In midwinter, it can be tempting to wrap up in a duvet and curl up until spring. But the new year brings fresh impetus for birders; the yearlist is wiped clean and we start again for 2015. Top of many local birders' list is firecrest, at least one of which is still here today, though keeping low in the scrub during the blustery conditions, and the Cetti's warbler was heard from the Bridge Pond area this morning…

When I was a child, the RSPB Film Show coming to town was a highlight of my autumn. Other kids might have looked forward to the funfair coming to town, but that was the kind of child-geek I was.

Each November, the Prince of Wales Theatre in Colwyn Bay (now Theatr Colwyn) would be packed with people for an evening of RSPB films. One of the first that I went to see - I must have been age 10, cos I've just looked up the…

It might seem odd to start this week's blog with news of what isn't here, but I thought it worth an explanation! There are relatively few ducks on the lagoons at the moment, and I was discussing this at the weekend with one of our volunteers, a retired meteorologist. He pointed me to this website, which shows the extent of the sea ice in the Baltic Sea in real time compared with the usual extent at this time…

The Bridge Pond has been the birding hotspot recently, with our two firecrests still regular throughout the week, several chiffchaffs (including one that looks 'interesting' as a potential visitor from Russia), and the Cetti's warbler, although it hasn't been seen since Monday (1st). But the surprise was a lone swallow at dusk on Sunday, surely our latest ever here.

Water rails have been regular around…

The end of November, we have our Countdown to Christmas event on Sunday, and we have still barely had a frost. 

But we know it must be Winter because a couple of firecrests have taken up annual residence.  Both are females (judged by those who have studied the photographs), they tend to inhabit the bushes alongside the path between the Bridge Pond and Carneddau Hide.  Following a week of silence, a blast from a Cetti's…

The dark nights are here, Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night are already quickly fading from the memory and Christmas is just a few weeks away. Chris Lusted gives you the lowdown if you're thinking about some new gear for yourself or a loved one.

"We are holding a Binocular and Telescope Day here on Sunday 23 November (10am-4pm). If you are looking for a Christmas gift and you're unsure about any aspect of binoculars…

Our Cetti's Warbler (or one of them, as two have been reported) has become more vocal during the week. It's started to sing rather than just call, its 'explosive' song heard from some distance: if you're not sure what they sound like, listen here. The area around the Bridge Pond is best, and it has occasionally been seen - as Elliot Montieth shows with his photo taken last weekend. The Bridge Pond…

The September drought broke in style on 4th October, and the water levels on the Shallow Lagoon rose an incredible 15 cm in just 3 days. This couldn't have been timed better for us, as some areas of the lagoon were starting to get a little dry and cracked, but everything is looking spot on again now, with plenty of areas of wet mud for the migrant waders, which are still moving through, to feed on. This year has been…

You can't have failed to notice that the bushes are weighed down with berries this year. The good spring, followed by a warm and damp (but not soaking) summer created prime conditions, and the blackberries are especially abundant. Some days have brought lots of blackbirds to feast on them, whereas this morning, the robins were dominant. These aren't all resident birds on the reserve, but how far have they come? We…

Chris Lusted from our shop is passionate about helping people to see wildlife, so he has helped to organise our first Binocular and Telescope Day in The LookOut on Sunday 5 October. He’s written a blog to highlight how optical technology has improved in recent years.

Our event is a great opportunity to try out our range of great quality optics and compare them to the very best on the market. You may be surprised…

September is always a fruitful month. Fruitful because the reserve is rich in the autumn fruits, with blackberries and rosehips especially plentiful this year. and fruitful because autumn migration peaks, with lots of birds heading south - some departing, others arriving.

There have been lots of waders this week, feeding on the muddy edges around the lagoons. The Shallow Lagoon, and the muddy margin in front of the Benarth…

When we had those months of rain and wind last winter, the lagoons filled with more water than we had seen for years (see, for example, this post from 9 February). Actually, this was pretty good news, as it meant that the islands were surrounded in Spring, making it hard for mammals to get to the places the birds nest. We're still totting up our waterbird breeding counts (there are still young moorhens on the reserve…

The Conwy estuary, as are all good wetlands, is like an airport restaurant, open to visitors from all over the world. But its opening times are determined by the tide. When the tide is rising or falling, the runways are busy, bringing more wading birds to feed; but when the tide is high, the doors close while the muddy shelves are re-stocked, and the birds move on to the lagoons, either to carry on feeding, or to have…

Over recent years, little egrets have become a common sight around the estuary, and feeding on the lagoons. Yet, it was only at the turn of the Millennium that these Mediterranean herons first nested in North Wales, and only a few years previously that they first nested in Britain. There are two egret colonies in the valley, including one among the grey herons in Coed Benarth SSSI, on the east bank opposite the reserve…

Paul Martin is an RSPB volunteer who has recently completed a degree in Environmental Studies.  Paul is passionate about wildlife, and over the last few years has been concerned about the way his life affects nature. It's not that Paul lived a more extravagant lifestyle than any one of us - but he did want to do something about it.

Since 2008 I have been busy changing my lifestyle to the reduced carbon-emitting lifestyle…

The rest of the country may find it hard to believe but, with the exception of a couple of days, we've had weeks of wall-to-wall sunshine at Conwy. Flowers have bloomed, insects have buzzed and birds have bred successfully in the warm conditions. Now, as we head into the summer holidays, the water level in the lagoons is dropping noticeably from evaporation and the growth of tens of thousands of reeds. In fact, it…

The reserve is so alive at the moment, it's wonderful. As soon as the day warms and the sun shines, the flowers open and the insects fly.  There are at least four orchid species in flower: bee, pyramidal, southern marsh and early marsh. Ask at the Visitor Centre for details, but come prepared to get damp feet, as it's a bit wet underfoot where some of these flowers thrive.

Several broad-bodied chaser dragonfl…

"All the beetles, so many beetles
They all go hand in hand.
Hand in hand through their...
Pond Life"

I went for a walk at lunchtime; the sun was out and I took a walk around our small ponds, looking for dragonflies. A broad-bodied chaser had been seen yesterday, but I was happy enough with the blue-tailed and common blue damselflies I could see. I sat for a few moments and the clear waters were brimming with…

With breeding season in full swing, I've been busy carrying out all the surveying to help us find out just what species are breeding here, how many of each there are, and how well they do at fledging young.  So, how do we go about this?

First we need to decide which species to survey each year; these are all chosen in advance and set out in our five year Management Plan, and we tend to survey the priority species (ones…

We have had a busy week at the reserve, with lots of families enjoying the good weather through the Easter holidays, and lots of migrant birds to see and hear. We've had large groups of sand martins feeding over the lagoons all week, and each day there have been a few more swallows and house martins among them. White wagtails peaked at 50 on the saltmarsh this week, with a couple of yellow wagtails, and a few more…

The next few weeks are very busy if you're a bird, animal or insect. The explosion of food that comes with warm weather mean that you have to find a mate, and a home, and plenty of food to bring up your young. We have seen lots of our resident birds, such as blackbirds and blue tits, carrying nest material, and over the last fortnight, the summer migrants have arrived, loudly marking the territories that they consider…

For me, green is the colour of spring time, of blackthorn bushes bursting into leaf, the yellow flower-heads of the cowslips pushing through the green crown of leaves, and the first shoots of this year's reed growth poking their heads above the water's surface, amid the straw-coloured stems of last year's reeds.

Of course, green is also the international symbol for 'go', and this week it seems that the…

Tomorrow is St David's Day, our national day, and there seem to be plenty of daffodils already blooming in the Conwy Valley, which always signals to me that our spring is early. The hedgerows already have that faint hue of green that, if the weather remains mild, is a prelude to the blackthorn bursting into blossom over the coming weeks. With news of swallows and sand martins in southern Britain, it's easy to be…

It'll surprise no-one that the continued rain and storms have dominated this week. Principally, our thoughts are with all those affected by the serious flooding in southern Britain, particularly in the Somerset Levels where RSPB staff, volunteers and supporters live.  I've heard some rather odd things said about flooding, farming and why all this has happened, but here are three things worth a read if you want a clearer…

This week we finally achieved something that I've been itching to do for the last few years - tackle some of the really dense bramble at the far end of the reserve near the railway line. This area hasn't been touched since the reserve was created, and has developed into a thick block of impenetrable bramble.  As this becomes over-mature, its value to wildlife decreases. So why have we not got in before now and cut…