I've seen a green sandpiper. That makes it officially autumn!

Every time I've said that so far, I've been moaned at.  "But what happened to summer?"

Of course, birds don't really do summer.  They do arriving, singing (normally males only), egg laying (always females only!), brooding, chick feeding, moulting and - in the case of migrants - leaving.  This week we've had plenty of fledglings making their first flights beyond the nest, with bullfinch, whitethroats and lesser whitethroats being fed, and this morning I watched a young raven being fed bits of a freshly caught crab by one of its parents.  Yesterday, a flock of 20 curlews flew into the estuary and today there was a green sandpiper on one of our newly restored ponds, so these birds are at their 'leaving' stage.  In fact, they've already left wherever they went to nest and are dropping into Conwy as they head south.

A ringed plover has joined the little ringed plovers on the shallow lagoon for the last few days and a couple of dunlins are probably also heading south; a black-tailed godwit was here on Wednesday (15th) with five shovelers that haven't been here through the spring.  A juvenile yellow wagtail was seen on Wednesday (wonder where that bred?) and another two yellow wags were seen on Friday (17th).  A peregrine hunting over the estuary mid week is another sign that non-breeding waders are returning; for the last month, these masterful raptors have stuck to the high ground to hunt.

There's a late brood of lapwings on the islands from the Foel Fras for the last couple of days (that was a nest we hadn't spotted), and there's at least one more lapwing still sitting.  Meanwhile, the oystercatcher and little ringed plover chicks are getting bigger and we're hopeful that they will fledge.

An emperor dragonfly over one of the ponds this week was the first of the year, but it's the family of six stoats that have stolen the show this week.  They emerged from their nesting burrow last weekend, and have been entertaining the photographers and filmakers ever since.  They're not always guaranteed, and this morning are on the estuary track about halfway between Benarth Hide and the car park.  If you get some pictures, why not upload them to our website?