Hi,

As we enter the month of August the majority of woodland birds have finished nesting and small passerines have started to form mixed feeding flocks. Catching up with a mixed flock along a hedgerow or in a woodland can be particularly rewarding with resident birds such as Goldcrest, Blue Tit and Treecreeper hanging out with summer migrants like Redstart, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. Another mixed flock which has…

Hi,

Top sighting this week was a flyover Yellow Wagtail from the Red Trail (23^rd), this summer migrant usually inhabits lowland agricultural fields with the nearest known local population located towards Welshpool. Another highlight this week was an Osprey which flew down the lake (23^rd). The lake also played host to 30x Canada Geese, 30+ Mallard, 3x Teal, 3x Great Crested Grebe, 1x Cormorant and 4x Grey Heron.

Frequent…

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As temperatures soared on the reserve so did the number of flying invertebrates. Black Darter and Emerald Damselfly were recorded for the first time this year whilst Four-spotted Chaser, Common Hawker, Emperor Dragonfly, Brown Hawker and Golden-ringed Dragonfly could also be sighted along the reserve trails. A Holly Blue butterfly in the Eunant area was a good record. The weekly butterfly transect recorded Large…

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The fine and relatively dry weather continued this week resulting in a further reduction in height of the lake’s water levels. Unfortunately this looks to have put an end to the Great Crested Grebe’s nesting attempt for the time being. On the flip side the Centenary Hide saw an increase in activity as 1x Kingfisher (12^th), 4x Grey Heron, Mallard and Grey Wagtail took advantage of the small pools which…

The fields glisten as the suns early morning rays strike the dew, the watery cloak only missing around the sheep highway. The wheezy coo of a Wood Pigeon travels from the forest edge meanwhile a Song Thrush tilts its head and focuses on a surfacing earthworm, striking and obtaining the first food parcel for it’s offspring of the day.

Whilst wading through waist high bracken a flurry of Ringlet butterflies emerge…

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Another week of mostly fine weather resulted in good butterfly and dragonfly numbers which included a new addition to the reserve list in the form of Keeled Skimmer. Common Hawker, Broad-bodied Chaser and Banded Demoiselle were recorded for the first time this year. A fresh emergence of Red Admiral butterflies was noticeable whilst good numbers of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Ringlet, Meadow Brown and Small …

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Blue skies and warm sunshine are always in a recipe for a good day to be out and about however if you add a large splash of Common Scoter and a drop(in) of Osprey then your day’s rating goes from good to absolutely brilliant. That’s exactly what happened on the 19^th June when an Osprey flew over the dam early doors followed by a late afternoon discovery of 90 Common Scoter resting mid way up the lake…

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A baby bird bonanza hit the reserve with fledged chicks visible and very audible throughout. Most numerous were the tit species with families of Blue, Great and Coal Tit in the deciduous woodland. Interestingly the number of Blue and Great Tit nests in the reserve boxes has more than doubled from last year with the birds most likely benefiting from the mild and relatively dry winter. A family of Marsh Tit spotted…

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As we approach late spring the trees are now in full leaf and breeding passerine birds are frantically gleaning insects from vegetation to feed their avid offspring. One set of parents in particular, the Sculpture Park Great Spotted Woodpeckers, have been very busy as their noisy chicks reached near fledging age. Interestingly the woodpecker nesting tree also plays host to a colony of honeybees with the two species…

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The dawn chorus is one of Britain’s greatest natural wonders, this week we set our alarm clocks early and headed out with visitors to experience the Vyrnwy chorus. The group weren’t left disappointed as hundreds of woodland birds filled the air with music on what turned out to be a glorious sunny morning. Surprisingly Common Redstart was one of the first songsters followed quickly by thrushes and Wre…

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It was a flower which stole the show at Vyrnwy this week. Bluebells looked truly stunning, turning whole hillsides blue as the display reached near peak. A range of other spring blooms added splashes of colour along the hedgerows and woodland edge including, Red Campion, Herb Robert, Yellow Pimpernel, Wood Avens, Meadow Buttercup and Lady’s Smock. With all the nectar around it perhaps wasn’t surprising that there…

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Sighting of the week has to go to Vyrnwy’s second ever Great White Egret found by a visitor to the reserve (6^th). The cracking adult in full breeding attire stayed for two days showing from both the Centenary and Lakeside Hides.

Vyrnwy's second ever Great White Egret took the form of this stunning breeding plumaged adult first spotted on the 6th May (Thanks to Gavin Chambers for the photograph).

