This is National Insect Week, so we thought we'd show you one of the littler things than run the nature reserve. It's a figwort weevil, and it is one of several invertebrates photographed on the reserve recently by Mal Delamare, and shared on our Flickr page. Close-up photographs shared here are really helpful to us - in fact, Mal's pictures have enabled us to add a couple of new species to the reserve list this week! And yesterday while we were doing some survey work, Julian snapped a longhorn beetle that turned out to be Rutpela maculata and appears to be the first record for the western half of Denbighshire.
Conwy reserve is in its 21st year (since we opened), so there are still new things to find here. If you find something, don't assume we already know about it! We will be searching hard for all the things that buzz, crawl, bloom, flit and slither next weekend (2/3 July) in our Big Nature Count, a Bioblitz of the reserve in partnership with Cofnod. Why not come down and help us; you might find something we've never see before, and it's a great way to learn from the experts.
This week has seen lots of interest in our orchids, especially the bee orchids and southern marsh orchids, although the latter are starting to go past their best. Visitors have spotted five different bumblebee species, and ringlet butterflies have emerged en masse, with lots here in yesterday's sunshine. The stoat family on the estuary have been hard to spot this summer, but a few patient watchers have seen an adult and up to five young kits.
A green sandpiper yesterday (23rd) is the first of the autumn passage, and we've noticed a few redshanks (around a dozen) and curlews (up to 30) here this week, all signs of southbound migration. There are lots of young birds around at the moment, especially sedge warblers, which seem to be having an excellent breeding season. A kingfisher was seen this morning (24th) and a water rail reported on Monday (20th) were the first reported for a while.
Julian HughesSite Manager, Conwy