Barely had we got over the excitement of watching the buff-breasted sandpiper last weekend, when another wader brightened up this weekend. A grey phalarope was found yesterday and is still here this morning, busily bobbing along the shore in front of the Carneddau Hide. Strong winds brought several to north Wales last week, though this is the most easterly. Adrian Foster got this photo of it on Saturday, and posted it on Flickr.
The supporting cast of waders has been pretty good too: ruff, greenshank and black-tailed godwits on most days, spotted redshank throughout the week, curlew sandpipers and little stint on Friday (23rd), and a knot on Wednesday (21st). It's the time of year when we note down every summer migrant we see, as it may not be here tomorrow. Most of the warblers have gone, though blackcaps and chiffchaffs are still around this morning, and house martins and swallows should be daily until the end of the month. Our last reported lesser whitethroat was last Sunday (18th).
Other highlights this week include a skylark this morning, wheatears on Wednesday and Saturday, kingfisher on Thursday (22nd), and we've had increased numbers of grey wagtail sightings this week. A team from North Wales Wildlife Trust came and helped with an otter survey on Wednesday. We didn't see any otters, but we found several spraints (a posh word for poo) around the reserve.
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy