We have a lot to talk about. For starters there’s the Snowdonia National Park, at 840 square miles one of the biggest in Britain. It also gives you a big high – Snowdon, at 3,560ft/1085m, is the highest summit in Wales and England. If you’re more of a sand-between-your-toes kind of person there’s coastline too – hundreds of miles of it along Cardigan Bay (part of the Snowdonia National Park) and the Llŷn Peninsula, designated an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. So we don’t just serve up rocky mountains. You’ll also find green hills, rushing rivers and valleys clothed in ancient oakwoods, and a coastline of sublime estuaries and secluded bays, dizzy headlands and big beaches. The wildlife seems to like it. We’re a sanctuary for countless plants and animals – from the crags of Cwm Idwal, home of the exquisite Snowdon lily, all the way to Bardsey Island off Snowdonia’s ‘Land’s End’ and its teeming colonies of Manx shearwater. So pack your binoculars. Bring your camera. To get you going here are some snapshots from our wildlife album.
Craig-yr-Aderyn
Inland from Tywyn, is perhaps better known as Bird Rock. The valley below was once submerged by the waters of Cardigan Bay. The sea is now miles away yet it’s still a great place to spot seabirds. Cormorants continue to nest on this former sea-cliff, one of only two inland sites in Britain. The rock is also of European importance as a breeding and roosting site for chough. Watch out too for the wild goats that roam this ornithological oddity. |
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Coed-y-Brenin
Near Dolgellau is a stately mix of conifer and glorious broadleaf woodland, rich in both natural beauty and natural history. Its amazingly diverse wildlife includes deer, black grouse, red kite, pine marten and insects such as the pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly. Talking of pearls, Coed-y-Brenin’s rivers contain the very rare pearl mussel – and, if you’re lucky, flecks of Welsh gold. Coed-y-Brenin’s network of waymarked trails includes the Forest Garden Discovery Trail which takes in an arboretum with specimen trees. |
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Llŷn Peninsula
You can go really wild on Llŷn – the peninsula’s untamed beauty is as legendary as its Celtic heritage. Much of its shoreline is in the care of the National Trust. Go dolphin spotting from the headland above Aberdaron. There are also breathtaking views of Bardsey, an island managed by a charitable trust. It’s a birdwatcher’s paradise. As well as multitudes of Manx shearwaters, its sea-cliffs are home to kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills and shags, while seals bask on its undisturbed shores. Take the boat from Porth Meudwy, Aberdaron. |
Our natural heritage can be seen at its very best at National Nature Reserves (NNRs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest, mostly cared for by the Countryside Council for Wales. We have more NNRs than any other National Park in Britain. Go right to the top on Snowdon, the highest nature reserve in Wales, where birds of prey such as peregrine falcon and raven nest amongst the jagged cliffs, and the Snowdon lily and other hardy arctic-alpine plants have evolved to cope with extreme conditions. Lower down, the mountain is fringed by beautiful woodlands of oak, alder and wych elm.
Betws y Coed is encircled with thick woodland. Gwydir, like Coed-y-Brenin, is a mixed forest. Here you’ll find Douglas fir and Norway spruce as well as some of Wales’s finest oak glades, and – hidden away amongst the trees – the secret mountain lakes of Llyn Geirionydd and Llyn Crafnant. Follow paths and old miners’ tracks through the woods, looking out for buzzards, peregrines, merlins, goshawks and black grouse.
 Gweilch Glaslyn Osprey Eleanor Bentall (rspb-images.com).jpg "700 408 (400x233) Gweilch Glaslyn Osprey Eleanor Bentall (rspb-images.com)") |
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Guess who’s the star at the Glaslyn Osprey Project near Porthmadog? These extremely rare birds have been nesting and breeding here for some time. You can keep an eye on them thanks to a viewing scheme run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in conjunction with the Forestry Commission. |