Some like it hot

Conwy bathed in the sunshine this week, and in the news that it is the most beautiful place in the UK, and one of the best in Europe, according to a poll of tourist officials (but, of course, we knew that already...).

Beauties on the reserve this week included some colourful butterflies: several painted ladies, red admirals and small tortoiseshells, while the first meadow browns are on the wing and the second generation of brimstones.  Things finally got going for dragonflies this week too.  Ponds that we created in 2011 have proved superb for dragons and damsels, with an emperor dragonfly patrolling one this morning, occasionally going into battle with a broad-bodied chaser.  A real surprise was a black darter, on the Ganol Trail on Wednesday (1st); it's a dragonfly of upland peat bogs, but it's our third record here in the last few years, so perhaps they are spreading.  A couple of silver-Y moths have been seen this week, a day-flying migrant from the continent.

Most of the southern marsh orchids are now past their best, but there are still plenty of bee orchids and common spotted orchids in flower, with smaller numbers of early marsh orchids. The Ganol Trail is best for the last two, but bee orchids are by the side of almost all the trails.

Most of our waterbirds have now reared their young, though there are still a few mallard and tufted duck broods on the lagoons. The great crested grebe chick is now evidently big enough to look after itself: both parents have moved to the Deep Lagoon, leaving their big stripy baby to its own devices on the Shallow Lagoon.  We believe the common sandpiper chicks have fledged, but we're not sure how many, as they've flown off their nesting island and it's hard to tell which are the adults and which are the chicks. Our first nesting little grebes for years, however, seemed to lose their three chicks over last weekend, even though they were a couple of weeks old.

Passage waders are dropping onto the mud as water levels fall in the heat: a little ringed plover this morning (Friday), green sandpiper (Wednesday) and black-tailed godwits all week.  Other highlights this week include a Mediterranean gull from Benarth Hide on Wednesday, stonechat and the first snipe of autumn on Tuesday (30th), and two crossbills and 20+ siskins over the reserve last Saturday (27th).

Finally, our stoat family has been making occasional appearances along the estuary track. We've counted up to six young kits 'playing' on the rocks, while the parents do all the hard work of catching dinner.