Big Betws Trees - razed to the ground

Tree surgeons ALFA have done an excellent job in Betws y Coed felling three large trees between the church and Cotswold Outdoors. It’s always sad to see big trees going but from what I understand these need to go. A scan of the trees had shown significant decay in the trunks and one of them had a large split.

Large trees to the left have gone 

Why do I say ALFA Tree Services have done a good job? Apart from being thorough, diligent and tidy in the tree felling, they went out of their way to explain to people like me who question why these beautiful trees have to be felled.

The trees in question are nothing special by way of species, some form of cypressy pine not dissimilar to leylandii. They were planted about 140 years ago when the church was built and don’t belong in the centre of town – it would have been much wiser to have planted something more compact and manageable such as holly or yew.

This time lapse video shows the removal of the  trunks.

Otter Campsite

Otters were on the menu this weekend and when I told a friend I’d be joining in the big survey on the Dwyryd he replied that he’d been at a meeting in Porthmadog in March where the Welsh speech was being translated via headphones. In the middle of the speech several people left the room while he carried on listening. Much later over coffee one of the people who walked out asked him why he hadn’t bothered to go and see the otters. That bit of information had not been translated! Those that did go out witnessed an attack by a dog otter successfully defended by the mother protecting her young cubs in the harbour. What a magic moment that would have been to see.

After the Sunday breakfast briefing we split into groups and set off to our sections of the Dwyryd armed with empty bags for collecting spraint. Five of us had the section from the Maentwrog bridge up to Dol Moch bridge and during the day we bagged 25 samples which will be DNA analysed to potentially identify the sex and the individual otters operating on the Dwyryd.

The hot spot was the Llechrwd Campsite where the stream crossing underneath the main road meets the river; we collected 15 samples in this area. Three young lads camped at the junction of the stream with the river said they’d heard noises of rocks at night time. Maybe it was the otters. Just opposite was a large shelf beneath the bank going in about 4 or 5 feet with many spraints; a safe haven for resting up or feasting on fish.

We ate our picnic amongst the wild flowers and damselflies beside the river with a dipper bobbing up and down on the other side.  Sand Martins nest in the bank and, although we didn’t see any, there are occasional Kingfisher sightings.

What a beautiful camp site with wildlife on the doorstep. I think Dyfyrgi (otter) Campsite would make a much better name than Llechrwd Campsite.    

Here's Mary-Kate from the Snowdonia Society explaining the finer points of bagging the poo!
      

Royal Voyeur

Typing away I had the feeling that I was being watched. And sure enough I was, by royalty, a queen wasp voyeur. I keyed in ‘lifecycle wasp’ and was amazed. 100,000 species of wasp! My queen was moving slowly, evidently just awoken from her hibernation. I wonder which part of my study she’d been using, maybe a quiet bookshelf? Waking up on 18^th May must be leaving it quite late?

Primed with the sperm of a last year’s drone (possibly several) this queen needs all the energy she can get to build her nest and start laying. At the start she is totally self-sufficient producing and caring for batches of sterile female workers which eventually take over the care and maintenance of the nest and the offspring.

Later that day there was a second wasp which emerged in the living room taking position on the rim of a glass of water. Maybe over-wintering close to the log burner had made it dehydrated.

Snowdon - safe and tidy

Helen where Pyg meets Miners

It’s a big old mountain to be in charge of with 400,000 walkers a year. Last year 187 of these had an accident and 8 or 9 were fatal. Helen Pye is the new warden, previously a warden in the Brecon Beacons, with mountain safety as her top priority. I joined her on patrol above Pen y Pass.

Fatalities tend to be participants in extreme activities, well planned and equipped but unfortunate to have an accident. Non-fatalities tend to be annoyingly avoidable, down to lack of planning or provisions and inappropriate clothing. 

As we walked she chatted to people we passed, many of whom were sensibly equipped, but some were ludicrous.  A woman with sunglasses on immaculate hair was indeed wearing boots, but knee-high with four inch heels! Her partner was in all the right gear; would this relationship survive?

Another woman in short shorts and T shirt was wearing a pair of plimsolls. When asked how she found them in terms of support she explained that she’d only worn them to come down but had gone up bare foot. 

A grateful walker hurrying down the mountain handed back the laminated A4 map Helen had given him earlier that day; yes, many people walk the mountains without a map, let alone a compass.

