NEWBOROUGH WARREN IS A VAST  SALT MARSH-FRINGED AREA of forest, dune and open beach at the south west corner of the Isle of Anglesey/Ynys Mon. Usually a quiet place, it’s rich in wildlife. Most of it is deservedly  one of Wales premier National Nature Reserves.

The saltmarsh bordering the forest here is good for hunting short-eared owl, hen harrier, peregrine and merlin in winter. But the forest’s best known wildlife are probably the red squirrels whose numbers have risen steadily since their reintroduction in 1998, backed by a sustained, island-wide cull of the competing, non-native greys.

Rare plants and animals

Other animals found in the warren include frogs, toads, great crested newts, medicinal leeches, common lizards, grass snakes and adders, while up to 2,000 ravens roost in the heart of the forest on winter nights. The dunes and dune slacks are  also rich in all sorts of rare and unusual plants, including butterwort, shore dock and dwarf adder’s tongue. The huge numbers of orchids here include common-spotted, pyramidal, northern and early marsh orchids, common twayblades and the lovely dune helleborine.

Nearby is the iconic, fingerlike tidal Llanddwyn Island. Remote and unspoilt, Llanddwyn Island is undoubtedly a special place. Cut off from the mainland by only the highest tides, the low-lying rocky headland pushes into the sea at the southern entrance  to the Menai Strait. Wild ponies graze the scant grasses and help preserve the habitat. Its two ancient lighthouses, ruined church, stone crosses and holy well, pilots’ cottages and secluded bays all add to the romance.

Just offshore, the tiny Ynys Adar (or Bird Rock) supports 1% of the British breeding cormorant population. Watch, too, for waders such as sandpipers, oystercatchers and turnstones in the sandy coves and bays, with noisy terns fishing just offshore in summer.

Across the bay, the mountains of Snowdonia provide the perfect pastel blue backdrop.

Lovers’ Island

But the island’s main claim to fame is as the home of St Dwynwen, a 5th-century princess spurned in love, who later became the ‘patron saint of lovers’. She is the Welsh equivalent of Saint Valentine and her Saint’s Day on the 25th January is still celebrated across Wales with cards and flowers.

Today, the island is part of the extensive Newborough Warren National Nature Reserve, which includes Newborough Forest with its red squirrels and ravens, and the beaches, estuary and wildflower-rich dune system. 

Flowers found on the island include thrift, bird’s-foot trefoil, sea holly and yellow horned poppies. Waders such as sandpipers, turnstones and little ringed plovers hunt the shore while terns and cormorants fish just offshore. 

More information: To learn more about the island, visit the free museum  housed in the Old Pilots’ Cottages at the tip of Llanddwyn Island.