Stopping at Conwy on the way to Iceland

Several weeks of northerly airflow has slowed northbound migration, but birds are used to inclement conditions and such is their urge to get to their breeding sites that they can overcome all but the worst weather. Overnight, more common whitethroats have arrived, and it feels as though there are more reed and sedge warblers here, though we won't know for certain until Tim does this week's breeding bird census.  There were at least 15 wheatears yesterday morning (30th), the biggest single count so far this year, including several large Greenland-race birds stopping here before their flight across the North Atlantic. A Scandinavian rock pipit also remained on the saltmarsh until Tuesday (25th) at least.

At least three grasshopper warblers have been 'reeling' this week, including one close to the Visitor Centre, always a special sound for an early morning. The first swifts were seen last Monday (24th), the last of our regular migrants to be recorded, and small numbers have been seen each day since. Whimbrels have also been seen daily, with a peak count of 11 (on Tuesday 25th), while a flock of 9 Icelandic black-tailed godwits fed busily all day on Thursday (27th), both species ultimately heading for the same destination: Iceland. A little ringed plover was reported on Wednesday (26th) and there have been small numbers of common sandpipers and dunlins passing through, while two snipe on Tuesday (25th) may prove to be our last of the spring.

Highlights this week have included whinchats (Sunday 30th and today), a female marsh harrier (Saturday 29th), a great white egret (several dates up to Saturday 29th; thanks to Mike Marshall for the photo), and Sandwich tern (on four dates in the last week) . Red kite has been seen several times this week and a kingfisher on Monday (24th) was the first here for many weeks, as it's primarily a winter visitor.

There are several broods of mallard on the lagoons, ranging in age from a day old to four weeks, and the eggs in the coot nest in front of The LookOut have hatched, with at least three chicks. The house sparrows in a nestbox on the side of the Visitor Centre have laid three eggs, and you can watch progress on the monitor in the Visitor Centre.

The cold winds mean that it's not been a great week for invertebrates, but speckled wood and orange tip butterflies were seen on Sunday (23rd) and a tree bumblebee on Saturday (29th).