Late October is when Autumn starts to meet Winter, but at Conwy, the sunny days continue to provide a Summer feel, especially with chiffchaffs and blackcaps still seen daily, plus common darter dragonflies and red admiral butterflies. A common sandpiper last Friday (21st) was a late summer visitor, although individuals have overwintered farther upriver in previous years.
Our great white egrets are still here, with five seen this week (is the sixth still somewhere nearby too?) and a couple of garganeys too. But Winter comes in the form of roosting redwings and a small (1000-bird) murmuration of starlings. A couple of pintails are looking elegant on the Deep Lagoon, while three whooper swans were enjoyed by visitors here on Saturday (22nd). There are more little egrets here than usual for the time of year, and we love this photo by Jan Cohen posted to our Flickr pool, of a little egret scattering the redshanks as it lands on the lagoon.
Water rail and snipe are becoming easier to spot from the hides (and a jack snipe was reported last Friday), while goldcrests are more numerous around the scrub. Look out, too, for kingfishers, which are seen most days, and listen for the honking call of ravens flying high above the reserve.
We had a great evening on Saturday, when 200 people came to Celebrate the Night. Thanks to the lighting technicians from Venue Cymru, the reserve looked magical, and families were able to see moths and listen to bats, as well as make their own lanterns and see the stars through the astronomers' telescopes. Thanks to everyone who came to help us, and to Conwy Arts Trust. There are some more photos on our Facebook page.
If you have visited in the last couple of weeks, you may have seen work on our new reedbed soakaway. The reserve is not on the mains sewage system, and 80,000 visitors produce quite a lot of, err.., effluent. The 'grey water' from our septic tank now flows to a small new reedbed near the A55. Bacteria grows around the rhizomes (roots) of the reeds and in the sand and gravel, which break down the organic matter. The cleaner water then soaks into the ground through pipes leading from the reedbed. The steel barriers are temporary; we will be fencing the reedbed soon, and adding some simple interpretation.
We'll be doing some more construction next week, putting a fence in the channel between the Carneddau Hide and the first island. These islands are visited by mammals, such as foxes, which will eat the eggs and chicks of nesting birds, but even their presence can deter birds from settling on the islands. We have constructed a fence in the channel to reduce the number of visits made by mammals, especially when the water level is low. We’ll monitor the fence to see how effective it is, and the islands so we know if ground-nesting birds feel safer. This is part of our Wild About Nature project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. There will be some disturbance while we are doing the work next week, but after it's complete we will be able to remove the electric fence that we use to stop the ponies walking onto the islands.
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy