BANGOR 1876  V   MENAI BRIDGE TIGERS

SATURDAY, JULY 10TH 2021

Competition: Welsh Cup, First Qualifying Round

Ticket price: £4/£2 Concessions

Programme: None

Attendance: 213

Half time score: 5-2

Full time score: 8-2

Bird species: 47

Bird highlights: Elegant Tern, Roseate Tern, Arctic Tern, Chough, Hooded Crow, Peregrine

Mileage: 414

Trip music: Radio 6 Music, The Best of The Cure 

THE BIRDS

The only competitive matches in the country - unless I scoot off to Scotland - are in Wales. I have been planning today for quite a while, ever since I found out it was the first day of Welsh Cup games, in fact. It would be a chance to try for some bread-and-butter yearticks on Anglesey but also an opportunity to catch up with a friend or two. The fact that a mega rare Elegant Tern - only the 5th for Britain - shows up the week before my visit might mean I get an icing-on-the-cake bird as well!

    Remarkably, the Elegant Tern is still present at Cemlyn Bay on Friday evening, so I arrange to pick up The Fox from south Leicestershire just that little bit earlier than originally planned. I have to factor in a bit of time in case the star bird is out to sea, which it can be for a couple of hours. The 5.00am start means the roads to North Wales are mercifully clear. We arrive at Cemlyn on this sunny morning at 0730 just as the Elegant has gone AWOL, apparently.

    To view the terns, visitors have to walk along a shingle bank for about 300 yards. There are two car parks, one slightly closer than the other. Being a very lazy birder, I, naturally, choose the slightly closer one! 

Welcoming noticeboards in Cemlyn's car park

Ruined building at Cemlyn Bay

    I join the thirty or so birders already present on the beach, keeping a little way away for social-distancing purposes. I recognise a few familiar faces but will talk to them in a bit. For now, there's work to be done. While waiting for the Elegant to reappear, I can spend my time looking through the snowy throng for a Roseate Tern or two.

    I have just started scanning when I notice all binoculars are pointing skywards, all pointing in the same direction. This can only mean one thing: the Elegant has flown back in! I follow where they are looking and soon pick out the yellowy-billed rarity. It quickly lands and sits right out in the open atop a concrete block on the tern island. 

Early birders waiting for the Elegant Tern to come back

    

    It shows really well sat on its block, along with Sandwich Terns to compare it with. The Elegant really does stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. The Fox and I watch the bird, whilst also taking in the whole scene. Terns are constantly coming and going out to sea, some directly overhead. These include Arctic, Common and Sandwich Terns.

    I then spot Anglesey Ken approaching along the shingle, meeting us here as arranged. I've not seen this legend for a couple of years now and it is a couple of years too long. Ken settles down with us to scan the colony with regular checks on the Elegant. The rarity occasionally flies off and does a circuit of the beach and bay before settling back down on its favoured perch. Newly-arrived birders panting along the ankle-breaking 'beach' are soon breathing sighs of relief as they are told the main attraction is still there. Aaaaaand relaaaax!

Elegant Tern posing nicely!

Elegant Tern off on one of its regular fly rounds...

...but quickly back to its favoured perch, hassled by other terns.

    Anglesey Ken then says he will take us to where the Roseate Terns are usually hanging out. We walk further along the beach, passing 'The Bumbling Bears' - three regulars from Scilly whom I have birded with for many years and more importantly seen many rarities with on Scilly over the years - telling them we are on a Roseate hunt. Worryingly, nobody has seen one all morning.

    We scan the place where the target birds usually sit but there is no sign. One of the Bears comes up to tell me he has just spotted a Roseate on rocks out in the bay. It is at this point all the terns (and I mean all the terns) take flight in a mad panic. Nothing seems to have caused this mayhem - known as a 'Dread' - but the sight and sound of the birds is something every birdwatcher should experience.

