June and July are traditionally the months when birders turn their attention to butterflies and dragonflies (and in our case, stoats!) as it all goes a bit quiet on the bird front. However, we seem to have a good mix of birds on the reserve just now, with summer wader chicks, ducklings and returning “autumn migration” waders all thrown into the mix.
We still have a solitary lapwing sitting, due to hatch her chicks any day now, and a little ringed plover on a nest straight out from the Tal y Fan Hide. Also on the Shallow Lagoon, there are 2 broods of little ringed plover chicks; one full grown juvenile and a brood of 3 smaller ones still with the parents. We also saw a brood of 3 common sandpiper chicks yesterday on the Shallow Lagoon, with the parents busily calling to keep in contact with them. A brood of 9 tiny tufted duck was spotted in amongst the Canada goose flock on 28 June, and the great crested grebes, whose nest was washed out at the end of May, are having another go on the Deep Lagoon.
The usual return migrants are starting to trickle through, with greenshank seen on a daily basis, up to 4 black-tailed godwit, over 40 redshank, and 45 curlew on the lagoons. Teal numbers continue to build, and the Canada goose count has swelled to 340 now – hopefully once they’ve all completed their annual moult, the vast flotillas that we currently have will move off again to pastures new. Less common sightings include a juvenile redstart between 30 June and 3 July, a grey wagtail on 28 June, an adult yellow-legged gull on 1 July, and a hobby was seen chasing the swallows during our Saturday morning walk this week.
Next weekend (9 and 10 July), we’re holding a BioBlitz event, the first of its kind to be held here. We aim, over the space of 24 hours, to find as many different species of wildlife as possible on the reserve, to see how much it has changed in the 20 years since it was created. We will have a team of naturalists here looking at a whole range of species, including small mammals, bats, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, fungi, plants and spiders. They will be leading guided walks, and we’d love folk to come along, join in and get close to our wildlife. The walks on Sunday 10 July will all be free, but the usual reserve entrance charges apply for non RSPB members. Booking is not required, but spaces on each session are limited, so turn up early to guarantee a place. A full programme is on the RSPB website (www.rspb.org.uk/conwy) or available from our Visitor Centre. Hope to see you there!
PS Sorry for the lack of picture this week, but we're having technical problems with the blog!