Conwy, Wales

We felt like a less vigorous day today and so headed out to the coastal town of Conwy. The central part of the town is built within the walls of an impressive castle. We were searching for more natural surroundings though and so headed out to the RSPB Wetlands Centre just out of town. We spent some time relaxing there, walking the 2 mile path around the lakes, and spying on the birds from the hides as an opportunity for me to try out the ultrazoom (380mm equivalent) lens on my digital camera. I've learned I need a better mini-tripod than the one I've got here, and I'm wishing my Manfrotto wasn't in storage in New Zealand. Anyway, we saw a number of new birds we'd never seen before at this wetlands centre. As a result, I've finally gotten around to updating our birds page with these new entries. There is still a recent two-month gap is still to be filled in the list, when I find the scraps of paper with any notes on...

From the wetlands centre we went back into the town to have a look at the castle. Unfortunately, with the walls circling the town we never quite figured out how to get up onto them or into the keep, and the light was fading. Still, we had a look around before heading back to the wetlands centre again at twilight. That's because the staff there had told us, just as we were leaving, that half a million Starlings had started roosting there each evening, since the previous week. They had done the same thing the previous year in October, though no one knew why... While Starlings are considered a pest in New Zealand, the Wetlands Centre was pleased to have so many guests drop in. We joined a bevy of others who turned up to watch them swoop by in their amazingly coordinated flocks. This evening we didn't see the entire half million flocking together, which apparently they had done the previous night. It was still an impressive sight to see them arriving by the hundred.

From there we decided to catch a movie, so after a quick pizza we continued the nature-focussed day by going to see Finding Nemo. We liked it. A good movie about overcoming anxiety, incidentally, not that I see psychological issues in everything. But it's also about parental bonding and responsibility and letting your children grow up, and...   : ) Back to Llanberis to sleep, with sore legs beginning to show from yesterday's efforts.