    As the terns settle again, Anglesey Ken calmly points to the island and says: "The Roseate Tern is sat on the small muddy patch next to the Oystercatcher". And sure enough, there it is! It sits with a few Sandwich Terns, happily preening after its panicked fly round with its cousins. It has a lovely pink flush on its breast and an all dark bill. Roseate Terns are true beauties and I am disappointed that my record shots cannot do full justice to such a wonderful bird.

Roseate Tern - a poor digiscoped shot

    The Rosy takes a short flight round before landing on rocks with other terns. Views are even better and my record shots improve slightly. Still no prize-winners, though!

Roseate Tern (centre)

    After taking our fill of the wonderful breeding colony at Cemlyn - and regularly checking that the Elegant Tern is still on its perch - we head back to the car across the crippling shingle beach. One last intake of the sights and sounds of the Bay and we are back at the car.

Panoramic view of Cemlyn Bay

    We have the privilege of meeting the guy - Mark Sutton - who found the Elegant Tern and congratulated him on his discovery. After a pleasant chat, we are on our way to catch up with Anglesey Ken for the next part of the day out in North Wales.

Been there; Done that!

    Anglesey Ken knows every little nook and cranny of his adopted island and is my go-to buddy when I am on the hunt for yearticks. After the terns, my next target is Chough. South Stack RSPB is a renowned site for this most-wanted corvid, so we next meet up there.

    A quick scan of surrounding fields produces only Jackdaws (beware: at this time of year, young Jackdaws may sound uncannily like Choughs!). A recently-fledged Peregrine sat on a fence post overlooking a cliff is a welcome Brucie Bonus. We head for the main reserve. 

Noticeboards at South Stack Lower car park

    The car park is filling up on this glorious morning. I check what the situation is with RSPB membership cards. Some reserves tell you to leave your card on the dashboard, while others ask you to take it to the visitor centre and show it there. Bizarrely, some RSPB reserves make you display your card and print off a ticket from the machine (which invariably isn't working anyway). This seems an unnecessary waste of paper. Whichever method the Powers-that-Be decide on, I do wish every RSPB reserve would have the same process so everyone knows what's happening!

    Rant over. No sooner have we sorted out membership cards, six Choughs fly over our heads and head for the garden of the cottage adjacent to the car park. We locate them sitting on posts eyeing up the garden's bird feeders.

Choughs in your garden. That can't be bad!

   

(By The Fox)

 These delightful birds lift off and fly towards the coastal fields. The Fox, AK and I follow them along the narrow track down to the cliff edge across the heath. The Choughs have disappeared for now but the sea is alive with birds.

The Heath at South Stack with blossoming Cross-leaved Heather.

    Puffins are drifting on the sea, along with Guillemots, Razorbills and Gannets. I feel sorry for the general tourists who turn up to this reserve expecting TV-like close ups of charismatic Puffins. You rarely get decent views here; the birds are usually on the sea at some distance (downwards!).

South Stack cliffs

    We very carefully walk along the cliff edge path (it's a very long drop, after all). Rock and Meadow Pipits show together for comparison and a lovely family party of Stonechats keep us entertained on the heath behind us. I also notice a small mining-bee species with a bright yellow face. I wish I was better at insect ID!

    We reach a point overlooking the main breeding cliffs. The vertical rock face is covered with Razorbills and Guillemots. Quite a few chicks have leapt off the cliffs to the sea already but some birds are still on the precipitous breeding ledges. One Guillemot even has two unhatched eggs to tend to.

    The six Choughs give us a fly-by and we manage to pick out a few mid-distance Manx Shearwaters: a lifer for The Fox!

Four of the six Choughs (The Fox)

    It is then I notice a guy scratching about on the floor. He has a net, immediately pointing him out as an insect freak (erm, I mean expert). I ask him about the mining-bees I saw earlier but he is more a mothman. He kindly asks if I would like to see a Thrift Clearwing and I jump at the chance.

    Clearwings are strange and much sought-after moths. I have never seen one of this family, so am keen to take a peek. He has one in a pot for closer study but there are several more perched on the wall. I am super excited but not as excited as Anglesey Ken: he has never seen one of these extremely localised insects before and it's his local patch!

