A jay was seen regularly in the garden of the house where we were staying and D managed to get some photos of the bird through one of the windows on Friday morning.
We spent the whole of Friday in Beaumaris - a very lovely and interesting town. The name is based on the Norman "beau marais" meaning "fair marsh" describing the location of the castle commissioned by Edward I. The town has a mix of medieval, Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian architecture and Beaumaris was once the county town of Anglesey.
This fine example of a Georgian terrace is built from Penmon limestone.
There will be more on Beaumaris Castle in a separate post.
The Castle Gardens were worth exploring - a shop selling garden ornaments and plants and a small garden you could walk round.
I loved the idea of these succulent "paintings" - perhaps an idea to copy at home?
We bought quite a few items in this super shop selling locally made products.
The Bulkeley Hotel built in the 1830's again from Penmon Carboniferous limestone and
oh look I found a fossil in one of the building bricks :)
The George and Dragon - we had another good meal here later in the evening.
At this point I went and had a very quick look round the church leaving the others to enjoy an icecream but I will write about the church in a separate post.
After I just had time to have a quick icecream myself - Turkish Delight! :)
Herring Gull lurking by the bakery!
Another Herring Gull
Timothy making an appearance.
This is one of the oldest houses in Britain - built around 1400.
Apologies if I have posted these photos before - they were taken on the evening of the day we visited Amlwch and Red Wharf Bay
At lunchtime we went on the Puffin Island Cruise which lasted about an hour and a quarter aboard the Island Princess. We had prebooked tickets and rather stupidly did not arrive until the last minute which meant we were more or less the last to board and had to sit in the middle of rows (not the best place for taking photos!).
View of Beaumaris
This was an interesting ruined building with its "green" roof - we used to drive past it every day on our way to and from the cottage and I always wondered what its original use had been.
The nearest beach to our cottage and one we never got round to visiting - a pity as it is quite interesting geologically containing Quaternary sediments wih fluvio glacial structures and erratics. You might just be able to make out a little sea stack in this photo.
You can see the house where we stayed in the middle of this photo.
Limestone quarries
12th century Penmon Priory and church visited earlier in the week.
I think these may be old limestone quarry buildings?
We finally arrived at Puffin Island which the boat sailed round.
Puffin Island or Ynys Seiriol (Priestholme to the Vikings) was gifted to St Seiriol by one of the Gwynedd princes and the saint built a hermitage there in his later years. In the 12th century the island was inhabited by monks and hermits who would sell pickled oysters and puffins in exchange for money and goods. By the end of the 20th century the puffin population had declined dramatically due to the presence of rats on the island. A joint RSPB and Countyside for Wales Council project beginning in 1998 sought to eradicate the rats and since then the puffin and black guillemot populations have gradually increased.
Unless you have special permission you cannot land on the island which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA) for its cormorant population - there are over 750 birds which make up around 10% of the national population.
Birds using the island (depending on the season) include Kittiwakes, Fulmars, Razorbills, Puffins, Guillemots including Black Guillemots (it is I believe the only place in Wales where they are found), Cormorants, Shags and Gannets plus Great Black-backed Gulls. If you are really lucky harbour porpoises and bottlenose dolphins and grey seals can be sighted.
To be honest my photos were rubbish - a combination of not being that close to the island, heads on the boat in the way! and choppy seas so in the end I gave up and just enjoyed watching the birds and using the binoculars
A few photos I did take and you will see what I mean!
David's attempts.
The remains of St Seiriol's Church built in the 12th century on the site of the earlier monastery.
Seals were spotted by B, D and E but not me (I was still trying to take photos at that point!) and we did see around 6 puffins - D's very record shot (well cropped!) below.
One day I will go on a trip where you can actually land on an island and get much closer to the birds.
Penmon Lighthouse ( Trwyn Du ) built in 1838 and 29 metres high. Also seen earlier in the week.
Timothy also struggling to see!
Despite the photo problem I did enjoy the trip immensely and it was very good value for money.
Back in Beaumaris
This lovely house by the castle has painted windows.
We bought some chips from Neptunes which we ate with our sandwiches.
