Late August is an 'anything can happen' time, as both songbirds and waders drop in to rest and feed up as they travel from north to south, on their global journey, for which our geo-political boundaries mean little. Their home at Conwy may only be for a few days, but it's just as important to their survival as the places they nest farther north and the vast habitats in Africa where they will spend the northern winter…

It's starting to feel a bit like autumn, isn't it? Sunrise is that bit later, it's getting dark by 9.30pm, and there's a dew on the grass in the mornings. Birds know that it's autumn too, and that's a time of change.

Some mornings this week, there have been lots of small birds in places you wouldn't expect: a sprinkling of young redstarts in the car park or along the trails; sedge and reed…

Last night, all over the UK, families spent the night under canvas, exploring the world at dusk, night and dawn. Some in their gardens, some on offshore islands, some on RSPB nature reserves. Here's what we did at RSPB Conwy.

Saturday, 6pm: Families arrived ready for their adventure, set up camp, and the fun started!  Jayden gets to grips with an apple.

Saturday 8pm: Children completed challenges and the fire…

I'm Rhianna Braden, I'm 14 years old and I am currently volunteering at RSPB Conwy as part of my Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award.  I will be blogging about some of the reserve's events, such as the Wildlife Explorers Group that meets monthly at the reserve.  Wildlife Explorers is the junior membership of the RSPB, and the events at Conwy are for members aged eight and upwards.  I joined them for their meeting…

One of the highlights of a walk round the reserve trails at the moment is the sight of little red-and-black 'bombers' zipping from flower to flower. They love the ragwort, thistles and teasels, but what are they? Most are burnet moths, and we have three types here: six-spot, five-spot and narrow-bordered five-spot, but until they've settled on a flower, you can't tell them apart (well, I can't anyway).…

Hundreds of people came to our birthday party last weekend, and it was great to see so many old friends and new visitors to the reserve. The weather was glorious on Saturday, and more than a bit damp on Sunday, but on both days there were lots of happy faces exploring nature and discovering how we give nature a home at Conwy.

Below are a selection of photos that we hope capture the spirit of the day.

The first job…

It's that time of year when we need to explain about the water levels in the lagoon outside the Coffee Shop. During the winter, we take advantage of the rain (it sometimes does that in Wales) to fill the lagoon. We rely on rain that falls directly into the lagoons, but can also pump from the Afon Ganol, the stream that runs along our southern boundary, next to the railway line.  In summer, evaporation caused by…

If you have been to the reserve this week, you may have seen that we’ve made a couple of changes around the entrance.

The first is our smart new sign next to the roundabout, which our team of outdoor volunteers installed on Tuesday. Eventually, most RSPB nature reserves will have a sign that looks like this, but Conwy is – we think – the first.

The other change is that we have been installing a new…

It's 20 years since Conwy nature reserve opened its doors to visitors, and how it's changed!  We were created from three million tonnes of mud sucked from the bed of the Conwy estuary during the construction of the A55 road tunnel.  From that, the RSPB has made a home for nature, which is still growing and maturing.  You can read about our origins on our history pages.

We're having a BIG party later this month to…

The reserve is looking really colourful at the moment.  When it's warm, there are lots of butterflies on the wing. We have seen the first gatekeepers this week, numbers of meadow brown have increased and there are lots of red admirals, and a few common blue and speckled woods too. We have also seen a few silver-Ys, day-flying moths that visit here from the continent in the summer, and our first narrow-bordered five…

Conwy bathed in the sunshine this week, and in the news that it is the most beautiful place in the UK, and one of the best in Europe, according to a poll of tourist officials (but, of course, we knew that already...).

Beauties on the reserve this week included some colourful butterflies: several painted ladies, red admirals and small tortoiseshells, while the first meadow browns are on the wing and the second generation…

It's a great time of year to be out on the reserve.  The ground is a blaze of floral colour, and there are lots of young birds, starting out on a new life. 

