Cyril the Red

.Just returned from a lovely week on Anglesey and timed the weather perfectly as the whole time we had warm sunny days,  even sweltering in the heat when we visited South Stack.    We rented a beautiful large house overlooking the Menai Straights and invited our lovely neighbours to join us so had a really enjoyable holiday visiting a lot of different areas and finally catching up with some red squirrels.     The main highlight wasn't the red squirrels but it had to be finally meeting our lovely forumate Gaynor where we enjoyed a walk together through the pretty wooded area at Dingle and later calling in again on Gaynor on the way back from Cemlyn and Caemes Bay.      Was fairly quiet on the birding side at the coast being end summer and into autumn with many summer migrants already heading out and waiting for winter visitors to arrive although some geese passed over which were quite possibly pink-feet in a large skein.       

Far too many photos to put in one thread so I will dedicate this one to Cyril the Red    !!

Penrhos Coastal Park seemed to be the place where you were almost guaranteed sightings of the reds with 4 feeding boxes filled with black sunflower seeds (guess red peanuts are too expensive ! )  so we called in twice during our stay on Anglesey.  

Got to love these delightful and charming creatures with their flame red/orange coats ......     first pic is the ideal habitat and not a sign of greys anywhere on the island :)

Hello sweet-pea    !!  

LQQking at the camera ..................... dare I risk coming down it thinks .........

on its way ...............

a quick peak inside the box of seeds ...........

open the lid wider 

another squirrel getting stuck in to the feast    ....

Peek-a-boo ............

little beauty .............     come on down 

Inquisitive critter ...........

Nom...nom....nom........

keeping its eye on a dog which was passing nearby ..........

and another close up to finish

  • I had a little list made out for you to visit Hazy!! and Plas Newydd was on it just in case the red squiggies were around, so very glad to hear your neighbours caught sight of them on the way home. You can catch a boat trip on the rib from there too if you're that way inclined, me I prefer the slow way.
    Great catch up, look forward to your next photos.
  • Thank you Hazel, you've confirmed my thoughts as to where the park is.

    The retail park, which you may have driven past, is actually just to the north of the junction (Ty Mawr 2), and it would be a quick hop and a jump metaphorically speaking to get there.

  • Lovely photos as always, Hazel. It is just great that you had such fabulous weather, saw so much and how wonderful that you were able to meet Gaynor! She's on my list for next year! (And maybe you can persuade her to join the forumate meet-up at LM next year!) We'll be staying closer to Anglesey for part of our time in Wales next year, especially if my cousin and his Hawaiian girlfriend can manage to join us (he's mad about castles and has never been to that part of Wales). I'd be very grateful if you could please send me the information about the house you rented--sounds about the right size--many thanks!
  • Thanks Ann,  you will be able to see Red Squirrels ten mins drive from the house at National Trust Plas Newydd     

    Unknown said:
    I'd be very grateful if you could please send me the information about the house you rented

    I've sent you the link via email  :)     think you would love it !

  • Many thanks, Hazel--what an amazing place and what gorgeous views from there! Probably a bit toooo big for us, though, unfortunately. However, if the pandemic disappears and we can gather together a few more folks....what a place to stay! We visited Anglesey on holiday once a very long time ago and it is about time we went back (fitted in around seeing the Welsh Ospreys, of course!) And with any luck, by the time we do go there again, there might actually be one or two Osprey nests on Anglesey--two ringed young males were spending time there this summer and one of them had visited the island in 2020, so fingers crossed.
  • Oooo'h where Anne? I hadn't heard the Ospreys were venturing over the bridge, exciting news. Yes I would be on the list for a visit to LM in a flash, thing is I can't take my dog with me, she is just too old (16) now and blind and deaf, not to be moved around to places she isn't familiar with I'm afraid. One day though.............
    Look forward to meeting up on Anglesey one day.
  • Gaynor, I do not actually know exactly where the 2 male Ospreys were hanging out (and even if I did know, I would not be putting the information on an open forum like this one!) But I do know that both males fledged from the Dyfi nest and one is older than the other. Dinas (ringed Blue KS6, right leg, in 2018) and his younger brother Hesgyn (ringed Blue KA3, right leg, in 2019) both spent part of this past summer on Anglesey and I think Dinas was there the previous summer as well. There may have been other Ospreys who visited there as well in the last few years. I seem to remember reading that Dinas had spent some time with a Scottish female but if that is true, she probably was just passing through on her return migration to Scotland. Some female Ospreys do that and take advantage of any male they encounter by spending a few days with them and getting free fish without any effort on their part--all part of Osprey life. Sometimes a female doing that may choose to settle down with one of the males she encounters on her travels, particularly if he seems to be very good at supplying her with fish--a very good indication that he could probably provide fish for a whole family. If she likes the look of the location of any nest or nest platform that he seems to have chosen as his territory and if he is a good fish provider, she may settle down with him rather than carrying on farther north. Two older half brothers (different mothers) of those two males are breeding in northwest Wales, Tegid (ringed Blue Z1 in 2016) and Aeron (ringed Blue Z2 in 2017) are both breeding there on nests on private land. The location of Tegid's nest is known only to a few people (not me!) but Aeron's is viewable from the Glaslyn Wildlife Centre a few miles upriver from Porthmadog but it is not Glaslyn's nest platform but belongs to another Osprey group. All of those Ospreys, of course, have now migrated south for the winter and fingers crossed that all of them return next year and have successful nests.

  • Perhaps an Osprey platform along the Menai Straits is needed ! Leighton Moss now has one :)
  • There are unused nest platforms in northwest Wales already, some would say too many! Sorry, I have no idea how many or where they are, but I seem to recall reading that there are also some on Anglesey. That may or may not be true, and sadly, I am not among those who actually know the details. Might help if we lived closer so that we could become more regular volunteers instead of over a couple of weeks each year!

    Edit:  As for the nest platform at LM, there is a good chance that it will eventually have an active Osprey nest because the adults on and chicks fledged from another relatively nearby nest have been seen at LM, as you probably know, Hazel (sorry,  I've forgotten if you've already seen an Osprey at LM, Hazel!).  That bodes very well for the future because it is likely that a male Osprey who fledged from that other nest will eventually choose LM as his territory, all being well, and he will eventually attract a passing female to join him.  Fingers crossed. 

  • Unknown said:
    Edit:  As for the nest platform at LM, there is a good chance that it will eventually have an active Osprey nest because the adults on and chicks fledged from another relatively nearby nest have been seen at LM, as you probably know, Hazel (sorry,  I've forgotten if you've already seen an Osprey at LM, Hazel!).  That bodes very well for the future because it is likely that a male Osprey who fledged from that other nest will eventually choose LM as his territory, all being well, and he will eventually attract a passing female to join him.  Fingers crossed. 

    Yes we saw an osprey from Causeway Hide as the Foulshaw Moss birds would come in to fish, hence the installation of a platform after they consulted with CWT.     Hopefully it will prove to be a successful addition when some of the Foulshaw or maybe passing Scottish ospreys/ offspring eventually return to breed.