An eagle on the way back to Penmon
The next two posts will include Beaumaris Church and Castle
Then there will just be one more day to go! Normally we drive straight home but this time we made a detour to Conwy and visited the castle and I sneaked to the church while the rest of the family looked around the town.
*D Photos taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera
Rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera
14 comments:
You know, it seems to me that when I visited Britain twenty-five or thirty years ago Jay was a very difficult bird to see, but on recent trips it has been quite easy to find, even coming to backyard bird feeders at one place. Either they have become much more common or less wary, I am not sure which.
Aren't jays simply spectacular birds? Landing is so much better for viewing puffins, but for other sea birds which nest on cliffs it's better to sail around an island. So sorry you got stuck in the middle seats, I guess that's a valuable lesson learned. You even need to know which side of the boat will be facing the island as you sail! Happy to see Timothy put in an appearance, and wondering how he likes his new travel arrangements?
We've been onto the island several times but never been into Beaumaris. It looks a lovely little town and well worth a visit. Your boat trip around Puffin island sounds wonderful and it must have been interesting to see from on board the places and buildings you usually drove by. The building with the green roof looks interesting. Yhe photo of the boat with brown sails in wonderful:)
David M Gascoigne - Thank you. I've just looked at the British Trust for Ornithology site and jay population numbers seems fairly stable. We see them occasionally in the garden at home and they have visited the bird table on rare occasions.
Rustic Pumpkin - Thank you and yes jays are beautiful with the pink plumage and that flash of a blue feather :)
Yes, you are right about viewing seabirds. I thought exactly the same as you mention because if you had been on edge of boat on wrong side viewing would have been even more difficult!!! But once I have given up on camera it was good just to enjoy the birds :)
Timothy is not over happy about being stuffed in the backpack although he has always spent some time travelling in there! I need a safety harness for him :) or perhaps I should sew on a tag his name and address on it :)
Rosie - Thank you. I was particularly taken with Beaumaris but you do become familiar with a place as it was 3 miles from where we stayed and we drove through it nearly every day. The castle and church are both brilliant and there is a courthouse and gaol you can visit (we ran out of time!) and lots of independent shops plus the pier and sea front. Would certainly recommend a visit when you go back (not far from Menai Bridge).
I will research window with green roof and if I find out more let you know! For some reason it looked a building that may have been used during WW2?? I will tell my son re: the red sail schooner. I thought it was a good photo too :)
Beautiful place and have loved looking through your photos. We are thinking of going here in September as I have loved all the places you have visited. If I can get a good deal and a place to keep the bikes. Will have another look tonight as I would like to be as close to the beach as possible.
Amanda xx
Amanda Peters - Thanks so much. I do hope you go as I am sure you would love it there. Place we stayed would probably be too big for you as 3 bedrooms also although it was a good price for a week they charge nearly as much for 3 nights! Little beach not that close to house but within walking distance. We used Menai Cottage Holidays website and they have a great selection of properties.
great trip so far :)
Pete- Thanks Pete - we all really enjoyed the holiday :)
Lovely scenery and architecture :-)
Cherry Pie - Thank you :)
What a lovely cat window! I had wondered if the boat trip would be round Puffin Island as we have sometimes come across islands/islets that are out of bounds, especially during the breeding season. BUT... you got to see a Puffin, my favourite bird!
Caroline Gill - Thank you :) So pleased to see Puffins - I've only seen them twice (although I may have seen them as a child!). The other occasion was again on a boat trip from Padstow to another Puffin Island!!!
Wow... I must investigate: I never knew there was a Puffin Island near Padstow (a place I thought I knew quite well). We usually see puffins at Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire, and have also seen them in Scotland. I saw one puffin in the sea off Strumble Head, but rather thought it might have been one of the decoys that had been planted on (I think) Ramsey Island to encourage real ones to go and breed... :-)
Caroline Gill - It was some time ago I think at least 10 years if not 15 or perhaps even 20!!!. I remember the boat went in the direction of Polzeath. I've just looked at google maps and can't work out which island it was though! They did say at the time that puffin numbers had dropped :( I didn't realise they used decoys to attract puffins - interesting :)
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