No moths were harmed in the making of this blog! Thrift Clearwing in a pot.

        After a further scan of the sea and sea cliffs, it is time to go back to the car and head off for some scran. I really fancy a massive fry-up. We cross the heath along a wide track. It is truly beautiful. The Birding Gods continue to shine down on us as well. The elusive Hooded Crow flies directly in front of us and lands in the heather. It is briefly joined by one of the local Stonechats.

Hooded Crow posing.

Romantic pose for the Hooded Crow!

Stonechat trying not to be outdone by the Hoody

Chough on clifftop (The Fox)

    The Choughs come to visit us one last time. A couple of them even pose nicely on the clifftop before they are disturbed by some walkers and their dog. The only things missing from this almost perfect morning are the hitherto 'promised' Silver-studded Blue butterflies that were gallivanting on the heath just yesterday. There's no sign today, so Anglesey Ken is severely rebuked when we reach the overflowing car park.

    Seriously, AK has been a star again today, so The Fox treats him and my good self to a full Welsh breakfast from a cafe in Holyhead. It is here I lament the absence of my good mate KaffyGiraffy. She lives very close but is busy with family today or she would have joined our happy band of Twitchers and Pitchers. 

The Fox's bird list for the day.

THE FOOTBALL

There are several Welsh Cup Qualifying ties being played around Anglesey today. Unfortunately (or fortunately), thanks to a series of North Welsh Groundhops and the Inter-Island Games in recent years, I have done all the teams playing at home! I choose Bangor 1876 FC, just off-island next to the Britannia Bridge.

    There are several things to check, of course. One crucial point is to make sure 1876 do not groundshare at Bangor's main stadium. The club play fairly near the Welsh Premier League side but not at the same ground. The next thing is to make sure we can actually get in to see the game! Covid restrictions in Wales and England are different, so this is a critical consideration. Thankfully, it seems 100 spectators are being let in but I make a mental note to be there early: this is a local derby match in a prestigious cup!

    I always get confused about the two bridges on and off Anglesey - Britannia Bridge and Menai Bridge. Today is no different and I come off the exit at the wrong one. This means I join the perpetual queue of traffic on the Britannia Bridge but should have come off for the exit for the Menai Bridge. Oh well, I have plenty of time.

    Anglesey Ken takes the correct turn off (of course), so arrives just before The Fox and I. Access to Bangor's ground is along a lovely, wooded single track road. The road (more like a track) passes Treborth Botanic Gardens. (I make a note that if I ever return here to bring along my wife, who loves gardening). It might be fun getting back to the main road after the game, though!

    Bangor 1876 play on the University of Bangor's 3G pitch at the very end of the access track. The club has set up a couple of gazebos by way of a club shop and turnstile. It is here that spectators have their temperatures checked and where everyone has to sign in for track and trace purposes.

The 'turnstile' and 'club shop'.

        The club is also set up for contactless payment. To make it easier, I pay for The Fox and Anglesey Ken as well. It costs "£2 for concessions and £4 for 'normals'. I could have got in as a pensioner but I am only 60, so fess up and pay full whack. Goodness knows, clubs need the cash after a torrid year and a half! Disappointingly, the club hasn't produced a programme for today's cup tie. I think they would have sold quite a few.

    Drinks and snacks are available from the cafe near the gazebos. Again, the club has taken steps to keep fans and staff safe. The door is blocked off with tables. The drinks, crisps and chocolate bars are sold from the tables, with contactless payment available.

    It would be possible to watch the match from here, or even on the high bank opposite the gazebos, but I wouldn't feel comfortable ticking the ground if watching from outside 'The Green Cage' that surrounds most 3G pitches. Instead, I walk down the ramp and pass through a gate in the fence to get pitchside. 

Entrance to 'The Cage'.

    The gate is in one corner of the pitch. There's a narrow causeway behind the goal, which we pass along to access the opposite side of the ground. Here, the standing area widens and is marked by crosses on the tarmac to indicate safe social-distancing distances. There is a small 'At Cost' stand straddling the halfway line.

