Day 11 - Rockpooling at Treardurr Bay

I live so far from the sea that I don't get to visit the coast very often and this week, I had an urge to go rock pooling and made a spur of the moment decision on Wednesday night to just go for it! I looked up where there might be good places for it as close as possible (i.e. North Wales) and there were lots of suggested places in Anglesey.  I'd never been to Anglesey before but I chose my rock pool bay, found an available hotel and booked it!

Today was a whole day out on the coast, with some good catches from the pools and some sea birds later in the afternoon before heading home again.

I spent about four hours at Treardurr Bay which was a lovely beach and very good for rock pooling!

I started over on one side of the bay and found a shanny...

Then watched the snaily things (my coastal wildlife knowledge is not so good, perhaps this one is a periwinkle?) moving across the rocks...

There were lots of shrimps, in a variety of sizes

 

and plenty of crabs too. Two for one in this sweep with the net...

but the smaller one was already dead (I saw a lot of dead crabs as well as a lot more live ones today)

After about an hour here, following a tip from a local bait seller, I walked across the beach to the other end which was more rocky and therefore had more pools.

I'd paid for 4 hours parking here (the minimum charge) and thought I'd use two hours maximum before moving on to a different bay, but I was wrong! I didn't have time for another bay as I spent the whole time here!

I was walking through shallower rock pools and found a few little crabs along the way...

There were plenty of anemones too.

Another little crab...

Then I got a big one, that filled my bucket!

Another shanny...

This is the same one peeking out from beneath the rock I was sitting on...

I found a mermaid's purse too, the egg case of  some kind of ray.

The tide was beginning to come in as I left

And just as I left the beach, I spotted this, which I think is sea kale

and this unidentified plant.

Back at the car park, I came across a cinnabar moth but it had a damaged wing and couldn't fly. 

From Treardurr I drove on to the RSPB reserve at South Stack on Holyhead.

Holyhead mountain

The cliffs at South Stack, mainly covered in guillemots but I also saw a some kittiwakes and chicks.

A mist was rolling in across the sea but I'd come here in the hope of seeing a chough. I haven't seen a chough since I was in Pembrokeshire, four years ago I think, so I set off over the cliff path where the RSPB staff had said the choughs were.

It's possible I didn't go far enough (the walk was abandoned due to the pain in my feet, which returned on Thursday, becoming unbearable - though it was rather time I was heading for home too) but I didn't see any choughs.  I did see a few skylarks...

I spotted a wall heath butterfly and a common blue

I also saw some sea campion, sea thrift and a female broad bodied chaser dragonfly - I couldn't miss her by the sound and the fact that she flew right by my arm!

If I'd not had other commitments on Sunday, I'd have made this a two night stay and had some more wild Anglesey adventures the next day, but I was only able to stay for one night this time so there's still lots to explore on Anglesey another time!

I should add that the creatures found / collection in my bucket were all safely returned to the places I picked them up from and nothing was harmed during my rock pool adventures (except myself with a sunburnt head and feet!).


How did you enjoy being outdoors on Day 11?

Last year on Day 11 I had a picnic in a meadow and did some bug hunting

http://louises30dayswild.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/day-11.html