Top of the agenda this week are the starlings, with numbers growing each night. An estimated 7,000 stayed with us last night, and our Lead Field Teacher Charlie saw hundreds flying up the Conwy Valley towards the reserve last night as she travelled home. Until the clocks go back, between 5.30 and 6 pm is the best time, but it's less spectacular on wet or windy evenings.
There are plenty of other birds on the move too: this week has seen the first siskins (Saturday) and fieldfares (Monday) of the winter, with more redwings daily and a handful of skylarks high overhead. It's a good way to test your memory for flight calls! We haven't seen any waxwings or bramblings yet, but with waxwings on the Great Orme and Colwyn Bay's West End today and more than 60 bramblings on the Orme this morning, keep looking up.
Down on the ground, the bearded tits have been seen with a flock of long-tailed tits on a couple of mornings this week and the kingfisher was reported on Monday along the Afon Ganol - sightings have been sporadic so far this autumn. The two grey plovers that stayed for well over a week haven't been seen since Sunday, but sparrowhawks and peregrines have been seen almost every day, one of the latter bathing in the lagoon outside the Carneddau Hide yesterday.
On the mammal front, look out for the stoats, latest sightings come from the coffee shop and Benarth Hide, and if you're here at high tide, watch for the grey seal that is still in the estuary, munching on flatfish.
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy