Best bird-watching and wildlife walks in Anglesey, North Wales

The island of Anglesey in North Wales is one of the best places in the UK to spot native wildlife. There are loads of bird watching spots, especially during the spring nesting season. And there are seals, dolphins and more. Here are the 10 best bird-watching and wildlife walks in Anglesey, North Wales.

Anglesey is an island just off the coast of North Wales. It has stunning coastal scenery, and lots of options for bird watching and wildlife watching. It’s not as busy as some parts of the coast in the UK, such as Cornwall, which can make wildlife watching easier. To full enjoy the best bird-watching and wildlife walks in Anglesey, North Wales, I’d definitely recommend having your own car. Public transport is limited, so having a car will give you the freedom to explore.

The weather in North Wales can be unpredictable, even in the summer. So make sure you’re fully prepared for the weather before going out on any wildlife walks. Make sure you’ve got good hiking boots, water and a picnic, a waterproof coat, and also a map. And also make sure you bring your binoculars and camera! Here are my 10 best bird-watching and wildlife walks in Anglesey, North Wales.

1. South Stack cliffs – Guillemots and Razorbills

The first of my best bird-watching and wildlife walks in Anglesey, North Wales is the walk around South Stack lighthouse and cliffs. It’s definitely one of the top bird watching places in Anglesey. Just a short walk down from the RSPB car park towards the lighthouse are cliffs that are home to hundreds of nesting seabirds in the spring. Visiting in May-June is the ideal time to see the nesting birds. You can mainly see Guillemots and Razorbills here, on the cliffs and in the water. There are also sometimes nesting puffins here – so you might get lucky and spot puffins as well.

2. Beaumaris Castle – Herring Gulls

Herring Gulls can often have a bad reputation as the chip and ice cream stealers! But they are beautiful birds, and they’re surprisingly endangered in the UK. Despite their cheeky thief side, I think these birds and beautiful. A great place to spot Herring Gulls is Beaumaris Castle, on the south of the Island of Anglesey. In spring you can see the Herring Gulls nesting at the top of the towers. And you can get really close, by climbing the spiral staircases of the castle turrets to get to the top and get close to the Herring Gulls.

3. Puffin Island – Puffins and Gannets

One of the UK’s favourite birds can also be seen in Anglesey. Puffin Island is a small island just off the coast of Anglesey, and you can do boat trips there. As the name suggests, Puffin Island is home to puffins. You can’t get off the boat to walk on the island, but you can get great views from the boat to see the puffins on the island. Spring time is the best time to visit, when the puffins are nesting on Puffin Island. You can also see other sea birds here, and I was lucky to spot some gannets flying past.

4. Cemlyn – Arctic, Common and Sandwich Terns, Mediterranean Gulls, and Dunlin

One of the largest tern colonies in the UK is on the north side of Anglesey. The shingle beach at Cemlyn is a great place to see nesting terns in the spring. There’s a car park at each end of the beach, so you just need to walk along the shingle beach to see the terns. It’s easy to find where to go – the terns are very loud and active! In the springtime, when the terns are nesting, the area is roped off so you don’t disturb them. But you can still get really close. You can see Arctic, Common and Sandwich terns here. You can also see black headed gulls, and the rarer Mediterranean Gulls. And there are other wading birds such as Dunlin.

5. Rhoscolyn Beach – Curlews

There are lots of beaches on Anglesey that have big differences in the tide levels. Rhoscolyn Beach, on the west of Anglesey, is one of these beaches. At high tide there isn’t much sand. But at low tide, there’s a huge beach. The low tide also exposes a lot of rockpools, and it’s here you can spot some wading sea birds. I enjoyed watching the Curlews here.

6. Point Lynas – Seals and Porpoises

A highlight of any wildlife watching trip along the UK coast is the chance to see some sea mammals. The most common ones to spot on Anglesey are seals and porpoises. Point Lynas is a peninsula on the north east coast of Anglesey, and it’s one of the best porpoise spotting places on Anglesey. Walk to the end of the headland and sit down with your binoculars and camera, and hope for the best. I was really lucky to spot some porpoises – but they were hard to photograph as they were so quick through the water. The seals were easier to photograph, as they came closer to the shore and would spend a while at the surface.

7. Church Bay – Stonechat and Whitethroat

The coast path around Anglesey is well sign posted, with lovely views along the whole coast path. You can probably see birds on most parts of the coast path. But I found a really good place to see smaller birds was on the West Anglesey Coast Path, around Church Bay. The footpath was very quiet – I didn’t see any other walkers for most of the trip. So it was a great chance to spot birds. I saw Stonechat and Whitethroat, and was lucky to get close to get some nice photos of them.

Coastal walks and birdwatching in Anglesey

8. Llanfwrog – Oystercatchers and Ringed Plover

Another part of Anglesey that is quite quiet is near the village of Llanfwrog in West Anglesey. There are several secluded coves along this part of the coast path, which again are great for bird watching. The best time to visit is when the tide is out and you can see wading seabirds along the edge of the water. I saw oystercatchers and also ringed plover along this part of the coast.

9. Holy Island – Choughs

Holy Island is only just an island – it’s very well connected to Anglesey, but sits just to the west of the main Anglesey Island. The cliffs around Holy Island are home to some Choughs. I saw them just to the south of the South Stack lighthouse, walking towards Elin’s Tower.

10. North Anglesey Coast Path – Linnet and Little Egret

The last of my best bird-watching and wildlife walks in Anglesey, North Wales is another spot on Anglesey coast path. Along the North Anglesey coast path, not far from the shingle beach at Cemlyn, is the chance to spot more birds. It’s another quiet section of coast path, which makes it good for wildlife watching. I saw several linnet in the bushes around the coast path. And I also saw a Little Egret at the edge of the water.