Each morning, more fledglings leave their nests, and take their first flights. After a few days, they're pretty confident and the willow trees are full of squeaking tits, finches and warblers. On the water, our pairs of great crested grebes and mute s…

Twenty-three years ago, when the first warden Dave Elliott, stood on the bare mud that would open to visitors just three years later, could he have imagined what an amazing home for all sorts of nature RSPB Conwy would become? "It looked like the moon," he says, describing the three million tonnes of mud from the estuary that he needed to turn into a great place for wildlife.

This week, I stood on the footpath…

There are birds everywhere: lots rearing chicks, some already fledged, and some parents already sitting on their second clutch of eggs.

We were delighted to see a brood of four little grebes here this week, the first here for several years. Tiny little stripy balls of fluff, their dedicated parents are catching lots of small fish in the Shallow Lagoon to feed to them. They are staying close to the reeds, into which…

It's been a week of hatchings at the reserve, with our great crested grebes hatching two tiny, stripy chicks from their nest near the Coffee Shop on Monday, swiftly followed by three mute swan cygnets - keep a look out for them on the Shallow Lagoon if you're here this week.  The first moorhen broods are also on the water. Our waterbirds are a bit behind the songbirds, some of which have already fledged; there…

It may already be May, and all our summer migrants are in, but the weather seems to think it's winter still most days, and so it seems do some of our birds. A few of our winter visitors are still with us, including 2 male and a female pochard. Small numbers of pochard breed on Anglesey, so maybe there's a slim chance that they will stay and breed? We also had a pair of wigeon until last week, but seems like the…

Spring has arrived in a rush, with good numbers of many summer migrants already here. It amazes me how quickly, having made the long journey from sub-Saharan Africa, these tiny birds get straight into the business of nest-building.  Last Thursday, for example, I saw the first whitethroat of the year, newly-arrived and making a half-hearted scratchy song from the top of a bush.  By Monday, his song was full-pelt, and he…

We've had a busy week at Conwy. The glorious sunshine has brought thousands of people to the reserve, getting out and enjoying nature. It has also brought lots of summer migrants to the reserve, and the breeding season has really started to get into full swing.

Our great crested grebes have built a nest in reeds across the lagoon from the Coffee Shop, though we don't think they are yet incubating eggs. Our …

April - a new month, with new improved weather.  Fewer days of gale-force winds, and more days of Springtime nature. We hope...

It has certainly got off to a good start, with daily arrivals of summer migrants. We heard our first willow warbler this morning, a bit earlier than usual, and our first white wagtails too.  There should be plenty more in the next couple of weeks. No blackcaps so far, so that's another species…

The days are almost as long as the nights, there's a hint of warmth when the sun shines and the breeze drops, and the first swallow has been seen here.  Does that make it Spring?

This week has seen our first summer migrants, with sand martin on Friday (13th), singing chiffchaffs and a single swallow yesterday (14th). But as everyone knows, that one does not a summer make. The sand martins are on time, but the swallow…

"In like a Lion," says the old proverb about March, and with chilly winds and snow today, there's still something fierce about the winter. But the promise of milder weather is on the horizon, so it may yet go "out like a lamb". So many of our traditional sayings, in both Welsh and English, are built around wildlife's behaviour and the seasons, showing our pre-historic connection with nature.…

February has already thrown snow and gales at us, but with settled weather this week, it has felt slightly like Spring, and we're eagerly looking for the first frog spawn in the ponds or the first butterfly on the wing. Several song thrushes are in full song each morning, their repeated melody ringing from the tops of trees still bare of greenery, and a sign that the breeding season is coming as the northern hemisphere…

This weekend we have a Binocular and Telescope Demonstration event where you can try and buy from our wide range of optics, with friendly and experienced advisors on hand to help you choose the best equipment for your needs. In addition to our usual range, we also have some excellent new models to try, as RSPB has expanded their own range with the new RSPB Harrier telescopes. Chris from the shop has written a little piece…

Have you ever looked at the measuring pole in the water in front of the Coffee Shop and wondered what we actually use it for? At this time of year, our conservation management focuses on pumping plenty of water onto the Shallow Lagoon so that we have enough to keep us going through the summer. The only natural source of water for our lagoons is rainfall (they are completely separate from the estuary), but this isn't enough…

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…