the edge.

Beachcombing

Strandlines are always interesting to explore, but there wasn’t much to find today other than dried seaweeds, leaves and twigs and a few whelk and razor shells. Pieces of dried hornwrack are often found blowing around on this and most other beaches. Easily mistaken for a seaweed, it is actually a detached part of colony of individual animals known as zooids. Today there were a few clumps of what I’m fairly sure is ‘fresh’ hornwrack as it looks when alive and growing, sadly torn from their anchor points in the shallow foreshore.

Herring gulls gather along the shoreline here, often in huge numbers. A line of them, quietly resting and preening was strung out along the worm reef on the lower shoreline, waiting for the tide to turn.

From some distance away I spotted a single gull perched on a post of a line of groynes. It seemed too small to be a herring gull, and in this same spot I’ve occasionally seen a common gull or two, so I was pleased on checking my photographs later, to see it had green legs, which common gulls have. (Herring gulls have pink ones.)

Coastal Wildflowers

Beyond the strandline, the back of the beach is a great habitat for wild plants, and several interesting and uncommon species, including the lovely yellow-horned poppy can be found here. Although flowering and fruiting are long finished now, fresh leaves often appear after autumn rains and can last throughout the winter.

Leaving the beach I got back onto the Path, depositing the collection of fishing twine, plastic bottle tops & other miscellaneous bits of rubbish I had stuffed in my pockets, plus 2 plastic &1 glass bottle I was carrying in my hand in the only bin for miles. This section of Path, being long and straight often tempts cyclists to speed up and race along it, and not all warn you they are behind you, so I have to remember to check behind me before meandering from one side to the other.

In years past this has been one of the most interesting lengths of the Coast Path, having a lovely diversity of wildflowers along its edges. Now, alexanders has spread exponentially along both edges, smothering out less robust plants and forcing tougher ones to break through where they can. The other locally prolific invader, winter heliotrope, also has a firm grip here.

There’s not a lot still flowering, but there are a few fresh plants in flower of fennel, wild carrot and ragwort. There were quite a few insects about too, mostly various flies and a few different species of hoverflies, but also a few of my favourite little yellow dung flies.

Some plants look good even when their flowers are done, bleached stems of hogweed against a backdrop of rocky shore, blue sea and sky are particularly striking.

A dunnock explored the dried stems and down on the shore beneath a few oystercatchers foraged around rockpools, this one casting its shadow and a reflection.

There may not be cormorants to see perched on groyne posts, but on the sea edge there were distant views of several groups of them on the sea edge. Some were active, taking off onto the sea, others were more sedentary, opening up their wings to dry or preening their glossy feathers.

I had heard the calls of curlew, but they were so far away and well-camouflaged I hadn’t expected to see them. It was a treat then to see three out in the open walking in line across the sand.

The Last of the Wildflowers

When there are only a few wildflowers left, you can really appreciate their individual charm and more importantly, so do lingering insects.

On a clear, sunny, calm day you can follow with your eyes the spectacular sweep and curve of the shoreline past Pensarn, Kinmel Bay and right around to Rhyl, with the Clwydian Hills in the background.

Although brightly sunny, there was a chill to the air and where the Path became shadowed, a short way from the beginning of Pensarn beach, I stopped, admired the view ahead for a few moments and turned to walk back.

Soft fluffy old man’s beard scrambles over hard rocks

The Way Back

Looking towards Penmaen Head and the Little Orme beyond

Although not the greatest fan of linear walks, it’s sometimes surprising how much more there can be to see along a stretch of path only passed along few minutes previously, when travelling in the other direction. Less than five minutes after turning to walk back, I’d spotted more wildflowers and this lovely little female stonechat that flew across the path and paused briefly on the wire fence that bounds the area of scrubby wasteland between the Path and the railway.

Then down on the shore, there was one of the birds I always hope to see here, a little egret, stalking through shallow water on the hunt for a temporarily-stranded meal.

It was interesting to watch as it followed behind a paddling herring gull, cleverly waiting to see if the gull’s big flat feet stirred up anything edible from the sand. It’s also interesting to compare the size and shape of the two birds, the egret looks so graceful and elegant next to the chunky gull.

Nearer to the edge of the sea a small group of gulls attracted my eye. Mostly sitting and with their heads turned towards the water, so not giving the best of views, zooming in on the only one standing confirmed them to be common gulls.

Groynes are looking battered and the worse for wear

An unexpected sight was of this slug crossing the path. Hope it made it.

A few more flowers, including a wild carrot flowerhead giving shelter to a tiny spider

and I know it’s a pain in the garden, but the pure white trumpet blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of hedge bindweed are really quite lovely.

