A fruitful month

September is always a fruitful month. Fruitful because the reserve is rich in the autumn fruits, with blackberries and rosehips especially plentiful this year. and fruitful because autumn migration peaks, with lots of birds heading south - some departing, others arriving.

There have been lots of waders this week, feeding on the muddy edges around the lagoons. The Shallow Lagoon, and the muddy margin in front of the Benarth Hide have been particularly good. Two spotted redshanks have been since Monday (8th), and are still present today. Up to six little stints have been here, with one still here today, smaller even than the dunlins. A couple of curlew sandpipers have been here since Friday (12th). And add to that knot (today), a garganey (Thursday 11th to Saturday 13th) and increasing numbers of snipe and wigeon, it really has been a great week to go birding on the reserve.

Some migrating birds are making smaller, local movements. Often, these are the changes we understand the least. For example, a Cetti's warbler was found here this morning. This is a skulking bird of the scrub, usually found near water. It's unusual among warblers in that it's a resident bird (apart from Dartford warbler and a few chiffchaffs, most of the rest of the family head south in autumn). But Cetti's warbler is not resident at Conwy, and it's been recorded fewer than 10 times since the reserve was created. The nearest breeding birds are at wetlands in Anglesey and the Llŷn Peninsula, but could this have come even farther?

There are plenty of chiffchaffs here at the moment, some singing as though it's spring, and over the last few days, garden warbler, sand martin and wheatear have all been spotted. Will these be the last of the year? Blackcap, reed and sedge warbler are still here too, and should stay on for another week or more.

Grey wagtails have been more prominent recently, seen daily, and a couple of kingfishers have been bombing around the lagoons and the estuary. We're hoping that both are back here for the winter. Likewise, water rails are being seen more frequently - check the reedy edges of the lagoons. A firecrest was near the entrance gate on Saturday (6th), but wasn't seen again, while a stoat on the estuary track this morning was the first sighting for a while.

The warm weather has brought out butterflies and dragonflies: speckled wood, red admiral and small copper, and we also received nice photos of black darters, a dragonfly of boggy pools, taken here at the end of August. It's only the second time they have been recorded here - where did they come from?