The Bittern has continued to be the talk of the reserve this week, the much wanted bird for visitors. Many have been lucky, managing to see one in flight, swimming, or even running across the grass in front of the Coffee Shop! On Sunday, multiple sightings made us suspect that two Bitterns were present, and by Wednesday, we'd pretty much confirmed this, though we don't yet know of anyone who has seen both together.
The Firecrests continue to be stars, with up to three together today, though the surprise of the week came last Tuesday (8th) when Anthony Pope returned from a walk along the estuary track with this picture on his camera, snapped near the Benarth Hide: a wonderful Short-eared owl. A visitor has just walked into the Centre with two pellets, which we're pretty certain are the remains of its last two meals, suggesting that it's sticking around. Pop into the Visitor Centre over the weekend to see what it coughed up!
The Starlings also continue to impress; although the flock is smaller than a week ago, the display is better, spiced up by hunting Sparrowhawks occasionally. A Treecreeper near the feeders on Monday (7th) was unusual, perhaps it has followed the tits from local woodland now that natural food is becoming scarce. We've seen Lesser Redpoll and Great Spotted Woodpecker on the feeders too. Bullfinches seem numerous too, with up to seven at a time; always a special sight.
The pictures posted to our Flickr page during the year have been fantastic; a huge thanks to everyone who has shared theirs. It makes a great scrapbook of the wildlife at the reserve during the year. We selected the best picture each month as 2012 unrolled and these are now on display in the Coffee Shop, where customers can vote for their favourite photo of the year. Get here before 17 February to help choose the winner.
Finally, a visitor today asked for an up-to-date checklist of the birds of the reserve. Did you know that you can generate one for Conwy, or any other site in Britain or Ireland, using BirdTrack? Over 500 complete lists of sightings have been entered for Conwy so far, and it helps ensure that your records are useful to the RSPB, BTO and the Welsh Ornithological Society. And in the summer, you can add the dragonflies that you've seen, making it even more useful. If we're to save the wildlife that we all love, having good information about its fortunes is essential. This is one way we can all do our bit.
The attached checklist includes all the birds recorded on BirdTrack at Conwy since 2009 - how many will you see in 2013?
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy