Birding Group Visit to RSPB Conwy 11th June 2013

Birding Group Visit to RSPB Conwy 11th June 2013

This week’s birding day was to Wales and we all met up at the cafe at the RSPB site at Conwy. There have been quite a few changes to the cafe and surrounding area since we were last there. There is now the ubiquitous playground for infants and a new educational centre seems to be being built. In the cafe, the panoramic view has changed somewhat and wet parts are now dry and what used to be reedy parts have been cut back a bit. The bird feeders have also been removed. I don’t know if this is a good thing but I suppose we need to see the finished arrangement before passing judgement.

Anyway there were a few birds to be seen and some of those were nesting. There were a couple of Oystercatchers on nests as well as Black-headed Gulls. A small flock of Black-tailed Godwits were further out in the water accompanied by a pair of Dunlin. There were some Shelduck, lots of Canada Geese and a single Little Egret and a Great Crested Grebe. A few House Sparrows darted too and from the relocated bird feeders. In the air were Swifts and Swallows. As we walked along the boardwalk we could hear a number of warblers singing from time to time but we could not locate them. At the Tal-y-Fan hide we added Pied Wagtail, Mute Swan, Tufted Ducks and a Little Ringed Plover. There were also Sand Martins dashing about.

Moving on to the Carneddau hide we saw a Great Crested Grebe and chick, and again saw Oystercatchers, a Little Egret. and a few Greylag Geese. As we walked back along the estuary we saw amongst a flock of Canada Geese a single Barnacle Goose and further down a single Curlew. There was also a small flock of Starlings. It wasn’t our finest day at Conwy but we also had the idea to go a bit further along to the North Wales Wildlife Trust reserve, the Spinnies, at Tal-y-bont which added a few more birds for our day list.

Bird Sightings : RSPB Conwy