"Hiding in the Daisies"

As the wind continued to be a bit blustery we decided to go and visit South Stack lighthouse with the cameras and spotting scope to see what bird life we could find. This time we climbed down the cliff path (all 400 steps of it) and went across to the lighthouse where the Lesser Black Backed Gulls still had chicks.

The views back towards the cliffs of the sea birds coming and going were astonishing and we saw all sorts of birds including Guillemot, Razorbill, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed and Greater Black Backed Gulls, Kittiwake, Chough and finally managed to get views (although a long way off and not suitable for photography) of Puffins.

The above juvenile Kittiwake was just sitting by the path, not a care in the world, and with the abundance of small fish in the sea below who can blame him.

It was a struggle to get an in-focus shot of the gulls as they flew past, I never realised just how fast they are until I tried catching on on camera. After spending a few hours just watching the busy cliffs and sea below we trudged back up the cliff, stopping at every bench we could find to catch our breath and continually looking at the cliffs as we ascended a path (yep – all 400 steps going up as well) that seemed a lot steeper on the way up than it was coming down.

Lonely Razorbill with Guillemots

It was well worth a visit but undoubtedly the star attraction of the South Stack area are the cliffs down which the path runs, the lighthouse island is good for sea watching and during the spring and summer has an RSPB presence on it, but if you want to see the birds keep stopping on the way down and just take a few minutes to wonder at the huge number of birds nesting on every conceivable ledge.