Last weekend was our first ever Bioblitz, a 24 hour audit of the wildlife on the reserve. It's only a snapshot, of course, but we had lots of experts assisted by hundreds of eyes and ears. There's still plenty of data to be added to the total, as several plants and insects were taken for later identification. The total so far is 250 species, including 9 UK Biodiversity priority species and an impressive 44 Conwy Biodiversity priorities. We've had some great feedback from visitors who enjoyed helping with the various blitzes. We were surprised by how many small mammals we found: all bank voles and wood mice, but there was one in almost every trap! Richard Gallon found a spider that only occurs at two other sites in North Wales, and a pair of six-belted clearwing moths, which haven't been recorded in Conwy before - the nearest records are from Flintshire. You can check the latest totals here, and we'll report on the final findings later in the summer when we've got all the data. Huge thanks to everyone involved.
By comparison with all that excitement, most of our bird news is a bit more routine. Highlights are undoubtledly the common sandpiper chicks bobbing busily around the shallow lagoon, usually with a parent 'peeping' noisily nearby. The adult and young little ringed plovers are now more mobile, so you could find them anywhere on the lagoons - it probably won't be too long before they head south. Also heading south are black-tailed godwits, with up to 10 each day, many still in their resplendent orange finery. We've seen a few redstarts through the week, presumably more locally-bred youngsters. A juvenile spotted flycatcher on Saturday (9th) also hopefully bred locally, as Sarah saw one last month on some neighbouring land, but 'the-one-that-got-away' was a possible nightjar hawking over the reserve in the gloaming on a warm Saturday evening during the Bioblitz. The behaviour and timing sound perfect, and it would be a first record for the reserve. A yellow-legged gull was seen again last Wednesday (6th), a greenshank on Tuesday (5th), and a hummingbird hawkmoth on Sunday (3rd). The bridge pond and the adjacent new ponds are brimming with insect life - broad-bodied chasers, emperor dragonfly and blue-tailed damselflies are among the species seen this week.
This week, we've also started to put out some of the panels that tell our stories. The first, on the estuary track, provides some nuggets of history that you can see in the view across the river. One of our Gallery contributors, Puffin Man, snapped the 'unveiling' moment, as Sarah and the volunteers removed the bubblewrap to reveal the 180 degree picture taken by Kris Webster. See the photo here.
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy