Mike Walker, RSPB Lake Vyrnwy Reserve

Lake Vyrnwy is man-made, with the dam that created it completed in 1888. The village of Llanwddyn was submerged by the lake. In dry summers, if the water level drops far enough, the ruins of the old village reappear.

Birds that breed in and around the lake include goosanders, common sandpipers, great crested grebes and mallards. In the winter months, small numbers of teals, pochards and tufted ducks can be seen, and nonbreeding cormorants are present all year.