There are signs of Spring out there; we haven't spotted any frogspawn yet, but the daffodils around the Visitor Centre are pushing upwards and it won't be long before some of the early wild flowers start to appear. The deep yellow flowers of the gorse are in flower, of course, providing an early source of nectar for any early Queen bumblebees and hoverflies that emerge in the coming weeks. Gorse brightens the reserve throughout the year, and there is an old English saying that "when gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of fashion", such is its propensity to flower at any time of the year.
It's that stage in mid-Winter when bird movements have pretty much come to a stop. Birds here are the ones that have been with us for a while, although I have noticed a few more goldeneyes this week, a goosander remains on the Deep Lagoon, and water pipit has been seen most days (though can be elusive). There have been lots of bullfinches around in recent weeks, with groups of up to 10, and there have been a few siskins, a finch that has been hard to find this Winter.
A woodcock was a surprise sight over the Coffee Shop on Friday morning (27th), and as the water level has risen on the lagoons, the wigeons and snipe have been feeding on the grass in front of the Coffee Shop. A treecreeper has been spotted several times in the last few weeks, and a Cetti's warbler was seen at the Bridge Pond last Monday (23rd). Greenshank and pintail were good sightings on Sunday (29th), and a firecrest was seen most recently on Sunday 22nd. Following the success of little grebes nesting here last year, it's great that at least a dozen birds have stayed through the Winter, the whole group sometimes feeding together. We love the photo of this one catching one of the plentiful three-spined sticklebacks taken (appropriately) by 'welshflyfisher' and posted on our Flickr page.
A common sandpiper was seen by a visitor on Friday (27th), and I heard one this morning, perhaps the same individual that was seen over Christmas a little farther upriver at Tal-y-Cafn. These are usually Summer visitors to Britain, spending their Winter in North and West Africa, but individuals have wintered on the riverside before.
We've had lots of enquiries about starling murmurations, which up to now has been non-existent. Last night, however, a few thousand birds did arrive around 4.20pm, and displayed above the lagoons for around 20 minutes. Keep in touch with us via Facebook or Twitter to see if this murmuration is set to develop over the coming weeks.
Finally, a few other bits of news. We had a wonderful day on Friday, with Iolo Williams signing his new book 'Wild Places' in the shop; thank you to everyone for your patience, as he was busy for the whole two hours! We then had a relaxed evening's entertainment, with a Question-and-Answer session that covered everything from the illegal killing of birds of prey, to his scariest moment filming for television. Big thanks to Iolo for spending his day with us.
We're hoping that work on our new pond, funded by Big Lottery Wales, will be completed by the end of this week, but the footpath will be closed for a period while the contractors, Kehoe Countryside, reinstate the path. The path along the boardwalk will remain open, however.
We also have an exciting job opportunity, for a part-time Visitor Experience Assistant. Full details are on our website and applications close on 14 February. If you're great with people and fancy joining our team, this could be your moment to shine!
Finally, don't forget to watch Weatherman Walking, on BBC1 Wales on Friday 10 February, featuring the reserve. Read more about it on this blog post.
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy