In our fourth and last part of our series 'Song of the Spinnies', we will be talking about the Viley Hide. It’s also worth just taking a moment just before coming up to this hide to listen to the birds alongside the quiet roadside.

Be aware of the cars driving to and from the carpark and keep the side of the road. But, if you do stop and listen here, you’ll notice, up in the high trees, the crows cawing above you, and, if you keep an ear out, you can also hear the “kyak” or “tjak” call of the jackdaw. This call may sound to some like it’s saying 'jack-jack', like its name.

Wood pigeons will also sit up in the high trees, cooing a soft and husky “coo-COO-COO-coo-coo-cu”, and small birds, such as robins and tits, can also be spotted hidden amongst the tree branches and hedges, if you have a keen eye. Robins sing almost all year round and their songs are often quite loud and easy to hear. Their song ranged from a “tik-ik-ik” sound to a sweet and rich varied warble.

As seasons change, there are also plenty of bird visitors to the Spinnies Aberogwen Nature reserve that come to breed in the area, such as the chiffchaff and the blackcap, and many more. As these migrant songbirds come to visit the Spinnies Aberogwen and the UK, you will often hear more of their songs then their calls.

The chiffchaff’s song is quite an easy one to learn, as it says its own name “chiff, chaff, chiff, chaff”. The blackcap’s song quite a flute-like melody, which earned them their nickname “The Nightingale of the North” and their call is a chattering warble.

You can also spot a few of the waders in the farmer’s field, as you walk up the road. The exit of the tidal flat that runs under the Spinnies Aberogwen comes out at one of the fields, across from the Viley Hide, creating a stream of water in this field. The waders love to spend some padding time there, not a bit perturbed by the sheep grazing in the field. However, due to the increase in amount of flooding that happens due to climate change, as we get more bad weather and higher tides at the Spinnies Aberogwen, this stream can often get much larger, especially after a rainy period.

The Viley Hide

The Viley Hide is the second hide you will find alongside the road as you travel up towards the carpark, and is our newest hide, so it’s not always well known. This hide used to not have a gate, just an opening in the trees that leads to the path, so it was easy for people to miss out on this hide, but now a new black gate has been added to the entrance. Screens have been built around the walkway up to the hide. These screens will be filled with brash to allow an eco-habitat to flourish for the birds and many other species that live around the Spinnies Aberogwen.

The path up to the hide is sometimes surrounded by water from the lagoon, and in the bushes surrounding it, you can often see and hear sparrows flitting about.

Both the Kingfisher and Viley Hide have more light coming through as you step inside, while the Main Hide can be quite dark when the hatches are close, so these hides are particularly good for those that enjoy photography (though photographers also enjoy the Main Hide very much, as it has wider space and more views to catch good shots of the birds there).

Inside the hide, you can often see the house sparrows, dipping in and out the branches of the bushes alongside the feeders, singing very lively cheeps and chirps, sometimes making a “chirp, chip, chirp, chip” noise. Reed buntings have also been seen near the bushes around the feeders. Their calls are fairly short but a little jangly, like a “srip, srip, srip-sea-sea-sea stitip-itip-itipip”.

If you’re very quiet and very patient, you may also spot the water rail, peeping out from under these bushes. The water rail is often very shy and often likes to circuit the area before stepping out from the safety of the undergrowth, so it can be a very long wait. It makes a repetitive “kipkipkipkipkip” sound and can also emit a very pig-like squeal.

There are so many birds at the Spinnies Aberogwen that haven’t been mentioned here, especially as the seasons come and go, and you are able to spot each bird in any of the three hides and, also whilst you are out and about, walking along the woodland paths and the shoreline.

PREVIOUS: Song of the Spinnies Part 3