    Behind the stand is another railed off, full sized pitch. Behind that are the arches of the Britannia Bridge. Anglesey Ken tells us that a Peregrine nests on the middle one, though there's no sign this afternoon. We do hear a Jay and a Chiffchaff from the nearby wood. Even further in the distance, I can see the Marquis of Anglesey's Monument.

    

Britannia Bridge and Anglesey Monument visible (The Fox)

    We position ourselves in an area that is easy to maintain social-distancing. Unfortunately, a yappy dog joins us but is thankfully soon dragged away to be shot, erm, I mean out of earshot. The official attendance is 159 in the ground and I count another 54 around the perimeter outside The Cage.

    Today's tie is somewhat of a local derby. The visitors are Menai Bridge Tigers - presumably from somewhere near the Menai Bridge - hence the decent crowd. I have no idea if this is a grudge match or not. I suspect it won't be long into the game until I find out!

Plenty of room for social-distancing.

'At-Cost' stand: perfectly functional for this level of football.

    Both of today's sides play in the newly-formed North Wales Coast (West) League, Premier Division, so may be a close encounter. You never know with cup games, do you?

    The players emerge in their new looking kits. Menai Tigers are (predictably) in yellow and black stripes, while 1876 are wearing dark blue shirts with white tops. Both kits contrast nicely with the deep green of the plastic playing surface. It is disappointing that this Welsh Cup match isn't considered serious enough to have two Referee's Assistants appointed to it. 

    Just as the teams are about to start, a moulting Red Kite drifts over the complex. I don't know if this is considered a good or bad omen but kites are always nice to see anyway. It is amazing to think that when I started birding there was just one pair of Red Kites breeding in the whole of the UK!

    Within two minutes of the start, Bangor are two goals up. Both goals come from neat moves down the left side and both are put away professionally by Cam Barry. Tigers seem a bit miffed at their poor start and the tackles start flying in.

Opening exchanges.

    The next goal is a bit of surprise because it's scored by under-the-cosh Menai. A penalty is rightly awarded for a trip in the box. Sion Hogen steps up to take it but strikes it poorly. Hawkins easily saves but, because the awfulness of the spot-kick surprises the keeper, the ball spills out of his hands allowing Hogen a second chance to pull one back. This will now be forever known as 'Doing A Kane'.

    After somehow getting back into the tie, Tigers immediately throw it away, allowing Bangor to open up a two goal cushion again. A cross causes panic in the visitors' box and Chris Jones steps in to tap home. The ball hits the net in the 23rd minute. 

    By the 33rd minute, 1876 have scored two more to make it 5-1!! More panic in Menai's area allows Lee Davies to bag his first and two minutes later, Chris Jones grabs his second. Tigers pull one back before the break to give them a bit of hope. A complacent Bangor defender is robbed twenty five yards from goal and the ball is superbly threaded through to Dean Redmond who sends a deadly, instant shot flying into the net. 

    The half time score is 5-2 and I look forward to increasing my goal average. This is a cautious thought: too many times have I witnessed a goal glut in the first half of a match only to see a goalless second half. We will see what's to come...

Bangor 1876 well on top in the first half.

    It isn't long after the restart that Chris Jones completes his hat-trick. He chests the ball down and lobs the stranded Jordan Griffiths in Bridge's goal. The next 10 minutes or so become scrappy. Tempers flare resulting in far too many interruptions for lectures and free kicks. 

    In the 71st minute, I am back in the goals. This time, it's Chris Jones's fourth, sticking away a penalty after a weary Jordan Griffiths had brought down an attacker. The visiting custodian was probably lucky to avoid a red card, to be honest.

    The rout is complete near the end of the game when Gethin Thomas heads in to make it 8. My goal average now stands at 8 per game: I might just call it a day at that! I'm not quite sure Menai Bridge Tigers were as bad as the scoreline suggests. I suppose we will find out as the season unfolds.

       

Thanks for reading and "Ciao"