In the week Graig Wen joined Twitter it seemed apt that we were invited to the RSPB reserve at Ynys- hir.  It’s about 40 minutes south of Graig Wen and the staff are extremely welcoming and keen to share their excitement about wild life.

For a small charge you can visit a mix of habitats ranging from woods to wetland. We wandered along a boardwalk through quite the most beautiful bog I’ve ever seen.  There are viewing hides and you can hire binoculars  to get close up views of birds – we saw Little Egret, Golden Eye, Canada geese, swans and a jay in just an hour.

We tried pond-dipping and they helped us identify all sorts of wiggling things from the sludge. There’s loads of activities for all ages, including a birdsong identification walk and photography workshop.  I’m definitely making a date to go back when the woods are full of bluebells in May. And a little bird tells me that the eyes of many more people will be turned on Ynys-hir quite soon…watch this space.