Royal Tern visits Queen of Welsh Resorts

IT SEEMS i've not been the only one doing a spot of ornithology lately. There have been hundreds of twitchers flocking the town after a rare bird has been seen at Llandudno's north & west shores, the 'Royal Tern', only the 5th sighting in Britain in fact.

To follow the latest gossip on this subject, visit our Llandudno Local website > Local Talk section, see 'Royal Tern'

Read below to find out more about this bird, Ref: Wikipedia.

The Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus, syn. Sterna maxima - see Bridge et al., 2005) is a seabird in the tern family Sternidae. This birdhas two distinctive subspecies.

T. m. maximus breeds on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the southern USA and Mexico into the Caribbean. The slightly smaller T. m. albididorsalis breeds in coastal west Africa.

American birds winter south to Peru and Argentina, and African breeders move both north and south from the breeding colonies.

African birds may reach as far north as Spain. This species has also wandered to western Europe as a rare vagrant, these records probably being from the American colonies.

This species breeds in colonies on coasts and islands. It nests in a ground scrape and lays one or two eggs. Like all white terns, it is fiercely defensive of its nest and young.

Royal Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, usually from saline environments, like most Sterna terns. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favoured by Arctic Tern. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.

This is a large tern, second only to Caspian Tern but is unlikely to be confused with that carrot-billed giant, which has extensive dark underwing patches. Royal Tern has a long yellow bill, pale grey upperparts and white underparts. Its legs are black. In winter, the black cap becomes patchy. Juvenile Royal Terns have a scaly-backed appearance. The call is a characteristic loud grating noise like a Sandwich Tern.

Anyone been lucky enough to spot one yet?

Llandudno at it's Best

For anyone having visited the resort for their first time recently, Llandudno has surely shown it to them at it's best, it's polished up like an old brass penny. I've been very distant from my blog and website recently for this very reason and have tried to make the most of this fine weather we're having. Yesterday evening I took a walk across Nant-y-Gamar, the woodland air was refreshing and there was some interesting finds along the way, wild Sage growing in the shade, and even Blackberries were beginning to flower, it won't be long before they are ready for picking. I eventually pondered my way over to 'My Grand Mothers Chair' two pillars and a limestone slab which is well hidden, something of a forgotten tale almost and only found documented in old town guides, from there one will find the most spectacular views Llandudno has to offer. Panoramas sweeping from the Little Orme across Bodafon farm, and around the corner unobscured views overlooking the town and it's shores, combined with the sunset the view was truly amazing (see photo taken above).

Frontpage Photography

I had a bit of a shock when I saw the front page of the Pioneer this evening, they'd made good use of a photograph of mine for the front page partially cropping it, perhaps hoping I wouldn't notice. No permissions asked, no acknowledgement either. I do hope they'll be giving the Llandudno Local a nice writeup in next weeks edition.

Photo by Craig Ollerton (C) www.flickr.com/llandudnoenthusiasts

Llandudno and Photography

I haven't looked at the town the same since I moved away back in late 2003, to eventually return home again over a year ago now. I don't know if anyone else knows where I am coming from, but I truly feel in order to appreciate what a wonderful place we live in, we need to leave for just a while, more so my generation as most people my age can't wait to get away, but theres a saying I hear that all return sometime in their life.

There are some remarkable architectural and topographical and even social features to be seen in and around Llandudno, for the 20 or so years that I lived here, i've seen more in the past year than anytime before that, moving away helped me to see the finer details which most pass day in day out not knowing they're even there.

There are many different perspectives to see the town from, be it from the beach, surrounding farmland and hills, or summits of the Little and Great Orme, it's hard to find anywhere else quite as photogenic as here.

I have since discovered the joys of digital photography, and am forever trying to find different ways to portray the common views around us, and seek out the things we see little of, I have since setup a Flickr account www.flickr.com/llandudnoenthusiasts so anyone is welcome to enjoy some of the views i've taken, i'd also like to encourage any avid local photographers to share there own work on the Llandudno Flickr group hosted by good friend of mine SnakeCorp, there is well over a thousand images of local photography on display there.