Y Foryd (meaning 'the estuary' or 'the inlet'), also known as Foryd Bay, is a tidal bay in Gwynedd, Wales. It is located at the south-western end of the Menai Strait, about two miles south-west of

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...

. Several rivers flow into the bay and there are large areas of mudflats and

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

. A shingle spit partly blocks the mouth of the bay. At the north-western end is

Fort Belan Fort Belan (alternative: Belan Fort; pronounced: ''Bell-ann'') is a coastal fortress in North Wales. It is located opposite Abermenai Point, at the south-western end of the Menai Strait, on the coast of Gwynedd, in the parish of Llanwnda. S ...

, built during the 18th century. Aerial photography in the drought of 2018 identified rectangular structures possibly of Roman age, at Glan y Mor, o
slightly raised ground adjacent to the shoreline
This layout is very unusual in Roman Wales; it is rectilinear but has no defences and is otherwise unlike the military Roman sites in Wales, nor does it resemble the native defended settlements with their roundhouses and irregular outlines, nor the occasional villas. It is similar to the buildings and ditched enclosures excavated on the other side of the Menai Strait at Tai Cochion. To the south is a rectangular ditched structure or possible building, with an internal subdivision, measuring 25 by 13 m. To the north is a pair of almost identical structures; both groups are linked by a linear ditch or boundary. Close by, an early field system runs north-west to south-east between Plas Farm and the shores of the Menai Strait; the fields are rectangular, with at least one visible ditched

hollow way A sunken lane (also hollow way or holloway) is a road or track that is significantly lower than the land on either side, not formed by the (recent) engineering of a road cutting but possibly of much greater age. Various mechanisms have been pro ...

. The bay has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and in 1994 it became a Local Nature Reserve because of its importance for wildlife. Many

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s visit in winter and during migration, including large numbers of

wildfowl The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on ...

and waders such as

wigeon The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species. Biology There are ...

which peak at over 3000 birds. Notable species include

brent goose The brant or brent goose (''Branta bernicla'') is a small goose of the genus ''Branta''. There are three subspecies, all of which winter along temperate-zone sea-coasts and breed on the high-Arctic tundra. The Brent oilfield was named after t ...

, jack snipe,

spotted redshank The spotted redshank (''Tringa erythropus'') is a wader (shorebird) in the large bird family Scolopacidae. The genus name ''Tringa'' is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek ''trungas'', a ...

and

greenshank The common greenshank (''Tringa nebularia'') is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. The genus name ''Tringa'' is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek ''trungas' ...

Tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...

s roost at the mouth of the bay.McFarland, Valerie (1990) ''RSPB Guide to Birdwatching on Anglesey & Lleyn'', The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy.

References

Bontnewydd, Gwynedd Llandwrog Llanwnda, Gwynedd Menai Strait Bays of Gwynedd Nature reserves in Gwynedd Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Gwynedd {{Gwynedd-geo-stub