In The Valley Of The Elwy

If I fancy a saunter through the Welsh countryside then my normal method of devising a walk is to find my pencil, scan my library of ordnance survey maps and mark out a route commensurate with my energy levels.

Today, however, I opted to walk a route around the Elwy valley near the village of Llanfair Talhaiarn that I had found in the Pathfinder's guide to North Wales. According to the book, this was the beloved area of Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, whom I think summed up the beautiful Welsh countryside in two concise lines of poetry:

Lovely the woods, waters, meadows, combes, vales,
All the air things wear that build this world of Wales;

Despite suffering from the manicured appearance of modern farming, the valley is undeniably attractive; the first part of my walk along the bank of the Elwy through lovely mixed woodland produced two Grey Wagtails and a stunning male Redstart in full chorus. Frustratingly, given that the river seemed tailor-made for Dipper, none were located - a bird that seems intent of avoiding me this year!

The mid-point of the walk was through a lovely sessile oak coed, ideal for Pied Flycathers I thought, but today they prooved as elusive as the Dippers - although I did here a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Following a stiff climb through pasture I eventually emerged on the top of Mynydd Bodran. Clothed in gorse, the top of the hill was peppered with Meadow Pipits and one solitary Skylark in full throttle. Unexpectedly, a Cormorant passed overhead, no doubt commuting between reservoirs. Following the bird flying valiantly into the gusting wind put me one to a single rather tatty looking Raven cruising across the valley. It's great to see that these imperious corvids are now seen all over North Wales and, moreover, seem to be increasing in both numbers and range.

Descending down the peak, I encountered my first Wheatear of the day - an irked male who seemed to have taken umbrage at the presence of five Linnet. The remainder of the walk was along minor roads, with a male Siskin and Treecreeper the only birds of note before I re-entered Llanfair Talhaiarn.

Until later.