At Bwlch y Moch air-freighted bays of stone were ready for building a dry stone wall to steer all but the intentional away from Crib Goch.  Later and from way below on the Miners Track I watched through binoculars as three walkers crawled over the scary Crib.  

Helen’s other priorities include footpath maintenance and litter. The paths that I was on were in good shape, thanks in large part to Snowdonia Society volunteer workdays, but every now and again a boulder needed pulling out of a drain. The litter situation also seemed under control but Helen explained the wardens tried to keep these main paths as clear as possible, human herd instinct means we are less likely to litter a clean path.

As we walked we stuffed bits of rubbish into our rucksacks and near the end picked up a carrier bag of empty cans and bottles, neatly tied at the handles and stuffed into a drain. ‘Probably Three Peakers’ was the verdict. The sign in the toilets at Pen y Pass reflects their reputation as some of the worst offenders.  Snowdon is typically the last of the peaks attracting the worst of behaviour - TAKE IT HOME!

Have you got the energy to do something about it?

Charcoal maker at work

Rural Wales is being hit hard by rising energy costs.  A recent survey on the Llŷn found that 75% of households are in or at risk of fuel poverty, with the average household’s heating bill 65% higher than the UK average.  There are ways to heat and power homes which are not vulnerable to oil and gas prices and many businesses and families in Snowdonia are starting to use them.  

How much does it cost? Can it pay for itself? What effects has it had? Profiad Ni’s Open Doors Trail features 20 buildings across Snowdonia where visitors can see features like solar panels, heat pumps, biomass boilers, solar hot water systems and more. 

The Open Doors Trail will take place from the 24th to the 26th of May and is preceded by a week of shorter events (18th - 24th of May) including an Energy Bills Drop-in Clinic in Bangor, a tour of Derwydd farm in Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr which generates renewable electricity and a workshop on how to start community or privately owned hydro electricity projects at Plas Tan y Bwlch.  The full events timetable is available at www.ProfiadNi.org.

For my part I will be running a Natur Cymru / Snowdonia Society stall at the Green Shoots Sustainability Fair in Penrhyndeudraeth, Neuadd Goffa, from 10am till 4pm on Saturday 18^th May and showing people around at Tŷ Hyll on Friday 24^th May. 

St Francis and the strimmer

My powerful Stihl strimmer helps me keep on top of the garden, eliminating bracken from the steep hillside to the railway and keeping reeds at bay. A bank of green grazing in a sea of gorse and bracken is very welcome to the farmer’s sheep and for the moment there’s a brilliant display of violets.

Where the vegetation is thick, around the edges of the orchard, it’s hard to see what creatures might be lurking in the undergrowth. That’s why the motto in our garden is rake first, strim second; the St Francis approach. 

My reward on a cloudy morning was a slow worm, barely warm enough to move, and a moth perfectly matched to its background of dead bracken and leaves. Can anyone tell me what sort of moth it is?

Lekking Black Grouse

RSPB volunteer Barry Lynes led me up to the hide at Llandegla on a beautiful May morning to see the Black Grouse. Long before we got there the strange bubbly warbling sound of the males could be heard, quite haunting and surreal. Despite 400 metres between the hide and the lek the males could be seen with the naked eye, the sun glinting on their backs as they dashed around.

Barry focussed in with the scope and we were able to see the full splendour of the seven parading males with their white tail fans and the occasional charge to see off a rival. Now and again a hiss broke the sound of the warbling until by about 7:30 the bubbly sound subsided. The birds probably needed a breakfast after expending so much energy.     

I’m glad I’ve seen them first hand in case they do go extinct. Numbers have declined across Wales and are now confined to a few sites in the north where with intervention and habitat restoration they are on the increase. Friends told me they used to monitor the population near Penmachno – do they still exist there?

As a bonus a Cuckoo flew almost overhead perching on the tip of a nearby tree where it was harangued by a Tree Pipit and forced to move on by its tiny opponent.   

Lekking goes on for much of the year, apart from August when the birds moult, but the lek in April to May is the important one where mates are chosen. Each year the RSPB organise guided walks to see the lek but self-service is also an option; just ask at the visitor centre for directions to the hide. The visitor centre and car park are closed early morning so you might want to find out in advance if you plan to be there bright and early. There's also a small road across the moors with an even better vantage point but best not to get out of your car for fear of disturbing the lek.