Nature

Aberlleiniog Castle lies in an area of Anglesey that is widely recognised for the outstanding quality of its natural landscape. This landscape, inclusive of its important historical features, and its valuable habitats and species, is protected by a whole suite of local, national, European and international designations!

Just offshore, Puffin Island, Lavan Sands and Conwy Bay are classified as Special Protection Areas (SPA) because of their rare, vulnerable and/or regularly occurring migratory bird species.

Wild primroses.	The river Lleiniog.
Early purple orchid and wild primroses.	Wild garlic or ‘ramsons’.

In Spring, the Castle motte and the wooded slopes are covered by a carpet of wild flowers, including early purple orchid, wild primrose, lesser celandine, common dog violet, wood sorrel, dog’s mercury, bluebell and wood anemone.

The complement of mature trees includes mainly oak, ash, sycamore, wild cherry, alder and willow.  There is also a diverse understorey of holly, hazel, blackthorn, hawthorn, elder, and crab apple.

Of particular local significance are the collection of whitebeam trees that grow on the ‘mound’ at Lleiniog beach.  Whitebeam belongs to the Sorbus family, which includes rowan, and is infrequently found on Anglesey.   

A visit to the site can be most rewarding for bird-watchers.  You may be greeted by the sight of a kestrel, effortlessly hovering as it scans the grassland below for mice and voles.  You could hear the plaintive cry of buzzards overhead, contrasting markedly with the noisy cronking of ravens calling to one another.  Listen out for the unmistakable ‘hammering’ of woodpeckers.  All three British species have been recorded here (great spotted, lesser spotted and green).  A blue-grey flash may be all that catches your eye as a sparrowhawk whizzes past, sending small woodland birds diving for cover.  As you walk, you may see inquisitive robins perching close by to watch you pass.  The noisy chattering of long tailed tits often makes it easy to spot groups of these sociable little birds.  You may disturb a grey heron from the banks of the river Lleiniog, and may see mallard and moorhen in the ponds.  Other birds that have been recorded at Aberlleiniog include song thrush, blackbird, nuthatch, blue tit, wren, great tit, tree creeper, wood pigeon, collared dove, stock dove, tawny owl, chaffinch, dunnock, coal tit, jay, magpie, curlew, blackcap, chiffchaff, willow warbler and wood warbler.  Quite an impressive list!

Some of the mammals that have been recorded at the site include brown hare, weasel, field vole, bank vole, and common shrew.  The large numbers of mature and veteran trees at Aberlleiniog provide good habitat for bats, and six different species have been recorded at the site.

The river Lleiniog is used by otters (look out for their ‘spraints’ - droppings - around the base of the timber bridge that crosses the river).  It also supports a large population of brown trout.  Water shrew have been seen on the stretch of river to the immediate north of Llangoed

On warm days you may encounter slow-worms and common lizards basking in sunny spots.  The ponds at the site support common frogs and common toads, palmate newts, impressive dragonflies, colourful damselflies and a whole host of other invertebrates.  Many different kinds of butterflies can be observed fluttering amongst the flowers and shrubs, and species like red admirals can often be seen right up until late autumn.  Even in winter, large, queen bumblebees often emerge from their nests on warm, calm days.

There are lots of young trees at Aberlleiniog, some of which are establishing naturally through self-seeding, and others which were planted in 2004/2005.  These trees, when they mature, will significantly increase the local area of broadleaf woodland cover.  The regeneration of some tree species, e.g. sycamore, is being controlled.  This is to encourage a species composition of the woodland that favours the other native broadleaf trees like oak, ash, wild cherry etc.

Some of the hedgerows have been strengthened and reinvigorated through a programme of coppicing and hedge laying.

It is worth remembering that, as with all wild creatures, the wildlife that you see at Aberlleiniog is dependent on the species, the time of year, the local weather conditions, the level of disturbance etc.  The best advice is to be quiet and still and see what you can see!

Spotted!