A single…

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Spring has finally taken a firm grasp on the reserve with Bluebells and Greater Stitchwort flowering in the woodlands, Welsh Poppies around buildings and Garlic Mustard along the hedgerows. Robin, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush and Blackbird are frantically probing the ground for juicy invertebrates to feed their chicks and finally the most visual of signs, we are now surrounded by a lush green landscape.

Our first…

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The first Cuckoo of the year was heard singing from the Yellow Trail (21^st) with singing males also heard from the Purple and Red Trails during the week. The first and only Common Whitethroat was sighted on the Red Trail (25^th) whilst Wood Warbler (first returning bird 22nd) tallied 3 males on the Red Trail and 1 on the Yellow Trail by the weeks end. Meanwhile resident birds were well underway with nesting as anyone…

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In a week dominated by glorious sunshine and blue skies the wildlife excelled itself with the arrival of Pied Flycatchers being my personal highlight. The first flycatchers were sighted from the Centenary Hide on 13^th April and as the week progressed could also be found on the Yellow and Blue Trails.

This Pied Flycatcher was photographed on the Yellow Trail during the week. Many Thanks to Gavin Chambers for the…

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After late March’s large Chiffchaff arrival spring bird migration slowed through the first week of April and with fog and rain dominating this probably wasn’t too big a surprise. The conservation team are a committed bunch however and whilst out and about on the reserve managed to observe a few migrants which had decided to power through the difficult conditions. Single Sand Martins were seen on three…

Hello my name is Adam and I’m one of two interns who have joined the team at RSPB Lake Vyrnwy for the next six months. Since starting our role on the reserve me and Tom, the other intern, have managed to see 71 bird species and the main focus of today’s blog is to update you with our wildlife sightings from the month of March.

March had its fair share of dry sunny days allowing visitors and staff to enjoy…

Our Lake Vyrnwy weekend guided walks are starting again this month. We are planning fortnightly Sunday walks at 11:00 am, starting alternately from the Lake Vyrnwy hotel and from the RSPB shop. Dates are: hotel walks 26th Jan, 23rd Feb and 23rd March; shop walks 9th Feb and 9th March. These pre-season walks will be themed around general interest and local history. For the April to June period, we are planning…

You’ve probably all noticed that we’re closing down our  Lake Vyrnwy and Ynys Hir facebook pages and we have set up a new ‘RSPB Mid Wales’ page.

We understand that some of you will be disappointed to see these pages go.

Here are some questions that you might have about all this change... Why haven’t you just changed the page name?

Unfortunately Facebook doesn’t allow us to change the name…

Autumn is a stunning season and Lake Vyrnwy has been looking spectacular over the past few weeks. The deep chestnut colour of the beech leaves reflecting on the still waters of the lake, combined with beautiful light has made it a photographer’s dream. A lot of our time recently has been taken up with nestboxes, 500 of them in fact- cleaning them, maintaining them, updating the maps and using a GPS to get a grid reference…

The Vyrnwy dam is an impressive structure, said to have been the largest civil engineering project in the world at the time of its construction - though I've never known how we know that. From the foundation at bedrock level to the overflow lip, it measures 144 feet in height. You can get an idea of the scale by comparing it with the (much earlier - 1815) Pontcysyllte aqueduct, Telford's "stream in the sky". Our dam…

Hardly anyone about today, in rain and thick mizzle. The jays everywhere busy with the acorns, and excited redwings calling among the rowan berries. I spilled about a pound of peanuts by the feeders, so the pheasants were delighted. Unsung heroine Cynthia blitzing the shop, shaking the summer's dead flies out of the roof blinds and hoovering them up off the carpet. Scope for a research project there for somebody, surely? …

It's been a beautiful autumn so far. The question is, has it finished now?

Yesterday, picking crab apples for jelly, I found the distinctive caterpillar of the Grey Dagger moth, Acronicta psi, walking up my trousers. Everywhere is still green, although one conker tree behind my house does look very autumnal. Sadly, this is not because of the season, but because of the horse chestnut leaf miner moth, whose tiny caterpillars…

"There's a bird trapped in a manhole!"

This from a concerned visitor on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people about and a lot of traffic up and down the road. So off we went to investigate, three of us for mutual support, expecting to find a pheasant with its leg caught, or maybe a venturesome magpie. Something visible, at least. Instead, we found a worried-looking couple gazing hard at an…

At last, autumn is here. A few swallows are still hawking over the water, even in yesterday's mist and rain, and there are still dragonflies, Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshells.

But it is definitely autumn. Ask anybody who ran in the half-marathon yesterday - my word, they did get wet. Well done, the man in the crocodile suit, and well done, Mike Smithy Morris, late of the Life project, who we know is much more…