Doing a great job for nature

Improved weather over the weekend has encouraged more people to get outside, and made it easier to see some of the smaller birds. Firecrests have been seen in several places over the weekend, suggesting that at least three are present, while the water pipit was seen on the Shallow Lagoon islands today (14th). A Cetti's warbler was refound and photographed (by Henry Cooke) on Friday and seen by some of the visitors on our weekly guided walk yesterday morning. Amazingly, it is wearing a leg-ring, so we wonder where it has come from. In North Wales, they are scarce birds away from Anglesey.

It certainly has a feel of Springtime. The song thrushes are in full song and the male goldeneye is busy displaying; he is outnumbered five to one by the females on Valentine's Day.  Water rails are squealing regularly in the reedbeds, another sign that the breeding season will soon be underway, although not all our wintering water rails will stay here for the summer. A couple of chiffchaffs are overwintering around the reserve, and may well start to sing in the next couple of weeks as the days get longer.

A couple of great crested grebes are around the reserve, commuting between the estuary and the lagoons, while there are still wigeons, gadwall and pochards on the lakes. The first greenshank of the year was spotted here on Thursday (11th), and chough have been seen several times this week.

The starling murmuration has been impressive this week, with numbers heading towards 10,000. Pick a fine afternoon (calm and dry is best) and expect to see the action between 4.30pm and 5pm. They are mostly roosting near the car park, so you don't have to go too far to see them, but to get a vantage point, walk up the small hill behind the Coffee Shop.  We posted a short videoclip of the starlings on Facebook last week - take a look here.

Finally, we're recruiting a Membership Development Officer for the reserve, and the closing date is Monday 22 February. If you a great natural communicator who gets a buzz from making sales, can deliver a consistently brilliant visitor experience and generate income by growing support for the RSPB through membership, you could be 'the one'. Working Thursday to Monday each week as part of the Visitor Experience Team, you will be able to enthuse visitors - particularly families - and a small team of volunteers who assist with membership recruitment.Click here for details.