Thanks for the plug Mark. The day formally starts at 10am but I’ll be out ringing from early morning. We plan to put the nets up at first light and hope to start processing birds at 7.30am if we catch anything! You are welcome to come and watch. To get to the ringers’ table, walk past the southern hide, through the avenue of willows and bear right when the path forks. Look for the table on the left after about 50 metres. At some point we will move back to the centre and catch a few birds next to the car park in the afternoon. Bird ringing is weather dependant but at the time of writing the conditions look pretty good for Sunday.

For people wanting to maximise their birding on the day, high tide is at about 9.24am. There have been good numbers of waders this week between Sker Point and Rest Bay. They can be seen on any tide but are closest when the tide is right up. Low tide is at 3.34pm when many gulls and waders will have moved onto the mussel beds off Sker Beach.

Kenfig Pool has been poor for birding this autumn but water rails, snipe and a kingfisher have shown really well in the cuts out from the southern hide. A female pintail has been about for weeks. An otter has been regularly feeding in the lake over the last few weeks, often quite late into the morning. A great white egret put in a brief appearance at the saltmarsh during the week and with light easterlies and overcast conditions there is a chance for another rarity or two to turn up over the weekend.

Cakes, hot drinks and children’s craft activities (in the afternoon) will be available in the reserve centre and there will be guided walks starting from the front of the building. We are keen to enthuse children about birds and birdwatching so please make a special effort to invite families and point out birds to children. We look forward to seeing you!