Anglesey

Tuesday
After breakfast, Roger, Jen, Laura and I headed off for a couple of days on Anglesey- a first for the girls, and the first time in many decades for Roger and I! We drove first to Beaumaris, the main town on the island, where we had some lunch across from the boating jetty, before going for a wander round the small town, passing the castle. Later, we took a boat trip out to Puffin Island, a Special Protection Area, particularly because of its great cormorant colony of over 750 birds, over 10% of the national population making, and one of the largest colonies in the British Isles. It also has good numbers of guillemot, razorbill, shag and kittiwake nesting. At one time, Atlantic puffins bred in considerable numbers, with up to 2,000 pairs recorded. However, the brown rat was introduced accidentally to the island, probably in the late 19th century, over the years reducing this population to a very few pairs. A programme of poisoning these rats started in 1998 by the Countryside Council for Wales appears to have eradicated them, and the Puffin population has shown an increase. We did see a few bobbing about on the water, and large numbers of other birds both on the water and nesting on the cliffs, as well as a few seals. We then continued on to our hotel/guest house in the north of the island, overlooking the sea. After checking in, and putting our bags in the rooms, we went for a walk along the coastal path before dinner at the hotel in their dining room with sea views.