First up – I hadn’t been drinking and I gave up the jazz cigarettes some time ago!!
I had a close encounter of the feline kind this morning at the car park near the transmitting station at Moel y Parc.
Returning to my vehicle from the grass slope where the Ring Ouzels had been feeding earlier in the week, I noticed a largish mammal facing away from me.
I immediately put my bins to my eyes and was astonished to see not a fox but a large, thickset, light brown and black cat.
After looking at the cat for about four or five seconds it became aware of my presence and immediately shot off into the gorse.
I followed the path of the cat, but unfortunately I could not relocate it, so I scooted home to browse the internet for any clues.
The nearest ‘fit’ seems to be a Scottish Wildcat, although the animal I saw was slightly larger, less lithe and a little darker.
I suppose the most logical explanation would be a huge domestic cat, but I think its obvious timidity and size seems to rule out this possibility.
That raise the obvious question of why a cat of this size would be in the Clwydians – and living well judging by its size.
Perhaps it had been feeding on Dotterel and Ring Ouzel as there was no sign of either at the crack of dawn this morning.
However, a walk down the eastern side of the fort ramparts at Penycloddiau produced lots of Yellowhammers, five male Redstarts, a flyover Tree Pipit and my first ever pair of on-territory Flintshire Whinchat.
Until later.
Ring me! 007
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