Last week my wife and I were exploring the wildlife in the outer reaches of North Wales. We'd already walked around the Lleyn Peninsula and visited the fabulous osprey centre at Glaslyn near Porthmadog.
Next on the itinerary was Anglesey and in particular the RSPB reserve at South Stack. The sole purpose of going there was to catch a glimpse of the puffins. We were directed to walk halfway down the steps towards the lighthouse where we were assured of as good a view as any. Armed with binoculars and long lens camera we walked the 100 or so steps down to the viewing point - success, there on the slope across the inlet were a small number of puffins on view. Job done but this wasn't the only rare sight we saw.
Walking slowly back up the steps we came across three gentlemen on tour from Sandwell Valley. Of all the possible birdwatching sites on the island, of all the places of interest on Anglesey, of all the other stuff we'd done that week - we bumped in to these guys on the steps at South Stack! What are the chances of that!
So, to Pete, Ben and Alan - we were delighted to see you and we hope you enjoyed the rest of your day trip to Anglesey.
Keep on spreading the word about Sandwell Valley chaps.
See you on the reserves,
Best regards,
Chris Edwards