Our Cetti's Warbler (or one of them, as two have been reported) has become more vocal during the week. It's started to sing rather than just call, its 'explosive' song heard from some distance: if you're not sure what they sound like, listen here. The area around the Bridge Pond is best, and it has occasionally been seen - as Elliot Montieth shows with his photo taken last weekend. The Bridge Pond has also hosted a regular Kingfisher (visitors watched it for up to 20 minutes at a time today) and a Water Rail.
A Green-winged Teal was reported this morning, but there was no sign during the monthly Wetland Bird Survey, which did feature Scaup, Pochards, Goldeneye, Dunlins and up to 30 Black-tailed Godwits. A Rock Pipit was on the estuary, several Goldcrests are hunting insects in the scrub and at least one Chiffchaff remains - not a bad day at the office!
Skylarks have been heard most mornings this week - these are over-flying migrants, heading west as winter arrives from the north. Grey Wagtail and Great Spotted Woodpecker have also been seen daily, while a Blackcap and Pintail were here on Wednesday (5th). Two Whooper Swans flew east on Monday (3rd), while a Sanderling and Chough were reported last Friday (31st).
A couple of weeks ago, Starling numbers were building to several thousand, but since then have dispersed and there have been only a few dozen here this week. We'll keep our Facebook and Twitter pages updated if they return, as we know lots of visitors are keen to see this autumn murmuration spectacle.
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy