Our project to create an eco-building, The LookOut, took another two leaps forward last week: the roof was completed and we put the last bales of straw into the walls and the floor.  But we're not finished yet!

To recap the story so far (a bit like a documentary that thinks you don't have the attention span to follow the plot between the ad breaks): in early May, we stuffed the roof with 90 bales of straw and four…

Did you see the Conwy Connections film we launch last month? Don’t worry if you missed it. Here it is again for you to enjoy! But first, let me introduce the important people behind the film-making to you.

When the makeover started back in October, we thought it would be great to document the whole redevelopments on camera and show it on big screen in the big launch day on 31st August. But, we couldn’t wait until…

MudMag is a Conwy Connections newsletter specially written for our younger visitors. But you're never to old to enjoy MudMag, so have a read! A printed copy is available at our Visitor Centre on the reserve.

The next edition, and the last one, will be out mid-summer. 

Mwd yw newyddlen Cysylltiadau Conwy yn arbennig ar gyfer y to ifanc. Ond does neb yn rhy hen i fwynhau Mwd chwaith, felly joiwch! Mae copiau wedi'w printio ar gael yn y Ganolfan Ymwelwyr ar ein gwarchodfa.

Bydd yn nesaf, a'r olaf, allan yng nghanol yr haf.

How will future generations judge us? What will they think of life in 2013. Will they consider that we cared about wildlife or just frittered its future away because of self-interest? It's a question that has been asked a lot this week, not least by wildlife broadcaster Iolo Williams who was in Cardiff to launch State of Nature, a major report that brought together experts from many organisations to spell out the…

Two days of sunshine over the bank holiday weekend and the true sign of summer: dragonflies are emerging from our ponds.  Yesterday we saw blue-tailed damselfly and broad-bodied chaser on the reserve, and the encouraging news is that these appear to have hatched from the Briar Pond (between the bridge pond and the A55), which we only created two years ago.  Since dragonflies have a two year life cycle, this means that it…

Regular visitors (virtual or real) will have seen that we've been building The LookOut, a new building near the Coffee Shop. It's an eco-friendly building, and unusually for building projects, we (staff and volunteers) are having a hands-on role in putting it up.  A couple of weeks ago, we posted a photo-diary of us building the roof.  Over the last week or so, we have built the walls, and over this weekend, we…

If you've visited the reserve over recent weeks, you'll have seen our new building, The LookOut, emerging from the earth bank next to the Coffee Shop.  When it's finished, we'll use it for all sorts of events and activities, and it'll be open to visitors most days to enjoy the wildlife on the lagoon.  But this is no ordinary building. If you've been following progress on our blog, you'll know that…

These last few weeks have seen amazing aerobatic displays from hundreds of swallows, martins and swifts, zooming past at head height busy feeding up on insects after their long journey back from Africa. The one benefit of all this rain is that at least it makes the displays even more spectacular - in these conditions the insects keep low and so do the birds, hawking for them sometimes only feet from the ground. Visitors…

Conwy Wildlife Explorers have been raising money to help the RSPB's  Rockhopper penguin appeal.  Rockhopper penguins live mainly in the south Atlantic Ocean and their numbers have been dropping  -  less than one tenth of what it was in the 1950s.  The reason for this  isn't clear and  so the RSPB want to investigate. The money that we raise will go towards buying gadgets like data loggers and satellite tags that will…

The latest part of our Conwy Connections project has really started to shape-up this week.  And now we can reveal what we're going to call the new building that will soon grow next to the Coffee Shop.

This week has seen a load of steel work arrive on site. The only steel in the finished building will be the door and its frame, but to ensure we can build everything safely, we have created a scaffold 'cage' to enable…

One of the highlights of our spring is the displaying Lapwings, as Conwy is one of only a handful of sites along the North Wales coast where these once-common waders now nest, following a serious decline across Wales.  Last autumn, we scalped the islands on the lagoons, removing all the vegetation so that when the Lapwings returned in March, they'd have short grass on which to nest (they like it short so they can keep an…

Apart from the fresh new look, the exciting new facilities such as the new play area, new picnic area, new viewpoint...and everything else that Conwy Connections has to offer, Conwy Connections has created many other opportunities, including the chance to work with some of Conwy’s greatest talents.

Artist Richard Hackett, from Colwyn Bay, painted a fresh new mural for the Tal-y-Fan hide. He took time away from…

Nature Observatory - work begins
Work has started on the new building this week. We've scooped out the earth bank between the Coffee Shop and the boardwalk, and apart from the brick foundations, glass windows and steel door, the whole construction has been grown.  The wood, of course, has been growing for many years, sucking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it did so, and as it is FSC-certified, we can be…

The Spring that we thought would never come has finally arrived in a rush.  Gales earlier this week made finding birds difficult, but the last two calm sunny days made it all seem worthwhile.  In the space of a week, many of our expected summer migrants have arrived: yellow wagtail (Sunday 14th, and more today), whimbrel (Monday 15th), redstart (Wednesday 17th, with more on Thursday and Friday), whitethroat and sedge wa…

I've been on holiday for a few weeks, and I had a fantastic time of course, but I was also looking forward to getting back to Conwy to see the progress made on Y Maes while I was away.  We've been able to open some parts of it for the Easter weekend, and the rest will open in phases over the next few months.  As you'll see from the pictures below, the wet ground conditions have made the job a bit more difficult…

Helo! O’r diwedd, fe glywn ni chi’n dweud...dyma ein bwletin Cysylltiadau Conwy diweddaraf!

Os oedd eich ymweld diwethaf y llynedd, wel, mae sypreis yn eich disgwyl ar gyfer y tro nesaf. Fel y disgwylir, rydym wedi’n cyffroi’n fawr ac yn hapus iawn gyda'r ail-wampio hyd yma...ond mae dal peth ffordd i fynd.

Am y diweddariad, cliciwch isod i agor y bwletin.  

Hello! At last, we hear you say...here is our latest Conwy Connections bulletin!

If you haven’t been to visit us since last year, well, you’re in for a surprise! Just as expected, we are very excited and pleased with the redveleopments...but there’s still some work to be done.

For the latest update, click below to open the bulletin:

Still not sure about investing in new equipment then put your worries to rest and call in and see us on Saturday 30th March for the best in service and support. Buying any new equipment should be taken seriously; just because it has a great review doesn’t mean that it will work for you. We always advice a hands on trial of any considered equipment; you may be surprised at the outcome. We carry a wide range of equipment…

Over the Easter weekend we will be holding a binocular and telescope day on Saturday 30th March.
With the Easter break a few weeks away it’s still cold and snowing as I write with just a few signs of spring starting to show. People are starting to make enquires about new binoculars and scopes in time for the start of the new breeding season.  We get a vast range of enquiries about the best to use, the brightest or…

Sorry that it's been a while since the last Sightings blog, but it's been a tad busy here with all the Conwy Connections work going on! Every day when we look out at the work on Y Maes we see something different and new, and it's been the same out on the reserve - change is definitely in the air.

We've still got some of our winter visitors, with the firecrest continuing to be seen by those with either…

This month, as part of the new projects on the reserve, the Wildlife Explorers Conwy worked on a cool new feature – Tegi the Earth Dragon.
Tegi is made from mounds of earth. A builder made Tegi for kids to play on and it was our job to lay grass seed on Tegi.We were each given a bit to work on. First we picked out big stones from the earth, then we got a gardening fork and gloves and started turning over the earth…

Binocular Day Saturday 30th March.
We are holding our first Binocular and Telescope day of the year on Saturday 30th March from 10.00am until 4.00pm. The full range of RSPB equipment along with selected items from Viking and others will be available for a hands on try.
If you have just taken your binoculars or scope out over the last few bright crisp days and find that you would like something better, more compact , lighter…

Two years ago the wildlife explorers made a wildlife pond. On the February meeting this year the wildlife explorers did pond dipping in it for the first time. The pond was teaming with life. We found loads of little critters swimming around. This is a good sign of the pond being clean and a good habitat for the pond life. The pond was compared to the main pond dipping one and we found our own little pool had just as many…

Somewhere in southwest Africa, right now, are some Reed Warblers.  Perhaps even this very Reed Warbler, photographed here last summer, carrying food to its youngsters in a nest hidden deep in the reeds.  They're preparing to make the long migration north, so need a network of good quality wetlands rich in insects stretching all the way from Africa to Wales.

This photo was taken by Aled Williams, and has just been…