Day Out To RSPB Lake Vyrnwy Nature Reserve : 16 June 2011
We had stayed the previous night at a hotel in LLongollen because we had been on the Nightjar walk in the Coed LLandegla Forest until midnight so we didn’t want to travel back to Manchester late at night. This meant we had a chance to do something else we had been wanting to do for a while this day – that was to pay a visit to Lake Vyrnwy which was about an hour and a quarter away. We didn’t know a great deal about it but we had heard that it was good for birds and it proved to be very much the case.
We arrived there about noon and crossed the bridge over the reservoir to the RSPB shop and visitor centre. There aren’t too many parking places but we were lucky that we found a slot – just as someone was leaving – outside the bird hide overlooking the woods. We had a look in here first and it proved to be the most astonishing bird hide you are ever likely to see. There were panoramic windows the length of the hide and a few inches away from the glass on the other side were a series of bird feeders. The glass must have been of a special kind that was both tightly sealed to make the whole hide soundproof and impossible for the birds to see through because the feeders were absolutely full of Siskins, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Coal Tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Nuthatches adults and fledglings both. You could put your face to within a foot of these birds and they were blissfully unaware of the presence of humans. The view outside the window and behind the feeders was one of a mature woodland teeming with birdlife. One tree had come down about 20 feet from the hide and was now providing perching places for a host of birds as the queued for the feeders. Beneath the feeders, collecting the spillage were innumerable Grey Squirrels and a couple of Pheasants. It was hard to come away from it but we did so to make room for others to use the hide. We had a cup of tea and a scone in the cafe next to the hide and then popped over to the RSPB shop to get advice on where to go for a walk for a couple of hours.
Everywhere around the cafe and the houses and the visitor centre there were Swifts, Swallows and House Martins that nested in the eaves of all the buildings and they swooped and dived just feet – perhaps inches sometimes – from your head providing fantastic views.
At the RSPB shop and visitor centre we were recommended the Craig Garth Bwlch Nature Trail walk ( the blue trail) which was a 3 mile trail that started and finished at the visitor centre. It takes you through forestry tracks, field paths and along minor roads. The walk was supposed to take about 2 hours but it took us a bit longer. It included two steep rises the second of which was a proper challenge and seemed never ending. We just managed it however and felt pleased with ourselves that we had had a good run-out.
As we started out around the cottages we saw a Marsh Tit on a bush and a Dunnock under another. We started the path up the hill and came to a bit of a cleared glade to our left. I saw it from a distance and thought that a dead tree that I could see would be a good candidate for Woodpeckers and – amazingly – as I approached I saw some movement. Raising my bins I saw a male adult Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding a young bird. We both got good views of them before they got a little alarmed and edged themselves around the other side of the tree from us and then they couldn’t be found again.
As we rose higher and higher we could see Buzzards circling above. As we walked through the forested part we could hear lots of Chaffinches singing and we caught a glimpse of some Long Tailed Tits. The path started to level out again so we had a more gentle walk before it started to rise again. We wondered whether this was the second steep rise but sadly for us it wasn’t as a bit later again the big rise came and it was really steep and quite a challenge. The bird life seemed to fall off to just the sound of Chaffinches. As we got nearly to the top we looked up into the sky to see a large bird circling above. It initially looked quite black like a crow but was much bigger – more the size of a Buzzard but the tail shape was all long. This was lozenge shaped and the movement wasn’t like a Buzzard. I started to think that the only thing it could reasonably be would be a Raven but I wasn’t entirely sure until later when a bit of research confirmed this as a likely suspect and – unknown to me – a regular at Lake Vrynwy. All that steel climb upwards was suddenly well worth it as this was a first for us (apart from the Ravens at the Tower of London). Eventually we reached the top and we were relieved to be making the downhill return.
On our way down we at last saw one of the Chiffchaffs we had heard so many of during our walk and as the lake came into view we could see distantly two Cormorants sitting on a small island. As the forest gave way to more mixed woodland and fields we also spotted a Willow Warbler and a Meadow Pipit. When we reached the bottom we went off for another well deserved cup of tea and we sat at a different cafe watching all the hirundines gadding about again. We then took a quick walk over part of the dam between the lake and the river and looking down to the river side of the bridge we saw a Grey Wagtail bobbing across the stones in the water. Another visit to the woodland bird hide and we were running out of time. It had been another fantastic day out at a place well worth visiting again – perhaps taking in the river that time.
Bird List
- Blackbird 20
- Blue Tit 12
- Buzzard 3
- Carrion Crow 3
- Chiffchaff 1
- Coal Tit 10
- Cormorant 2
- Dunnock 1
- Great Spotted Woodpecker 2
- Great Tit 12
- Greenfinch 2
- Grey Wagtail 1
- House Martin 20
- House Sparrow 20
- Jackdaw 12
- Long-tailed Tit 1
- Magpie 2
- Marsh Tit 1
- Meadow Pipit 1
- Nuthatch 4
- Pheasant 2
- Raven 1
- Robin 1
- Siskin 12
- Swallow 20
- Swift 10
- Willow Warbler 1