A day of bright colours on the Great Orme

On a hot sunny day in July, there is no finer place to be than perched on the edge of a sea cliff on the Great Orme, with a picnic, a camera, binoculars and pleasant like minded company. The colours are staggering. To the north, the seemingly endless blue sea stretches away into the distance, the flat calm occasionally broken by porpoise or seal, and  dotted with gulls, guillemots and razorbills. To the west the red sands of the Conwy estuary sit in front of the mighty Snowdonian mountains and the Island of Anglesey. To the east, the beautiful Victorian seaside town, Llandudno, still with its donkey rides, Punch and Judy and Grand Hotel. Llandudno heaves with tourists, yet up here on the Great Orme we sat for two hours and hardly saw a single person.

The Great Orme is hardly renowned for it's sea bird colonies, yet there are still good numbers of auks, Kittiwakes, Fulmars, Cormorants and Shags, and these are periodically scattered in all directions by the hunting pair of Peregrines in residence near the old lighthouse. I watched as the male caught prey and then handed it over in flight to the much larger female. Ravens croak overhead and if you are lucky you may also see a pair of Choughs.

Yet despite all of these wonderful views, birds and seaside attractions, I spent most of the day looking at the array of colours around my feet.  This is limestone country, and the flora and associated invertebrates are what really make this place special.


There are many spectacular seascapes on the Great Orme, whilst at your feet fly the iridescent gems which are Cistus Forrester moths. These are day time fliers which love the bright sunlight, and the Great Orme is a  good place for seeing them.



In different light conditions they appear to change colour.

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The Great Orme is home to a wide variety of butterflies, including Large Skipper (photographed here on Bloody cranesbill), but also Dark Green Fritillary, Silver-studded Blue and Grayling. Like Bloody Cranesbill, Field Scabius is a fairly common plant on the cliff edges.


Common Rockrose is a common plant on limestone, but when seen alongside Hoary Rockrose Helianthemum oelandicum, it virtually guarantees that you are in North Wales, because outside of coastal Wales, and the north in particular it is a very rare plant.


There may be no Spring Gentians on the Orme, but these Harebells did their best to make up for that!