Weatherman Walking at Conwy

If you live in Wales, I'm pretty certain you'll know of Derek Brockway. He has been forecasting the weather to viewers on BBC Wales Today since 1997, has a huge following on Twitter (@DerektheWeather) and is a keen walker. For the last decade, he has been walking some of the most scenic and historic parts of Wales with a camera crew in tow for Weatherman Walking, now in its tenth series.

Last May, Derek visited Conwy nature reserve, where he was guided around by Nicki Cockburn, who is passionate about wildlife, especially birds, since she discovered RSPB Conwy more than a decade ago. Nicki has been blind since birth, but that doesn't stop her getting out and enjoying the countryside, initially around Llandudno where she grew up, and latterly in South Wales, where she now lives. In fact, not much stops Nicki doing anything she puts her mind to. Since I've known her, she has travelled to Australia, scuba dived, done the Great North Run, presented her own show on a community radio station, and moved to Cardiff to go to college. Her most recent 'expedition' was a walk from Bath to Cardiff last autumn, raising funds for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Nicki's companion is guide dog James, though for Weatherman Walking she decided to leave James at home to give Derek the opportunity to guide her. Assistance dogs are very welcome at RSPB nature reserves, and many visually-impaired visitors enjoy their time at RSPB Conwy.

Coming to Conwy was Nicki's idea, when she was approached by the producer. "When I lived in Llandudno, I did a work placement at the North Wales Weekly News, and the reserve manager took me round Conwy nature reserve for a piece I was writing. I realised that this was a place that I could explore safely," she says. "I first got to hear the sounds of birds when my Dad gave me some tapes when I was three years old. But coming to Conwy meant that I could hear lots more species for real."

Derek, Nicki and I spent a day filming our walk at the reserve. Thankfully the sun shone and the birds sang, enabling Nicki to identify birds such as chiffchaffs, robins and oystercatchers (her personal favourite) as we walked. We gave the BBC special permission to use a professionally-piloted drone to take some aerial shots, though it took Nicki a while to get used to the noise. "It sounds like a swarm of bees," she said. She is absolutely right, and relying on her hearing more than a sighted person, is far more aware of sounds in her environment than most of us.

The walk also gave Derek an opportunity to meet up with a former colleague, David Lee, who also worked for the Met Office, and presented weather forecasts on the BBC in Cardiff. David is also a keen birdwatcher and volunteers at the reserve, helping with our monthly waterbird surveys, and showing wildlife to visitors from the viewing hides at the weekends. During a mid-morning coffee break, David and Derek were able to catch up and talk meteorology. "I was just the office boy then," laughs Derek, a twinkle in his eye.

The wildlife was quite interested in us too. Visitor Ian Robertson posted a photo on our RSPB North Wales Facebook page of a fox that sneaked up behind the cameraman for a closer look. None of us had seen it at the time!

The Weatherman Walking series is on BBC1 Wales at 7.30pm every Friday. The programme from RSPB Conwy will be broadcast on Friday 10 February, and will be available on iPlayer. Walks from previous episodes can be downloaded from the BBC website too.

For more details on the accessibility of Conwy, please visit our website.