Down on the sand a great black-backed gull stood looking out to sea

Back on the beach

From where the river runs into the sea and back along towards the carparks, a high defending bank of stone and earth hides the view of the sea.

The loose sandy earth and small rocks of the bank can be a good place to see linnets foraging on the seeds of plants that grow there, but today there was only a perky pied wagtail running around chasing flies.

Last view of the river

and back to the carpark, where a herring gull is still keeping an eye on the comings and goings.

Today’s birds: herring gull; black-headed gull; common gull; great black-backed gull; cormorant; oystercatcher; curlew; little egret; robin; dunnock; stonechat; pied wagtail; house sparrow

Wildflowers still in flower: ragwort; common mallow; sea mayweed; common daisy; red clover; fennel; wild carrot; knapweed; chicory; bristly ox-tongue; hedge bindweed; yarrow; sow-thistle

Blowing Away the Cobwebs

26 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by theresagreen in coastal walks, Conwy, North Wales, Wales Coast Path, Wildlife of the Wales Coast Path

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

beachcombing, Carrion Crow, common gull, Llanddulas, mallard, Oystercatcher, seashells, strandline, winter

Wednesday last week started out enticingly clear and sunny, perfect weather for a walk on the coast path to blow away the cobwebs. But, despite knowing full well how changeable the weather can be here on the North Wales coast, I dilly-dallied, doing stuff that could easily have waited till later. By the time I was ready to go it had started to cloud over and there was a strong breeze blowing. But it wasn’t raining and from my window I could see sun shining over the far side of Colwyn Bay, so that’s where I decided to head for.

Llanddulas, with an interesting landscape and mix of habitats, is the perfect place to combine meandering-with-intent and if required, a brisk walk along the coast path, despite its bleakness on days like today. As I pulled in to park my car behind the defensive wall of rip-rap, two hopeful gulls landed on the ground close by, one a black-head gull, the other a herring gull. Even here the local gulls have come to associate cars with people with food, especially since lock-down brought more visitors and subsequently more people in camper-vans.

The river (Afon Dulas)

The river’s water level is low at the moment, giving the opportunity for repairs to made to parts of its banks that have been quite badly eroded. The worst affected spots are those where people regularly leave the path to get down to the water; these spots, already weakened have been further damaged at times when the river level has been higher after storms and heavy rainfall.

Looking downriver towards where the river soon meets the sea there are more eroded areas, one spot on the bend reaches very close to the edge of the coast path.

Crossing the bridge, I stopped to watch three mallards that were heading upstream towards me; a female flanked on either side by two males. They seemed to be in no particular hurry, cruising steadily along paddling against the flow of the river, dabbling as they travelled. The water was surprisingly clear, and though it was rippled and textured by the wind, I could see the ducks’ heads as they searched the riverbed. All are looking very handsome in their bright breeding colours and I wondered about there being two males and one female; mallards start to pair up around October or November, so was one male hoping to entice the female away from the other, or was she torn between the two?

The wind was getting stronger and as it was blowing from the north-west, I could feel it pushing me along as I carried on following the course of the river to where it meets the sea. It was invigorating and all cobwebs were quickly dispatched, and I tried not to think about the walk back against a head-on wind.

The Strandline

At its end, the river is guided to its meeting point with the sea by a great man-made wall of piled rocks and it’s behind that the shoreline becomes accessible.

The tide was just on the point of turning, and the wind was pushing some big waves towards the shore where they crashed and left foamy trails as they receded. There is no shelter from the elements anywhere along this exposed section of the coast and today, even the hardy herring gulls, often here in great numbers, were conspicuous by their absence.

When the tide is in there is no visible sand, so it’s not greatly attractive to people, but this rough stony area of the shoreline is always interesting, both in terms of what plants grow here and what the waves may have carried in and left behind them on the strandline.

The strandline here at Llanddulas is almost always interesting and is a good place to find some of the bigger and tougher shells, although many get damaged by the rocks and stones on the lower shore. A lot of twiggy and small pieces of wood get mixed in with the drifts of seaweed too; some is probably driftwood, but as there are trees on the other edge of the path it’s likely that much of it is from there. Sadly, there’s also usually a lot of plastic waste amongst the treasures, endless metres of fine fishing line that gets tangled into seaweed, discarded wipes, plastic bottle tops and spent shotgun cartridges are some of the most frequently found items. I always pick up what I see and today ended up with at least half a bag full of stuff to put into the rubbish bin, but it’s frustrating knowing there’s a lot more out there that really doesn’t need to be.

The gulls may have been spending their day elsewhere, but there were several carrion crows about. One flew in and landed close to me on the rise of pebbles on the sea edge, perhaps interested to see if I’d found anything edible as I probed in the piles of seaweed.

My activity also caught the interest of a free-running dog that came racing over towards me from the path, taking no notice of its owner’s attempts to call it back. It was a cute dog, but I didn’t want its excited company, and more importantly, I’d spotted a line of resting birds along the sea-edge just ahead of me and didn’t want the the dog to catch sight of them too and race over and disturb them, something that happens all too often here. This time I managed to divert it back towards its owners and the birds were left in peace.

Oystercatcher – welsh Pioden y Môr

Oystercatchers seem, happily, to be maintaining good-sized populations along this coast and Welsh estuaries, but that is not the case generally, as highlighted in this recent post by Graham Appleton:

Over recent decades, numbers of Eurasian Oystercatchers have declined. In 2015 the species was reclassified as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN’s Red List (Birdlife International) and “Vulnerable” within Europe. It is also Amber listed on the UK’s Birds of Conservation Concern list, due to its European status, the concentration of its wintering population in protected sites and the international importance of UK breeding and wintering populations.
When Oystercatchers can’t find food
JANUARY 13, 2022 / GRAHAM APPLETON

Not shells

Moving on, a bit higher up on the beach there was more to see, including pieces of ‘stuff’ that are found blowing around on beaches practically everywhere and some that I’ve only recently become aware of.

On the left of the photograph, a bundle of the dried empty egg-cases of the common whelk.

On the right is a piece of dried almost fabric-like hornwrack. It looks like a dried piece of seaweed, but is actually a colony of animals, meshed tightly together, each animal contained in a little box. When it’s alive, hornwrack grows only during spring and summer, forming bushy clumps attached to shells, stones, cobbles or rocky seabeds and is a pale beige colour.

I first came across a piece of the stuff in this photograph on New Year’s Day whilst out collecting shells with my little granddaughters on Rhos on Sea beach. There was a lot of there and I was intrigued by it, although they both said it was ‘disgusting’! It does look a bit odd, I admit and it feels strange, very light and a bit corky or spongy. It turns out that it is commonly known as dead man’s fingers, which in its life is a soft coral whose scientific name is Alcyonium digitatum, which also references fingers, an indication of how it grows.

It was interesting to find it here too and others have found it on beaches further along the coast, so I wonder if it all originated in the same place, brought in by a recent storm and carried on currents to be washed up in various places?

On a calmer day I might have lingered here longer, but my hands were getting cold and I can’t operate a camera with gloves on. I took them off again to photograph this surprising sight ; the new green leaves of a yellow horned-poppy plant, then headed back over to join the coast path.

Back on the path I deposited my rubbish collection in a bin in front of the café/bar next to the caravan site and carried on, still blown from behind by the wind. This stretch of path towards Pensarn is edged on the sea side by a narrow strip of ground which in the spring and summer months becomes a colourful border full of wildflowers.

Presently, it is largely covered by grass and spiked with tall dried stalks, the remains of last year’s flower stems, but already the bright green leaves of Alexanders are growing strongly.

Watching the sea crashing in against the fortified shore brings home just how powerful it is and how vulnerable to its effects the land is.

In the near distance I could see a few gulls flying around the posts of one of the groynes and although tempted to turn around here, I wondered why they were here when all others were elsewhere. As I got nearer I was more mystified; the gulls were perching on the tops of posts and flying up just as each big wave broke behind them, momentarily covering the post. It was entertaining to watch, almost as though they were playing a game of ‘chicken’ – seeing who could stay the longest before being hit by the rising water.

Common gulls – the perched bird has its first-winter plumage

I couldn’t get close enough to the birds for a really good look, even with a zoom lens, but at least two were definitely common gulls, which we don’t get to see many of; in fact here is the only place I have seen them for myself. These gulls are slightly bigger than a black-headed gull but much smaller than a herring gull. The common gull also has greeny-yellow legs rather than the red of the black-headed gull and the pink ones of a herring gull. The best photograph I managed was of one flying, which shows its bill, finer and more pointed than that of a herring gull and the larger ‘mirrors’ on its wingtips.

My original plan had been to carry on walking to Pensarn beach, but the thought of walking back against the cold and increasingly strong wind from even further away took away my enthusiasm for that and I headed back. As suspected, it was indeed a bracing walk back and I stopped only once for long enough to take a photograph of the view in the direction I was now walking in. I think I’d be a bit concerned if I had one of those mobile homes close to the shore edge.