It'll surprise no-one that the continued rain and storms have dominated this week. Principally, our thoughts are with all those affected by the serious flooding in southern Britain, particularly in the Somerset Levels where RSPB staff, volunteers and supporters live. I've heard some rather odd things said about flooding, farming and why all this has happened, but here are three things worth a read if you want a clearer picture:
Thankfully, we've had nothing on the scale of southwest England's weather, but our own rainfall records shows that last winter we had 44.1 cm of rain between 1 October and 9 February, and this year we've had 59.5 cm over the same period. That's 35% more rain, compared to 2012/13 (which itself was wetter than average). After last summer's dry weather, we did pump into the Shallow Lagoon for a while, but it quickly became clear that nature was doing the job for us, and the level is now as high as we've seen it for years, with some of the lower islands submerged. It won't get much higher in this lagoon, however, as it falls over the top of the sluice into the Deep agoon, with its much greater capacity.
The deeper water has meant that many of the diving ducks have moved nearer to the Coffee Shop. Our three long-staying scaup, for example, along with some of the pochards, goldeneyes and red-breasted mergansers. The teal, however, have mostly gone elsewhere, probably to shallow floods in fields elsewhere in the Conwy Valley, and we haven't seen a pintail since 30th January.
Our bird feeders have been very busy this week, particularly the ones in the Wildlife Garden that are more sheltered from the wind. Several smart bullfinches have been prising seeds from the feeders, a great spotted woodpecker has been visiting regularly and siskins are in the tall alders nearby. A firecrest has been several times over the last fortnight, usually near the railway line but occasionally near the Bridge Pond, most recently last Sunday (2nd), the same day as a woodcock, our second of the winter. A kestrel has been hunting the flooded paddocks, looking for mice and voles that have been flooded out of their burrow, while a merlin has reported a couple of times, most recently on Tuesday (4th)
We have a great opportunity coming up at Conwy, as we are recruiting a Visitor Experience Manager, a new post for the reserve. Details are on our website, and the closing date for applications in 28 February.
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy