Natur Cymru - Nature of Wales

New kids and a greater horseshoe

2012-03-04T20:10:00.000Z

I caught aglimpse of a solitary black headed goat on the horizon. Hidden out of sightamongst the flowering gorse was her young kid. Not sure how old it was but itkept up with Mum, moving quickly across the mountain to their castle retreat.

As if that wasnot enough joy for one day; Jean and Sarah from the Bat Group called round tocheck the adits. The old mine by thewaterfall, with its curtain of rain at the entrance, is normally empty but hada lonely lesser horseshoe with the whole place to itself. As for the main aditthat two years ago had 116 lesser horseshoes, there were only 44, maybereflecting the late date of survey. But what a consolation - in amongst thelessers was a greater horseshoe!

These are seriouslyrare in north Wales, maybe just a handful. There has been a greater horseshoe inresidence in Maentwrog for a couple of years; was this the same one or a newone? Impossible to say. But if it hangs around long enough it might get ringed. Ringing bats is a bit trickier than birds as the wing-type membrane extends tothe ankle.

Jean liftedthis one from its hanging position to discover it was a male then carefullyhung it back to the roof. I wish I’d seen it. I normally go in but wimped outat the prospect of being waist deep with leaky waders. This is what it was like inside on a previous survey:

Thefollowing day I went to check up on my other gang of goats, the warden’sfavourites as they munch their way through the Maentwrog nature reserve. No sign of any kids but one female lookedbulkier than normal. It’s not easy to tell with the long shaggy coats.

Castaway needed for island

2012-02-26T10:13:00.001Z

Flat Holm Island is currently looking forvolunteers who can commit themselves to a full six months on the islandstarting in April. Volunteering on Flat Holm will provide you with valuableexperience that will help you find paid work in the conservation sector. Bedand board provided plus shore leave once a month and the project will coverreasonable travel costs to and from your home. Interviews are in mid March, soif you would like to know more please email Sam Whitfield at sawhitfield@cardiff.gov.uk

To find out more about Flat Holm visit theblog at www.flatholmisland.wordpress.com

Skokholm and Skomer

2012-02-24T17:01:00.004Z

Just a quick report on the annual get-together of the Friends of these two Pembrokeshire islands; around 100 enthusiasts gathered (near Stroud) last Sunday to hear presentations by the Warden of Skomer (Chris Taylor) and others.

Puffin by Mike Alexander

Both islands are managed by the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales; Skomer belongs to CCW and is leased to the Trust, while Skokholm is now owned by the Trust. Skomer more or less reaches capacity for day visitors (250-300) when the Puffins are there (May - July), and the price to stay overnight comes down after that!

The great news about Skokholm is that the full refurbishmentof the visitor accommodation is now well underway; inthe meantime the island is fully open for stays of 3, 4 or 7 days. Allthe work on the accommodation was costed at £1,000,000 if done commercially; infact most of the work is being done by volunteers (working with 'proper'builders) which has brought the cost down by 90%. All work on the island being organisedby Steve Sutcliffe, with lots of costly services being provided for free(including shipping all the materials from Martinshaven). Have a look at www.welshwildlife.org, all the detailsfor visiting and staying on both islands are there.

We were very excited to hear about plans to reopen the Bird Observatory on Skokholm - Ronald Lockley set it up in 1933 but it had to close in 1976 when the landowner at that time decided to ban ringing of birds there. The plan is to build Heligoland traps which visiting ringers will use to catch migrants. We'll keep you informed in Natur Cymru about how this all progresses.

Finally - geolocating devices fitted to Puffins on Skomer have begun to reveal their wintering grounds - Iceland, south of Greenland, even into the Mediterranean.

Kate and I have never visited Skokholm but now are raring to go! There's still time to enter the Inspired by Nature writing competition and win 3rd prize which is an overnight trip for two to Skomer.

Brecon Beacons – Natur Cymru special edition spring 2012

2012-02-20T19:55:00.002Z

Artwork by Denise di Battistta

LlangorseLake - the essence of an entirely natural lake. Gareth Ellis
Fires and remotesensing technology to monitor restoration. JudithHarvey & Shaun Lewis
Waun FignenFelen - recovery of degradedmoorland. ArwelMichael
Y Gyrn - Blue Greys crossed with a Blonde. Joe Daggett
Pipeline -gas from Milford Haven to England via the Brecon Beacons. Graham Cowden
Challengesof conservation management in the National Park. Paul Sinnadurai
Cynrig andcaptive rearing of crayfish. CatrinGrimstead & Oliver Brown
Capel Horebquarry’s ancient plant evidence.Christopher Cleal
Counting and measuring limpets in Pembrokeshire. JohnArcher-Thomson
Challengesand joys of opening 870 miles of Wales Coast Path. Sue Rice & Denis McAteer
Living Wales - a layman’s view ofthe ecosystems approach. Huw Jenkins
NationalNature Reserves - 74 hidden treasures revealed. Sue Parker
Phytophthorain Wales. Owen Thurgate
Methanederived bubbling reefs. Ivor Rees
Role ofNATUR and training in times of change. CeliaThomas
Fancy achat? New BTO Cymru survey. Kelvin Jones

Publication date 15^th March. Cover price £4.00 or quarterly bysubscription at £16 p.a. or £15 by direct debit. ISSN 1742-37400103 Format: 170 x 220mm, 50 pages, full colour

For furtherinformation visit www.naturcymru.org.ukor call 01248 387 373

If you would like to download an A4 poster for this edition please click here.

Rape of the Vale

2012-02-19T08:42:00.001Z

Of course thecheque is in the post. Of course the impacts will be minimal. Of course thelandscape will be restored to its previous condition.

It all seemedto start so well in the dry weather of last spring, but then came the rains andpretty soon it looked like a battlefield. The 38km gas pipeline from Blaenau Ffestiniogto Pwllheli passes through the Vale of Ffestiniog and it shows; looking down,from the mountains and cliffs above, the incision looks more like a canal thana pipeline.

There is asummary of the pipeline replacement programme on the Wales and West Utilitieswebsite which says: ‘one of theobjectives of reinstatement of the pipeline route is to return the visual andphysical integrity of the landscape, as closely as possible, to its previouscondition’......’To reduce potential damage to soil structure, whenever possible, topsoil movementswill only be carried out when conditions are considered suitable’.

Looking atthe state of the land in February 2012 it seems this was not possible! Whenwill these and other aspects of reinstatement or restoration be complete?

On 13^thFebruary the Department of Energy and Climate Change approved the constructionof a 22km gas pipeline from Llanwrin toDolgellau. Energy Minister CharlesHendry said ‘In approvingthis pipeline I have made sure the plans meet stringent and comprehensiveenvironmental standards.’

Good luck toyou in southern Snowdonia!

We mightthink we’ve had a rough ride in the Ffestiniog area as contractors sought tobury small pipes of 150mm diameter. In 2007 gas pipes of 1200mm diameter, eight times bigger, werelaid through 36km of the Brecon Beacons National Park. If you’d like to knowhow that went, there’s an excellent article in the spring edition of NaturCymru to be published on 15^th March.

Earth Hour 2012 - 31st March 8:30 pm

2012-02-16T19:05:00.002Z

I know howmuch effort I have to put into my wind-up torch for a few minutes of dimlighting. I know that sawing, splitting, stacking and keeping a large basket oflogs dry for a year will generate enough heat to cook the family supper. It alsoheats a large cylinder of piping hot water, enough for a family of four to haveshowers, that’s if we get our teenager to go last!

It’s good tohave these reminders that explain the effort involved in generating power forheating, lighting and transport. So much is taken for granted at the flick of aswitch. Which is why Earth Hour is such a good thing, a reminder all round theworld when hundreds of millions of people from 135 countries put out the lights for an hour. This year it’sSaturday 31^st March at 8:30 pm.

What will Ido? If I was at home we could sit round a log fire with a wind-up radio and aglass of last year’s bilberry wine. ButI’m not: I’m out giving a Natur Cymru illustrated talk to a local National Trust Association. Maybe if I time my slides and talk tofinish bang on 8:30 I could extinguish the projector and light a candle. But then again my symbolic message would be lost on a sleeping audience!

If you are acommunity doing something unusual for Earth Hour, why not enter the WWF community competition with a chance to earn either £1,000 or £300. If not, just turn down the power and enjoy mother earth au naturel. Maybe read a back edition of Natur Cymru by candlelight.

Inspired by Squashed Toads

2012-02-15T20:25:00.000Z

Julian Joneshas worked for the Wildlife Trusts since 1997, the majority of that time inRadnorshire. He became interested in Llandrindod lake in 1999 afterwitnessing thousands of toads trying to reach the lake and seeing hundreds ofsquashed toads and newts that failed to make it over the adjacent road. After dozens of meetings and lots of cajoling and campaigning, the lake wasdesignated a Local Nature Reserve in 2010.

In therecent Inspired by Nature writing competition Julian was one of therunners up with an article describing the changing fortunes of the lake atLlandrindod. It started off as a bog and with the arrival of the railway was re-engineeredinto a boating lake frequented by 80,000 visitors a year. Over the yearsdifferent people had different ideas about what the lake needed. One of these inthe 1950s was the farmer who thought a ton and a half of super phosphatefertiliser would improve things! Julian’s excellent article appeared in theautumn 2011 edition of Natur Cymru.

Thecompetition is running again this winter. What we are looking for is a1,000 word article on a subject of environmental or wildlife interest in Wales which inspires you. 1^st prize£500 cash donated by WWF. 2^nd prize a £500 place on the naturewriting course at Tŷ Newydd, the national writers’ centre. Runner up prizesdonated by Wildlife Trusts Wales include an overnight stay on Skomer - thankyou. The competition is open to subscribers of Natur Cymru only and the closingdate is 31^st March 2012. Full details at www.inspired-by-nature.org.uk

Julian on Gillian's right arm

Wolf’s MOT in Coed y Bleiddiau

2012-02-14T07:07:00.000Z

On a dry andfrosty February morning I joined Doug and Gareth to tidy up the wolf beforespring and the hordes of visitors arrive. All the upward sprouting shoots of growth,looking as though someone had startled the wolf, were pliable enough to weaveback into the structure. Shaggy bristlesaround the jaws were lopped off.

Worryinglythere are quite a few strands of dead wood, particularly on the end of thetail. Do we need to call in the expert? To help Beryl, the willow sculptor fromLlanidloes, decide what needs doing we made a film clip so she could see theseverity of the problem.

Best Day Walks in Snowdonia?

2012-02-12T19:54:00.004Z

It’s alwaysa bit subjective and I can’t help but be biased. Frontispiece overlooking the mouthof the Dwyryd, with Rhinogydd behind, was a promising start but, as a Moelwynman, I’m sad to see Moelwynion get barely a mention. Cnicht and Moel Siabod, yes, but what aboutMoelwyn Mawr and Bach?

As for thelist of best bases, everywhere from Bala to Bangor to Tywyn but no BlaenauFfestiniog – the 3^rd largest town in Gwynedd and most central to thewhole of Snowdonia. It might be excluded from the national park but it is mostdefinitely at the heart of it all.

Puttingaside my parochial prejudices it is a beautiful book which inspires me to getout and try new walks. Well illustrated and well-written with just the rightamount of interesting detail.

Inevitably asingle volume is going to be a compromise compared to the 4 volume epicpublished last year - Pictorial Guide to the Mountains ofSnowdonia. But maybe I should see the absence of my home patch as a pluspoint, don’t want the crowds shattering the peace and wearing down the rocks.

Brecon Beacons Special

2012-02-07T18:04:00.002Z

Coming soon..... the spring edition of Natur Cymru with a Brecon Beacons theme. Many articleswritten by local experts working in the front lines of conservation. Artworkfor the cover kindly provided by Denise di Battistta.

Explore the finer points of Llangorse Lake orlearn how to lay a 1200mm gas pipe through 36kms of national park in the 'mostbenign way'. The devastation of last year’s wildfires and the use of remotesensing technology to help restoration. What’s happening at Waun Fignen Felen?Farming Y Gyrn with Blue Greys. Rearing the right sort of crayfish at Cynrig. Containingthe spread of phytophthora. Challenges of managing the Brecon Beacons NationalPark. Capel Horeb quarry boasts remnants of vascular plant tissue – the oldestevidence in the world.

Plusarticles from further afield including the Wales Coast Path, monitoring limpetswith the Field Studies Council at Dale Fort, new information on our 74 NationalNature Reserves, BTO Cymru’s chat survey and an easy tounderstand introduction to the government’s Natural Environment Framework.

Retail price£4 distributed by Welsh Books Council. Available 15th March 2012. Annual subscription £16 or £15 by direct debit.

This and that

2012-02-01T17:13:00.004Z

Unknown Wales talks in Cardiff on May 19th (as in Huw's recent blog): do go if you can! Kate and I went last year and enjoyed it very much. I had a table in the displays room at lunchtime and got a couple of new subscribers for Natur Cymru.

BTO Atlas 2007-11: if you have any records for this still in your notebook, it is not too late to put them in on the Atlas website - so long as you do it by Feb 20th. In some parts of Wales (including the whole of North Wales) we are continuing to collect records in the breeding season 2012, and the BTO Atlas site will stay open until the end of July for that. The main aim is to get more evidence of breeding in some under-recorded tetrads (2x2km squares). Do contact me if you would like to help.

Country Focus: this BBC Wales radio programme is a great listen on Sunday morning from just after 0700 for half an hour. Last Sunday (Jan 29) our intrepid blogger Huw was interviewing key people to tease out the basics of NEF - the Natural Environment Framework. If you didn't hear it, you can catch it on the BBC Radio Wales website.

Snow: escaped from behind the keyboard this afternoon to enjoy the walk behind Penmaenmawr quarry to the Stone Circle. See pic.

Mobile dunes of Barmouth

2012-01-23T08:11:00.000Z

Blown in from the Channel Isles?

Strongwinds, stormy seas and Bermo’s seafront road was closed by an impromptu sanddune. As for the Jersey Lifeboat - I’m not sure how that ended up here.

I think thedunes at Bermo are a relatively recent phenomenon following construction worksnear the harbour. They are steadily moving up the coast, the natural, free anduninhibited way. Not locked down by plantations of marram grass or other human intervention.

Touristsmight prefer to walk straight from their hotels onto the beach but the dunesprovide a brilliant natural coastal defence. By being mobile they can shift, grow and adaptas sea levels rise. We probably need to remobilise other dunes along the coastto regain this natural protection just as they did in Holland and Denmark.

Mobile dunes,which are now very scarce, also provide a dynamic environment favoured by avery specific range of plants and wildlife.

Horses and community woodland

2012-01-21T09:34:00.000Z

John Bunce and a Clydesdale

It sounded like an ideal combination – using horses in woodland,but was it practicable and appropriate? This was the mix of thoughts when our community woodland groupconsidered using horse loggers to thin an area of neglected larch wood. Here isour experience.

The woodland

Blaen Bran Community woodland, or Coed Gwaun-y-Fferiad togive it’s Welsh name, lies to the north west of Wales’s only new town, Cwmbran,and is an area of 100 acres around a disused reservoir which used to supplywater to the communities that made up Cwmbran. The area was planted by theForestry Commission between 1937 and 1939, as they had a long term lease fromwhat was then the Llantarnam and Llanfrechfa water board. Post war there wasrotational thinning, planting and felling firstly by the Forestry Commission,and then by a succession of private owners. The last of these sought to havemore community involvement with the woodland. Its close proximity to Cwmbran,now a town of 45,000 people, meant that it had become both a playground and adumping area. Off road motorbikes regularly rode through the woodland anddeliberate fires were a seasonal feature.

Thecommunity group

The community woodland group was born through two convergentthreads. Children at Woodlands primary school, the closest to the wood, hadoccasional nature trips there under the direction of the deputy head. Theynoted some of the mess and damage, and wrote to Cwmbran Community Council toask if they could do something about it. At around the same time the forestryagent for the then leaseholder also approached the Community Council and gave atalk on the wood and its history seeking support to get more communityinvolvement.

The Blaen Bran woodland is on an area that had beenhistorically used for small scale coal mining; it lies along the eastern outcrop of the southWales coalfield. Ground is undulating, with a rise to the northwest from around700 metres to about 900 metres. The upper part of the woodland - around 30acres of the total – had been planted with larch in the 1970’s. This had neverbeen thinned, leaving this part of the woodland relatively dark and inaccessible,although there was an old track through the middle and old tithe maps of the1840’s showed that the area had been arable farmland, with remains of boundarywalls and part of a stone farmhouse visible in places.

This un-thinned larch wood was not easy to get to; whilstthe main forestry track was in reasonable condition, the actual entrance trackto the woodland was not. It lay over local authority land, and being on afairly pronounced slope that had been eroded and not repaired over the last 20to 25 years. The community woodland group got some grant funding to thin asection of the larch, but the small area allied to the poor access and thesloping ground meant that contractor interest to take on the work was limited.It was then that consideration was given to using horses and the group lookedaround for potential horse loggers.

Horses and logging

Contact was made with the British Horse Loggers(www.britishhorseloggers.org) and two contractors and their horseteams were available at the time we wanted. They were Frankie Woodgate and hertwo Ardennes, from Kent and John Bunce with his two Clydesdales fromGloucestershire.

We also spoke to the loggers about holding a demonstrationsession on a Saturday late morning and early afternoon, so that visitors couldsee how horses worked with their handlers. We let our members know and spread information by word of mouth as well asputting up posters in some of the local pubs and at the entrances to the wood.Around 60 people came along and really enjoyed seeing the horses at work. One of the audience,member of a local male voice choir, recalled how he used to work with horses inthe woodlands as a youth, and it brought back good memories.

Remember the Alamo!

Certainly using horses on the sloping terrain workedeffectively, and there was much less impact on the ground than would have beenthe case with mechanical equipment, although we could have planned better tofell lines more quickly to make best use of the loggers time and expertise.

Generally the larch wood brought out was of poor quality,but we went on to use some to create a stockade behind one of our vulnerableboundary fences that tended to be cut by off-road bikers bringing their bikesin the woodland. Larch log sections were placed behind the fence and stakes atintervals behind helped keep logs in place. Sections of wire secured logstogether so that they could not be lifted out. Locally we refer to this as ‘theAlamo’ and it has worked well.

Overall it has been a good opportunity to have traditionalmethods of one aspect of forest management brought to a wider audience; to havea good job done with low impact on the environment; to support traditionalsmall business and to learn from the experience as well.

A new town and old traditions – a positive way forward!

David Williams

Dealing with (Chinese mitten) crabs

2012-01-20T21:55:00.000Z

I joined a groupof volunteers in Dolgellau for a training session on this alien crab. Chinesebecause it came from China, first recorded in the Thames in 1935, and probablytransported in ballast water. Mitten because both claws are covered in fingerless, hairy mitts. No-one seems to know the reason for the mitts.

We see theirarrival as a threat because they are multiplying and spreading fast causing problemson the Thames with erosion of riverbanks, caused by their burrowing, andblocking intakes of water to power stations. It’s said they have no predator althoughI’m sure otters would eat them and like all crabs they are vulnerable when theyshed their shells.

Adistribution map of records shows them mainly present in the east and southeasternwaterways but worryingly they areknocking on the door of Wales. There are many records from the Mersey and theDee. A solitary male was recorded in the Conwy about 4 years ago and anindividual was recorded in the English side of the Severn near Worcester. Ifthey get a hold in Wales, the fear is they will eat the eggs of salmon and troutand encroach on species within Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).

They arehighly mobile travelling up to 1500 km inland in China and quite happy totravel overland. On the Dee they can be seen walking round the weir and inYorkshire there’s a lake, without any connecting stream, in which they arepresent. Maybe they will get to the source of the Dee and go cross-country tothe Mawddach?

They are theonly crab in the UK that lives in freshwater but they need the marineenvironment for breeding. In the autumn (September on the Thames) the 4 to 5year old males migrate downstream to the brackish / saltwater and a littlelater are joined by females. The males die after mating and the femalesoverwinter in deeper salt water returning to the estuary in February / March tolay between 250,000 to a million eggs over a three month period! After one ortwo months the larvae / juveniles migrate upstream to freshwater between Marchand May and spend the next few years thereuntil it’s time to breed. In China it all happens with a couple of years, maybe because it's warmer.

Asvolunteers we were being told to look out for their burrows; elliptical holesnot far above the waterline, with a downwards angle (so they have a puddlebeneath the water table) and signs on the outside of mud / silt that has beenscraped out. Other techniques include looking out forskeletons and, in the spring, lifting (and carefully replacing) boulders in theintertidal area to look for juveniles. Next autumn we will try putting out fykenets to catch the adults going downstream to breed.

The hope isthat if we can identify the crabs early enough we may be able to do somethingabout them before they become a big problem as on the Thames.

At ourtraining event we were lucky to have the company of Marvin, now resident in theUK, but originally from near Shanghai. When asked how they dealt with theproblem in China he explained their problem was somewhat different; not enoughcrabs! For a thousand years or so they have been a highly valued delicacy butin the 1970s to 80s were fished into rarity. These days the national craving isonly satisfied through crab farming whereby they are raised in pens withinlakes from which they can’t escape.

There was ayoung man in Marvin’s village who was the local expert at hunting wild crabs,he knew how to differentiate between burrows for crabs and those for snakes! Hewas also very adept at getting them out without too much personal pain; plate sizecrabs give quite a nip.

It strikesme that this, eating the invasive species, is a classic Natural EnvironmentFramework type of solution.

If you’dlike to know more about the subject visit the Chinese mitten crab website. Ifyou’d like to join us volunteers checkingout the Dee, Clwyd, Conwy and Mawddach contact Rhian Hughes at the North WalesWildlife Trust.

Stretch the budget with free training

2012-01-18T10:15:00.001Z

In thesedays of tight budgets and organisations trying to do more with less, it’s goodto see some free training on offer. Advanced Professional Training (APT) inBioscience is a new range of accredited training courses from SwanseaUniversity for people working in any bioscience related field, such asenvironmental management or ecology.

Current coursesinclude:

Understandingprotected species (including bat, invertebrate, terrestrial mammals, reptilesand amphibian modules)

Introductionto wild plant identification
Techniquesin ecology
Invasive plants:identification, ecology and control.

Also onoffer are lab-based training modules to help with scientific report writing,microscopy skills and other essential laboratory skills.

For a fulllist of courses offered by APT bioscience, please see http://www.swan.ac.uk/aptbioscience/courses/or contact Dr Neil Price d.n.price@swansea.ac.uk(01792) 295379

Unknown Wales Conference 2012

2012-01-16T07:17:00.003Z

Following on from the success of last year’s Unknown WalesConference, the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) and the NationalMuseum Wales (NMW) have decided to hold the Unknown Wales Conference again in2012.

Trevor Theobald - 2011 conference

Over 200 delegates attended the 2011 conference, which wasopened by naturalist and television presenter Iolo Williams and covered a widevariety of wildlife topics. It is hoped that the Unknown Wales Conferences willbecome an annual event – dedicated to celebrating Welsh Wildlife andencouraging people to enjoy nature.

This year’s Unknown Wales Conference will take place on Saturday the 19^th May 2012at the National Museum Wales from 10.00amuntil 4.00pm and is free toall. The presentations will again cover a host of taxa in Wales fromlichens and ancient Welsh trees, to marine fish and brown hares.

Accompanying the conference this year will be a postercompetition (Friday 18^th May) and various conservation and localrecorder stands in the main hall (Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^thMay). Natur Cymru will be there at least for the Saturday.

For further information about the conference and forbooking, please contact: Rob Parry, Conservation Manager, Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales r.parry@welshwildlife.org

Blue lichen?

2012-01-12T18:31:00.000Z

Moving logs into my log shed I found a couple with a striking royal blue fungus. ID guides failed me but a Google search revealed an identical photo from a blog describing it as blue lichen. It's not a lichen, just a fungus called terana caerulea. More commonly it is called cobalt crust fungus or velvet blue spread. According to Wikipedia it was chosen as fungus of the year for 2009 by the German Mycological Society. It can be used in the creation of an antibiotic called cortalcerone. So now we know, thank you Wikipedia. It might not be rare but everyone who sees it says wow!

Terana caerulea - 'fungus of the year 2009'

Not rutting – just headbanging?

2012-01-11T09:55:00.005Z

Septemberand October is the time I see most of the billy battles but yesterday there wasquite a fight on the drive beneath our house. The third billy and the three femalescarried on grazing as heads and horns cracked in battle. I wonder what it wasall about?

Fancy a Chat?

2012-01-09T14:01:00.009Z

stonechat Saxicola torquatus
Jill Pakenham

The spring of 2012 will see the first dedicated survey run by BTO Cymru which will be taking the lead on a pilot survey of three of our chat species, namely the resident stonechat, and the migrants whinchat and wheatear. These three species are seen as a Welsh speciality, and are on every visiting birders wish list.

whinchat Saxicola reubetra
Bob Garrett

Results from the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) show that stonechat numbers have fallen sharply after the last two cold winters, while whinchat and wheatear have shown declines in both range and numbers. The long-term trends for whinchat and wheatear are both showing declines of over 55%. Preliminary analysis of data from the Bird Atlas 2007-11 appears to confirm the long-term BBS trends and highlights areas from which the species have disappeared in the last twenty years.

wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe
Jill Pakenham

The birdwatchers of Wales have noticed that the Welsh whinchat population has disappeared from much of its traditional range, and that wheatears are no longer a common breeding bird. The primary method for monitoring bird populations is the BBS, for which nearly 250 random squares are surveyed annually in Wales by BTO volunteers. A targeted survey is needed to obtain more detailed information on scarcer species such as the chats and the habitat features that are most important to them.

The survey will be conducted by volunteers surveying randomly selected 1km squares during three visits in each of April, May and June. The whole square will be covered and all target species plotted on maps. This is going to be an on-line survey, having a similar feel to existing BTO surveys.

If you feel like taking part and would enjoy visiting some stunning countryside contact the BTO Cymru office at either 01248 383285 or email kelvin.jones@bto.org.

The BBS (Breeding Bird Survey) is jointly organised by BTO (British Trust for Ornithology), JNCC (Joint Nature Conservation Committee) and RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds).

Jellies in the rainforest

2012-01-08T19:52:00.002Z

From indoorsthe day looked dreary but out in the woods, sparkly droplets of rain added anextra dimension. Close-up the colours so bright and swirls of rainforest mistbeyond. It was certainly an atmospheric setting. And then there were thejellies.

First ayellow one lying on a mound of moss beneath an oak – was this the witchesbutter?

Later on agrey one with hints of pink on the top of a decaying branch. There’s an interestingarticle on the BBC Scotland website which refers to it as star jelly but no-oneseems to know what it is. The article concludes it may have come from an alien’snose!

And this is what it looked like elsewhere in the rainforest:

Holt Cuisine - food for posh otters

2012-01-07T13:17:00.000Z

The Mammalsin a Sustainable Environment project will be holding a 2-day otter dietworkshop on the 18^th & 19^th February at TreborthBotanic Gardens, Bangor.

The purpose of the workshop is to analyse otter spraintcollected along the north Wales coast to learn more about their diet andecology. Training will be provided by local expert Rob Strachan, so if you wouldlike to learn more about otter ecology, please get involved. All levels ofexperience welcome!

The workshop will be free of charge, but places arelimited so book early! Please contact Ceri Morris to book your place on 07881850735 or email c.morris@ccw.gov.uk

The MISE project is part funded by the EuropeanRegional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Ireland Wales Programme (INTERREG4A).

Three brides for three billies

2011-12-28T19:07:00.002Z

Last year our local gang of goats produced no surviving kids but this winter is looking promising. All six adults are in good condition with an equal split of female to male. Maybe we will hear the patter of tiny hooves in the spring.

Shrewsbury comes from cranberry

2011-12-21T19:36:00.003Z

We’ve been living ‘off the fatta the lan’ again, harvesting cranberries from the bogs of sphagnum in the Snowdonia mountains. Beacons of red, part buried in moss, creeping vines with leaves like thyme, easy to see, easy to pick.

Our good friends from near Bala have reared and prepared a turkey for us to roast and, in (very small) return, we have provided a jar of home-made cranberry sauce. Rain-washed berries, sugar, water and 15 minutes of boiling.

In Welsh their name is ‘llyg aeron’, which translates to shrew berries. Could this be from where Shrewsbury got its name?

Our Weekend at Porthmadog Cob

2011-12-19T18:09:00.007Z

We were delighted with the number of people who turned up; a big Cymdeithas Ted Breeze Jones group on Saturday had the worst of the weather (wintry squalls of hail) but it’s their local patch and they’d seen plenty of birds before they reached our trailer.

On Saturday we had great views of Wigeon and Teal in front of the hide; the water then gradually rose once the sluices at the other end of the Cob closed, and the trapped Glaslyn water backed up! Most of the ducks then departed.

The next morning at 1030 the water was lower and some waders were in front of the hide, including Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin and Redshank. Watchers from the hide also had superb views of the wintering ducks including Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal & Mallard, plus the odd Goldeneye and a Red-breasted Merganser.

The North Wales Wildlife Trust trailer made an excellent base for getting out of the wind, dispensing drinks and soup, and providing information about NWWT and also the BTO – Kelvin Jones from the new BTO office in Bangor was there to help both days. Short journey for him as he lives in Tremadog.

The Godwit photo was taken in Holland a few years ago, and shows birds in breeding plumage. At least you can see the long bill and very long legs. These Dutch birds winter further south, whereas the wintering birds in Britain breed in Iceland. Most of the ducks mentioned above breed in Scandinavia or even further away, in Russia.

Cob 200 – grand finale birds

2011-12-16T14:16:00.001Z

Throughout the year there have been many events to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of William Madocks building The Cob. There has even been an excellentarticle in Natur Cymru, many thanks to Twm Elias.

View from the hide

This weekend, on 17^th and 18^th December, there will be a bird watching event organised by The Friends of Borth y Gest and The North Wales WildlifeTrust. The Glaslyn estuary is world famous for its winter wading bird visitors. The Wildlife Trust will provide the experts, binoculars and telescopes. No expertise necessary - if you would like to come along to learn about our local birds, just turn up between 11am and 3pm. Tea & Coffee available.

The hide is just by the Toll House opposite Boston Lodge with a wonderful view of birds in the water and snowy mountains beyond.

Winter walk in the Carneddau

2011-12-12T17:21:00.004Z

‘Map reading never was my strong point’ I muttered amongst my apologies for arriving 15 minutes late at Llyn Eigiau car park. I’d followed another small track several miles in the wrong direction. But the organisers welcomed me and said I’d been saved by the risk assessment paperwork which always takes a while to complete.

bad hair day

Rob Collister led our group of 7 into Cwm Dulyn with another group heading off the other direction. Rain which had flooded the roads overnight eased off, the clouds lifted and spectacular views were there to enjoy. Wild ponies grazed in amongst the bronze age settlement, one of them staring back at us through an exceedingly long fringe. Early lunch in the bothy (thank you Mountain Bothies Association) beside Llyn Dulyn already decorated with miniature Christmas tree.

stone polygon(s)

Refreshed we walked up the left hand side (as you face the ‘black lake’) and pretty soon we were into patches of snow and onto the summit of Foel Grach. Another break inside the mountain rescue hut, with a 5 foot high snowdrift piled against the side wall, then down onto a ridge between Foel Grach and Carnedd Llewelyn with stone polygons like elaborate floor mosaics.

Standing proud of the ground a lonesome peat hag .... was this all that remained of a much larger peat covering? Has all the rest of the carbon store been blown or washed away?

Sinking sun, beautiful light, snowy flanks of deserted mountains – what perfect peace. Then mood shattered by the high pitched whine of revving trails bikes on the horizon just a few hundred metres above. When does the open season begin? Maybe I should be more tolerant but how very dare they!

Great walk – many thanks Rob and the Snowdonia Society for organising it.

NEF - Natural Environment Framework

2011-12-02T13:51:00.004Z

In the spring edition of Natur Cymru we hope to publish something about the Natural Environment Framework (NEF) which will be out to consultation by then. As this is going to be a very significant change to the way we manage the countryside it's important that readers of Natur Cymru understand what's at stake and make their thoughts and views known. The following is an article prepared by John Griffiths, Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development. Please feel most welcome to share your comments.

John Griffiths

As Minister responsible for the environment in Wales I am very aware of the quality and rich array of landscapes and habitats we have in our country.

Wales

boasts three National Parks, five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, more than a hundred European Protected sites and over a thousand sites of Special Scientific Interest. Indeed around 30% of the land and marine area of Wales is protected for its scenic beauty, wildlife or geological value.

These protected areas and the land and seas around and between them make a huge contribution to the health and well-being of the people of Wales.

The recently published UK National Ecosystem Assessment is the first analysis of the UK’s natural environment; it aims to measure the benefits an environment can provide socially and economically. The assessment confirms that the benefits we derive from the natural world are really important to our well-being and economic prosperity. Arguably these benefits are relatively more important to the Welsh economy than to other UK countries. A 2001 study estimated that the environment contributed £8.8 billion of goods and services to the economy every year, forming 9% of Welsh GDP and equating to one in six Welsh jobs in sectors including leisure and tourism, agriculture and forestry, water abstraction, conservation and waste management. In addition to this figure, important services are also provided by the environment to fishing, mining and quarrying, food processing, construction and other industries.

The benefits and services provided by our natural environment include the provision of food, water, timber and energy, the regulation of climate, floods, air and water quality; and a range of important cultural services, including health, recreational, aesthetic and spiritual benefits. All of these are supported by natural processes such as soil formation, photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity which are essential for the operation of the system as a whole.

There are increasing pressures on our natural resources. A third of the services we get from the UK’s ecosystems are in decline, and Wales, like other countries in Europe faces major challenges in meeting international targets to protect biodiversity. Population growth and climate change will only increase these pressures in the future coupled with rising demand for food.

Over the past 60 years governments working with the private and voluntary sectors have tried to regulate and manage natural resources through a number of approaches aimed at addressing specific problems. While this has led to progress in many areas, the result has been a complex and piecemeal system that often struggles to address cumulative impacts or reach the best outcome in terms of costs, sustainability and resilience.

Thinking about our landscapes and natural environment holistically, in terms of the ecosystem services provided, and the breadth of social, economic and environmental issues that need to be considered, is a powerful aid to our understanding and management of natural resources. This approach is in keeping with the principles of sustainable development and helps us move away from the single issue approaches which have had limited success in the past.

For these reasons I am pleased to be taking forward our work in developing the Natural Environment Framework, ‘A Living Wales’. This is based on an ecosystem approach, which demands that we look at the environment as a whole and understand its relationship to our social and economic needs, health and well-being. Its guiding principle is to ensure that Wales has increasingly resilient and diverse ecosystems that are managed to deliver economic, social and environmental benefits. And, with the new powers the Welsh Government now has to make laws for Wales, we now have an opportunity to refresh the way we manage our landscapes and natural resources for the future.

I have been particularly struck by the potential value of mapping ecosystems and their services as a means of drawing together and communicating key social, economic and environmental opportunities for a given area. I believe this could become an important tool for developing positive collaborative action which seeks to achieve multiple benefits for our people, environment and economy. The current financial climate means we need to achieve multiple benefits from single places or projects and our new framework is being designed to achieve just that.

I want ‘A Living Wales’ to benefit all sections of society. In particular we will bring forward proposals to strengthen the approach to the urban environment so that we can make a direct contribution to improving prospects for our most deprived communities. Access to, and contact with, nature has been shown to have significant health and wellbeing benefits and I want to ensure that our urban communities have the best possible quality of environment on their door steps. The need to reconnect people with their local natural environment is compelling and is an important way of improving everyone’s quality of life and securing ‘buy in’ to future positive environmental action.

Climate change is one of the key challenges facing the world today. An ecosystems approach can enable better, joined up strategic action to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, through for example the protection of carbon rich soils, and changes in land management practices which are important for carbon regulation in

Wales

. Equally, an ecosystem approach will enable us to modify and develop landscapes to help protect us from future climate change impacts, such as expanding wetlands to help manage flooding, and increased green space in urban areas to moderate local temperature extremes.

A Living Wales will also identify a range of sustainable economic opportunities arising from ecosystems and their services and ensure that future investment in the environment maximises employment and training opportunities to support the development of green jobs and sustainable Welsh businesses.

In the 60 years since Wales gained its first National Park our understanding of the environment, its processes and key drivers of change has increased considerably. Whilst it is right that we celebrate what these protected areas have achieved, in looking forward it is important that their purpose becomes focused on the management of ecosystems for resilience and the services they provide. We are currently reviewing the Policy Statement for National Parks and National Park Authorities in Wales to consider how we can build the ecosystem approach into the management of our National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Our approach builds on the European Landscape Convention definition of ‘landscape’ as a framework in which to manage natural and/or human interactions, as well as considering landscape quality as an ecosystem service. It must be forward looking and should seek to create future landscapes as well as sustainably managing those we have inherited. We also need to look at the marine environment to develop ways in which terrestrial and marine issues can be integrated.

As a priority I want to start turning ecosystem theory into practice through a series of pilot projects to test our approach in different environments and contexts from urban to deep rural and coastal, including protected areas. I also want to look at some of our most pressured urban environments to ensure that we deliver a better quality of life for people who live there.

This approach will only work with the full involvement and commitment of local people, the private sector and land managers who need to see the advantages that an ecosystem approach can bring. We must ensure that there is ample opportunity for people to input into the design and to lead on the implementation of ecosystem action. It is this joint working that will help to ensure we deliver.

We will soon be launching our Green Paper to set out our direction for this radical approach to natural resource management in Wales. This paper will set out where we are now, the challenges we face, how we plan to involve people and communities, governance and next steps. We are asking for your views on a number of set questions such as do you support this ecosystem approach and what do you think our main priorities should be?

The Green paper and all supporting documents will be published on our website in early 2012 – please visit www.wales.gov.uk/livingwales for more information.

After Life in the Rot Box

2011-12-02T07:47:00.001Z

Bruce Ing, who has written an excellent article on slime moulds for the next edition of Natur Cymru, is appearing in a BBC documentary called After Life. The 90 minute programme will be broadcast on Tuesday 6th December at 9pm.

Bruce with a slime mould

Details of the programme can be found on the After Life website which includes some gruesome footage of amongst other things a rat being disposed of by sexton beetles, time lapsed of course.

The programme is all about the science of decay. A ‘rot box’ has been created at Edinburgh Zoo simulating a typical kitchen and garden in which normal household items are consumed by an array of maggots, fruit flies, different bacteria and so on ..... including, I assume, some slime moulds which feed on the bacteria? Anyhow, best not second guess, watch the programme instead.

What dog?

2011-11-28T20:16:00.001Z

Some time ago someone pointed out the dog’s tooth lichen to me and explained that the white pointy bits were similar to dog’s teeth. I’ve just read somewhere on the web that it’s the brown bits that resemble dog’s teeth. Neither look very much like the teeth inside our Collie’s mouth.

Back in the middle ages the lichen was used as a treatment for rabies – so they say.

Coming soon - no. 41

2011-11-27T12:56:00.006Z

A marine theme with articles on seals, sea slugs and smelt plus seabird tracking, sustainable mussel dredging and bristleworms. Also in this edition an introduction to the mysterious world of slime moulds and Cwm Idwal as seen through the eyes of its warden.

The stunning front cover titled 'Bass in the Kelp' was kindly provided by David Miller. Limited edition prints, signed and numbered by the artist, are available: www.davidmillerart.co.uk
01994 453545.

Badgers chilling out

2011-11-25T17:38:00.001Z

There’s a patch of flat ground by the badger sett where the grass is all trampled down. So I put out my night vision camera this week and now know that it’s being used as a wrestling ring. At the end of their session the badgers engaged in some mutual grooming before serious scratching and then retiring to bed.

And this has to be the funniest clip which reminds me of Baloo the Bear teaching Mowgli the finer points of good scratching.

It’s not a bog!

2011-11-25T17:25:00.002Z

I had the pleasure of a guided tour around Cors Erddreiniog which is also known as Cae Gwyn or White Field on account of the marl. This nougat-looking malleable substance is calcium carbonate, deposited by lime-rich springs coursing through the fens.

It’s looking a real mess at the moment as 25,000 tonnes of top soil is being scraped off the top of an area about the size of 8 or 9 football pitches. All part of a much larger project to restore the Anglesey & Llŷn Fens which is a LIFE project with £3.5 million of European funding.

If you’re chatting with members of the project team don’t say that’s a lot to spend on a bog – they’ll soon put you right and point out the difference between a fen and a bog. Bogs fill from the top whilst fens fill from below.

You can hear the story on Country Focus (Radio Wales, 27^th November) or see the action in this short film below.

Mammal Society – the day we went to Bangor

2011-11-23T08:17:00.002Z

It’s normal to hold meetings in London but this autumn (17th November) the society experimented with collaborating on a regional seminar. The venue was Bangor, ‘dinas dysgu’ or ‘city of learning’, in the Brambell Building with its natural history museum making an excellent area for serving refreshments. On the ground local organisation was by the Snowdonia Mammal Group and more than 120 people attended the conference from all over UK.

Derek Yalden (President) gave the first talk, an update on our knowledge of brown hares and how they are faring. It seems not so well. Surveys at the beginning and end of the 1990s showed a disappointing decline despite the introduction of ‘set aside’. I think Derek said he used to see 2 or 3 a day on average in the 1980s but nowadays it’s down to just 1.

Our 2^nd speaker was Penny Lewns with a ‘reasons to be cheerful’ talk about badgers and an overview of the work she and her partner have done by way of badger mitigation. There were some interesting photos of artificial setts under construction with an analysis of how successful they had been.

Before our excellent lunch amongst the skeletons in the museum we split into 5 workshops and I joined the ‘wildlife film making’ workshop with Geoff Garside. There’s a lot more to it than point and click with a camcorder. I walked away feeling very inspired (brilliant footage of stoats playing on the Conwy estuary, more photogenic than meerkats!) but a bit in awe of how good you’ve got to be. The sad conclusion was the comparative lack of producer or investor interest in UK as opposed to exotic species. I’m told the other workshops were also good.

The afternoon session was opened by Jack Grasse and his totally black slide – it had something to do with our collective knowledge of dormice not so long ago. It’s not just about surveying hazel nuts and broadleaf. Jack gave a graphic (great facial expressions) description of how to age an old nutshell. What do they eat in conifers? Is it sap and invertebrates? We just don’t know yet, but maybe the MISE project will help.

Anita Glover from Leeds University described the arrival of Alcathoe’s Bat in the UK. In April 2010 it was confirmed in Sussex and 350 km away in Yorkshire. It was first described in Greece in 2001. Alcathoe? She was a young woman in Greek mythology who ... ‘while the other women and maidens were revelling and ranging over the mountains in Bacchic joy, these two sisters alone remained at home, devoting themselves to their usual occupations, and thus profaning the days sacred to the god. Dionysus punished them by changing them into bats’. How widespread are they in UK and when did they really arrive?

Kate Williamson described how she, Chris Hall and Sam Dyer had piloted hedgehog survey techniques with tracking tunnels. In the middle of the tunnel is an ‘inkpad’ to cover the soles of the feet and make tracks. The team found that black powder paint (not easy to find these days) mixed with oil was successful, maintaining tackiness for about 6 days. Hot dogs were used to entice subjects into the tunnel and a motion detector camera showed that the local cat was very partial to these! The pilot seems to have worked well but be prepared for cattle to disrupt tunnels.

Chris Hall spoke about surveying for coastal otters across the coastline of Llŷn and Snowdonia. 22 locations of 1 km² were chosen, each with a flow of freshwater. All showed positive in the course of 12 months when surveys in September and May were combined. Working with volunteers can be very successful but you need to control them! Bill and Mandi Taylor (the unsung heroes) were commended for outstanding contributions to these and other surveys.

Pete Turner from Waterford Institute gave the final talk about the use of DNA analysis to identify individual otters. At the time of his talk DNA patterns had been taken from 86 of the 123 spraints from the Llŷn coastal otter survey in 2011. Of these spraints 79 were from females and 7 (8%) were from males. Do females mark more than males? Analysis so far, from out of the above, has identified 19 different individual otters.

And finally it was the raffle. A great day out and I was particularly pleased that 3 of the delegates signed up to become direct debit subscribers of Natur Cymru! And here are 30 seconds from the day:

It’s all happening at the zoo - harvest mice too

2011-11-22T19:26:00.005Z

25 of us descended upon Chester Zoo for a training session to survey for harvest mice. I was pleasantly surprised that local conservation work ranks so high on the zoo’s priorities – it’s not all about the exotic, we need to look after the natives too. “Conservation starts at home!” My 50 year old memories of the zoo are elephants and my Mum warning me not to fall into the polar bear pit.

Training was delivered by Sarah Bird (Biodiversity Officer) and Paul Hill, freelance ecologist with experience of captive rearing harvest mice. The event was commissioned by the Mammals In a Sustainable Environment Project (MISE) to grow capability for identification of harvest mice in Wales. From our local records centres we have a total of just 60 records, most of which are old, with only 10 being recorded in the last decade. Surely this has got to be an under recording or is it a catastrophe?

Some years ago the zoo arranged a reintroduction of harvest mice on fields alongside a canal. We began our training event at this site unloading 20 traps which revealed loads of voles (field and bank) and some wood mice but not what we were looking for. Our second exercise was to search through the undergrowth for the distinctive nests, balls of woven vegetation made mainly with leaves split lengthways, lashed together without being severed from the plant. 15 minutes later we found our first example, neatly built around the supporting trunks / main stems of a few reeds. Once we got our eye in there was no stopping us and a further 4 were found before returning to our lecture theatre.

We were shown some brilliant ARKive footage to bring the subjects to life. See this as an example: From this link you can navigate to lots more films of harvest mice and all other species. What a fantastic resource!

The characteristics and lifecycle were explained. Widespread distribution from UK to Japan but absent from Ireland! Prehensile tails a very distinctive feature acting as a 5^th limb. Very small size, just 4 to 6 grams, a third or a quarter the size of a field vole. Average life expectancy 6 months. Prolific breeders but 95% mortality in winter, mainly February.

The supposition is that they are in decline due to our changing farming practices but we don’t have much data to confirm or deny this. Thanks to MISE and Chester Zoo we are now going to get a fuller picture of what’s happening in Wales. If you’d like to join in please contact the MISE project website.

Here’s a short film of our training day:

PS .... the polar bears have gone and their pit has been covered with a net and turned into an aviary.

Red Admirals in Autumn

2011-11-18T14:19:00.005Z

One of the striking sights around the end of October was seeing Red Admirals taking nectar from ivy flowers along hedgerows and on trees, when all other butterflies had disappeared for the winter.

Traditionally this species was thought of as a migrant, reaching us from N Africa and the Med in late May or June, but being unable to successfully hibernate (as a butterfly) with us. This seems to be changing, and surely these very late ones are intending to hibernate here in Wales.

If you see any Red Ads in Wales from November onwards, please pass your records on to raymondsandiford@yahoo.co.uk who has found the species over-wintering on Lleyn and Anglesey. The latest Butterfly Conservation North Wales newsletter has an item from Ray.

Many thanks to Julie Horner, Editor of the BC N Wales newsletter, for the photo of this handsome butterfly.

Slime Moulds at Loggerheads

2011-11-04T07:24:00.009Z

Last Sunday I was very privileged to meet up with Bruce Ing the expert on slime moulds. In an interview for the Radio Wales Country Focus programme (Sunday 6^th November 07:00), he explained that they were neither slimy nor moulds. During the walk around Loggerheads Country Park, appropriately near Mold, Bruce found several species and explained the lifecycle of these beautiful organisms. Although they share similar characteristics to fungi they are very different and in a class of their own.

Now is a good time of year to see them as they emerge to spore – some are tiny and difficult to spot although Brefeldia maxima (they don’t have English or Welsh names) is quite easy. It’s the largest of the species and has been seen at Loggerheads up to a square metre in size looking like a bucket of cold porridge eventually turning to a pile of black soot.

Typically they are found on decaying wood, but it’s not the slime moulds that cause the wood to rot, that’s the bacteria which they feed on.

I was truly amazed with the wondrous specimens, or pyramids of amoebas, which we saw through a hand lens and intrigued by their bizarre lifecycle. For the sake of the interview I had to ask the ‘so what’ question. Bruce was well rehearsed in his response, with benefits for both agriculture and medicine, but I particularly liked its potential for treating ulcerous conditions caused by a bacteria which can’t be sorted by current anti-biotics. ‘Maybe we can develop a slime mould that will eat the bacteria. It’s difficult to develop immunity from something that’s eating you. The challenge will be making sure it doesn’t go on to eat the patient.’

A type of Physarum

If you want to learn more about the subject read Bruce's article in Natur Cymru due out December 2011. His book "The Myxomycetes of Britian and Ireland - An Identification Handbook" is out of print but the good news is that it is being republished in 2012 with some additional content.

Visit to a Raven Roost

2011-10-30T20:58:00.002Z

I’ve just got back from a visit to the raven roost in Newborough Forest on Anglesey; back in the 1990’s it was thought to hold about 2000 birds. The occasion today was a Cambrian Ornithological Society visit, guided by Nigel Brown who has carried out research here with others from Bangor University. We met at 2pm and walked slowly through the conifers, watching a big flock of tits and goldcrests moving through the branches.
After a while ravens in ones and twos began to fly overhead, and as we reached the roost area along the rocky ridge small groups of ravens were flying in all directions, making an astounding range of sounds. A peregrine appeared and gave great views; maybe it was after one of the jackdaws which were arriving along with parties of rooks. By now the ravens were settling in the trees as we sat quietly, taking in the spectacle and the cacophony of calls.
Tawny owls hooted close by as we started to walk back at dusk, and finally a woodcock flew low over our heads to round off a memorable visit.

Sticky Stuff

2011-10-21T19:23:00.002+01:00

Sandbanks provide natural defences, reducing coastal erosion, and behave in ever changing but predictable ways. Scientists can run models which will plot the size and location of sandbanks as sea levels rise in response to climate change and this is useful to inform planning decisions. The trouble is that sand and pure sandbanks are only part of the story – much of the sediment on earth is not sand but mud or a mix of mud and sand.

Mud and sand

Where the sediment is sand you get a rippled effect and the length and height of the ripples reflects the flow and the amount of energy passing over that bit of the seabed. These patterns of sediment are called ‘bedforms’. Where the sediment is mud, or a mix with sand, the bedforms are much more flat and less mobile.

Sand is firm to walk on whilst mud is clawing and squelchy. Mud is sticky or cohesive whilst sand is non-cohesive. What makes mud so sticky is the volume of negatively charged particles of clay and the degree and types of excretion by many different creatures.

Dr Jaco Baas

The £1m COHBED (COHesive BEDforms) project has been set up by NERC to fill the gap in our understanding, and improve our ability to model and plan for the future. Bangor University are 1 of the 5 universities working on the project.

If you’d like to know more about this project you should listen in to Radio Wales Country Focus, sometime in November, when Dr Jaco Baas will explain the finer points of ‘sticky stuff’.

Beautiful Skomer

2011-10-20T07:05:00.000+01:00

Edition 41 of Natur Cymru due out mid December will have a marine theme. Amongst the articles is a feature on Skomer and its sea slugs in particular. Here are some of the beautiful pictures we need to choose from. Turn up the volume to hear the soothing sounds of the sea and relaaaaaaxxxxxxx.

Photos taken by Phil Newman, Mark Burton, Kate Lock and Roy Gibbs.

Coed Lleol – good for the mind, body and soul

2011-10-19T18:26:00.002+01:00

It was a pleasure to meet up with Zena from Coed Lleol and learn about getting people out into the woods to improve their health. Would-be participants can’t just volunteer, they need to be referred by their GP. More information on the CoedLleol website or on the Radio Wales Country Focus programme, Sunday 30^th October.

In the meantime here’s a great demonstration of brewing up a cuppa with a Kelly Kettle.

Porthmadog's bypass bat bridge

2011-10-11T19:16:00.003+01:00

Bat bridge over Porthmadog bypass

It’s big, cost £650K, and carries a hedgerow used by maybe 100 lesser horseshoe bats a night.

The £35m Porthmadog bypass cuts through the flightpaths of a maternity roost of lesser horseshoes. Last July as many as 350 horseshoes were counted including the newly born.

One of the routes is along a hedgerow that is now about 5 metres above the newly excavated road and this is where the bridge spans the gap. Either side of the bridge is a solid 6 foot wall to shield the light averse bats from the beams of traffic passing below. Elsewhere the bypass has been built on an embankment and in these places culverts have been constructed along the lines of hedgerows to help the bats pass beneath the road without injury. In a couple of places these culverts are a massive 4 metres in height and width.

I was giving a talk to a local group and mentioned the bat bridge. There was much shaking of the heads about the expense but after the talk one member of the audience came up to say how pleased she was about the bridge. Something like ... ‘so much money is wasted on other things it’s good to see such a worthwhile investment. Wildlife teaches us lots of useful things and we should look after it.’

Opinion is obviously going to be divided. What do you think?

I’m not an expert but I think it was necessary to avoid significant losses of a scarce species. The inexorable growth of the human species (from 3 billion in 1960 to 7 billion in 2011) and its appetite for faster roads is not sustainable. Maybe we should have done without the bypass?

If you want to see what lesser horseshoes look like this is a short film of a hibernation count, under licence with the Gwynedd Bat Group, in the Vale of Ffestiniog. These might be some of the users of the maternity roost near the bypass.

In February 2011 there were 58 bats hibernating here which was just half the number of a year ago. This might have been due to the extreme cold weather combined with the exposed aspect of the adit resulting in the bats hibernating elsewhere. Hopefully we will see an increase in milder winters.

Slime molds are coming

2011-10-11T08:36:00.003+01:00

2^nd weekend of October is walking weekend when friends from the south east come to enjoy or endure whatever the elements throw at us. One day was the Carneddau from Llyn Ogwen. Near the top of Pen yr Ole Wen we bumped into 6 other walkers and for a while followed them as they faded in and out of the clouds. Much later we heard a helicopter and the next day’s news included the rescue of 6 walkers stranded on a ledge overlooking Cwm Llafar. We saw no-one else all day - was it the same group?

Better than Goretex!

On the other day we did a cross over from Ganllwyd to Barmouth via Cwm Mynach and Diffwys. For most of the ridge walk we enjoyed the inside of fast moving cloud and the partial windshelter of stone walls. Heads down views of wet upland and lots of hairy brown and orange caterpillars (were these Fox Moth - Macrothylacia rubi?) with waterproof properties superior to Goretex.

Mucilago crustacea

But view of the day had to be the Mucilago crustacea slime mold. I won’t attempt any explanation of this but encourage you to read Natur Cymru edition 41 which will feature an article on slime molds written by Dr Bruce Ing (formerly of Mold!). He will also be describing them on the Radio Wales Country Focus programme in early November.

Natur Cymru Back Issue Offer

2011-10-03T17:22:00.002+01:00

Natur Cymru back editions can be bought for £3 (subject to availability) but for new subscribers this is an expensive way to build a collection. We are therefore introducing a bulk purchase price of £1 per back edition subject to a minimum order of 5 editions inclusive of UK postage. This offer is open to subscribers only.

Some editions are not available (e.g. No. 1) and others are in short supply so please get in contact before placing an order. Call 01248 387 373 or email info@naturcymru.org.uk

If you are purchasing back editions you may like to consider buying Natur Cymru binders which hold 10 editions and cost £8.95 with a small discount for multiple binders i.e. 2 binders £16.95, 3 binders £24.95, 4 binders £31.95.

2011 Painters Challenge

2011-10-03T11:53:00.000+01:00

On Sunday 9 October 2011 amateur artists are invited to join renowned Snowdonia artist Alison Bradley at Tŷ Hyll (the Ugly House) near Capel Curig for the 2011 Painters Challenge hosted by the Snowdonia Society.

Starting painting at 10.30am, artists will receive guidance and advice from Alison while creating a piece of work in any medium based on the theme 'nature'. Inspired by this beautiful setting, with five acres of garden and woodland and the Afon Llugwy nearby, artists have all day to create a masterpiece! At the end of the afternoon everyone will gather in Tŷ Hyll for refreshments, and Alison will award a £100 gallery voucher to the work of art she feels is most deserving. Two runners up will also receive an annual subscription to Natur Cymru magazine, which always features a unique piece of wildlife art on its front cover.

This is a unique opportunity for local artists to come together and be inspired by the woodlands and wildlife garden that our volunteers have worked so hard to create, as well as this iconic house. We hope to make this an annual event, celebrating and encouraging creativity in Snowdonia!

The event is being held with the generous support of Alison’s Gallery in Betws y Coed and Natur Cymru magazine.

Please contact Frances for more information on 01286 685498 or frances@snowdonia-society.org.uk, or visit our website www.snowdonia-society.org.uk.

NATUR Fair 2011

2011-10-01T09:53:00.000+01:00

The sun shone on the righteous at the first ever NATUR fair at the National Trust’s Llanerchaeron. 4 miles inland from Aberaeron it was a beautiful setting. It’s a shame that more people didn’t attend but those that did were very appreciative.

A steady trickle of people made their way to the Natur Cymru stand including several past and hopefully future contributors. It was good to put the faces to the names. Overall it was an incredibly useful networking event.

This is what it looked like ....

Cover Story - Autumn 2011

2011-10-01T09:43:00.002+01:00

Original works of art on the front covers of Natur Cymru are a distinctive and much appreciated feature of the magazine. The artists provide their work free of charge and in return we credit them on the inside page.

Autumn 2011 had a particularly good ‘cover story’ with a painting provided by Paul Burgess titled ‘Bridge Over the River Wye’. One of our subscribers from Pembrokeshire was so taken with it that they bought it for £450.

Happy subscriber, happy artist, happy ending.

Coastal Otter Survey on Anglesey

2011-09-30T17:37:00.002+01:00

Coastal otters, like coastal people, are not a different species, it’s just a lifestyle choice. They enjoy the sea food but not the salt which clogs up their fur and they need to rinse themselves out in fresh water. So this is why estuaries are a good choice when selecting an area for a coastal otter survey.

We worked our way along the mouth of the estuary at Rhosneigr, then upstream through the dunes, past the busy and noisy RAF Valley runway, towards the golf course. It wasn’t until we got to the bridge by the clubhouse that we found our first spraints – 8 one end and 1 at the other.

Was it a single otter or many otters? Dog or bitch? In a few weeks time we will know when the DNA has been analysed at the Waterford Institute of Technology, helping us to build up a picture of the otter population and the territorial ranges of individuals.

What we were doing was being repeated by 6 other groups of volunteers around the coast of Anglesey all organised by Menter Môn. My group leader was Ceri Morris, project officer for MISE - Mammals in a Sustainable Environment, a project looking into a range of mammals (including bats, dormice, red squirrels and harvest mice) that runs on both sides of the Irish Sea.

As well as leading our part of the survey she took time out to record an interview for the BBC Radio Wales Country Focus programme broadcast Sunday 2^nd October.

Here’s a short clip of Ceri and Dawn seeking out otter spraints - note the very elegant footwear!

Two Irish islands

2011-09-28T16:38:00.005+01:00

As a change to our annual Bardsey trip, Kate and I took ourselves off to SW Ireland in early September. After an overnight in Skibbereen (County Cork) we headed for Baltimore and the ferry for Cape Clear Island. Cape Clear is in some ways a sister island to Bardsey, with a bird Observatory and strong Celtic traditions. It is the most southerly point of Ireland, apart from the Fastnet Rock which is 4 miles to the SW. Cape (640 ha) is considerably bigger than Bardsey (179 ha), has a population of around 120 and a daily ferry service 3-4 times a day from Baltimore. The boat is only cancelled in gales. Another difference is that farming on Cape is entirely based on the raising of beef cattle, which has led to the proliferation of electric fences along field boundaries (stone walls which have not been maintained). This makes it a bit more difficult to wander around birding! See photo of Kate getting under electric fence.

After 6 days staying beside the North Harbour on Cape, we headed further north to Castletownbere, a fishing port on the Beara peninsula, on the north side of Bantry Bay.
The next morning we crossed over to Dursey Island, at the tip of the peninsula, in (believe it or not) a cable car! This takes people and animals; 6 of us went across with a Texel ram. The islanders also get cattle across in the car, but the authorities are trying to ban this (gets in the way of the tourist trade). So cattle will have to swim. Watch this space!

William Condry Memorial Lecture 2011

2011-09-27T20:53:00.001+01:00

7 p.m. Thursday 6th October at Y Tabernacl, Machynlleth. The title of the lecture is 'A naturalist and his own square mile' and will be given by Paul Evans.

Paul is a Guardian Country Diarist, presenter of BBC Radio Four wildlife programmes, and as well as being a writer and broadcaster he runs the travel and nature writing course at Bath Spa University. He writes with intimate knowledge, exact observation and an extraordinary lyrical grace about his home environment of Wenlock Edge in Shropshire and is widely acknowledged as one of the best nature-writers in Britain.

The lecture will be preceded by a showing of Liz Fleming-Williams’ and Simon Frazer’s still-film ‘Gwesyn’, about Drygarn Fawr and the Afon Gwesyn.

TICKETS: £5.00 ON THE DOOR

Natur Cymru will have a stall at the event.

Anglesey Grazing Animals Partnership

2011-09-20T20:37:00.000+01:00

Slow maturing, organic, conservation grazing, traditional breeds, fresh air from the Atlantic - it all builds up into a recipe of clear conscience, tasty meat. This is what you get when you buy meat with the AGAP logo. Hilary Kehoe explains the work of the Anglesey Grazing Animals Partnership.

Harlech Beach Clean 2011

2011-09-13T21:56:00.002+01:00

Hurricane Katia was on its way as Jenny briefed us volunteers for the annual clean-up of Harlech beach. The Snowdonia Society does this every year after the tourists have gone. Volunteers came from as far away as Chester and Rhos-on-Sea but the rubbish from much further – milk cartons from Wexford.

All sorts of garbage but mainly lots of plastics which end up in oceanic gyres; massive, slow rotating whirlpools. The North Pacific Gyre, the most heavily researched for plastic pollution, spans an area roughly twice the size of the United States!

The 38 bin liners full of the rubbish we collected will go a very small way to tackling the problem. We need to rethink the way we live. Here’s a film of the windswept volunteers busy on the beach.

Next litter pick is Snowdon on 7^th October 2011. Meet at the Snowdon Mountain Railway at 07:40 for an early morning ride up on the service train and walk back down the Llanberis path. Alternatively meet at Pen y Pass at 09:45 to join the guided litter collecting walk on the Pyg and Miners tracks. This is what it was like on last year's Snowdon litter pick:

Contact Jenny at the Snowdonia Society if you would like to join in.

Jenny Whitmore

jenny@snowdonia-society.org.uk

Ffôn - Tel: 01286 685498
www.cymdeithas-eryri.org.uk - www.snowdonia-society.org.uk

Nature Writing Course October 10-15, 2011

2011-09-03T16:41:00.000+01:00

Nature writing is an attempt to draw together in one literary form the realms of science, art and personal memoir. What better place to reflect upon all these themes than in wild Wales and the glorious coastal landscapes of the Llŷn Peninsula. We will examine the natural forces that create this beautiful environment but we will also consider how you find a language to express encounters with living places and wild things. Outdoors and indoors, this is a course where your walking boots are as essential as your laptop.

The tutors are Nigel Brown and Mark Cocker.

Nigel is a Lecturer in Biological Sciences at Bangor University and curator of the University’s botanic garden. Nigel has both a professional and lifelong interest in natural history. He has lived in northwest Wales for four decades and cherishes the region’s rich variety of landscape and wildlife.

Mark is one of Britain’s foremost writers on nature and contributes regularly to The Guardian. His seven books include Birds Britannica and Crow Country, which was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize 2008 and won the New Angle Prize for Literature 2009.

Residential: £525 (single); £300 (shared); Non-residential £275. 10% off for members of Naturalist Trusts or other nature and conservation groups. For further details contact Tŷ Newydd Writers’ Centre, Llanystumdwy, Cricieth, Gwynedd LL52 0LW 01766 522811 tynewydd@literaturewales.org

One of the students is the runner up in Natur Cymru’s Inspired by Nature writing competition.

Victoria Plum Fox

2011-08-17T07:25:00.002+01:00

Young bracken can be slashed or strimmed but the trunks of mature plants are too tough. By mid August they’re falling over and lying at odd angles. This is when an alpine scythe comes into good effect. Swinging from right to left in a slow hoola hoop motion, slicing through a dozen plants at a time and pulling them to the side. It takes about 10 minutes to work up a sweat and within an hour I’ve not got a care in the world.

My target this year is the acre or so of open ground at the edge of the Maentwrog Nature Reserve that backs onto our vegetable garden. It has an expansive but short lived spell of bluebell brilliance until it gets swamped by lime green bracken. Last year’s experiment to clear a small patch proved worthwhile, this year I’m going for the lot (with the blessing of the warden).

Surveying my work in progress from the bedroom window I spotted a fox as it came out of the trees and started to cross the mown patch to the garden. A quick call from my mobile to the landline downstairs to alert the rest of my family. We all watched as it climbed onto and walked along the stone wall then disappeared into the clump of damson trees. That explained the purple scat at the corner of the garden.

After a few minutes of damsons it picked up a windfall Victoria plum before exiting stage right. Upside down livestock fencing is no barrier at all, not even a wriggle as it nimbly passed through.

The following night I put up a trail camera next to the damsons. Sure enough the fox was back. If you look carefully enough you can see the fox being startled by an owl flying off a post.

Butterflies in our Llanfairfechan garden

2011-08-15T11:02:00.004+01:00

Rather poor this year. The buddleias are fully out but today all we've got is 2 Large Whites, 2 Commas, a Red Admiral and a Peacock. One Painted Lady has put in an appearance and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth was a regular visitor in July but has now departed.

We have had one new species for the garden - a Grayling on July 24th. We see these on the rocky heathland on the edge of the Penmaenmawr quarry, not far as the crow (or chough) flies but 200m higher up than our garden at 100m.

Last year we had a few more exciting species in the garden, including a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and a White-letter Hairstreak (see photo). The former is a fast flier which could have come some distance from the nearest colony (wherever that is), while the Hairstreak is unlikely to have flown further than the elm trees across the road - elm is the food plant for this species. The white-letter is the W on the closed wings (hairstreaks at rest always have their wings closed).

We also record butterflies up the road, through Nant y Coed (our local Nature Reserve) and out onto rough grazing above. We do these weekly transects from April to September for Butterfly Conservation. The most exciting sighting this year has been a Dark Green Fritillary, a larger and even faster flier than the Small P-b species. On the debit side, I have failed to spot another species of hairstreak - the Purple, which lays eggs on oak leaves and also visits ash trees to feed on aphid honeydew. In previous years we've always seen these in July and August, but so far in 2011 not even a flash of purple.

Boris Bikes, Spencer Ivy & Electric Wales

2011-08-02T10:45:00.005+01:00

Returning from a rare excursion to the south of London I left the train at Vauxhall. Instead of catching the tube to Euston I walked past MI6 headquarters to the cycle rank beside the river- a line of about 30 identical bikes with a vending machine at the end.

In went my Visa card and, after pressing buttons to select options, out came a ticket with a 5 digit code. I typed the code into the docking bay for one of the bikes and, after a strong yank on the handlebars, it was time to tuck my trouser leg into my sock and start pedalling.

Along the wide terrace of the south side of the river, beneath Lambeth Bridge, past signs which said ‘considerate cyclists welcome’, then across Westminster Bridge onto The Embankment. Left up Northumberland Avenue, through Admiralty Arch into The Mall. What joy!

I stopped at a stand where a firm called Spencer Ivy were offering test rides of their electric bicycles. Lightweight and with a range of 50 miles between charges they were impressive but at £1,800 I had to say ‘I’ll think about it’. They’d certainly make Snowdonia an easier touring option.

The company has a partnership with a cycle tour operator in the Brecon Beacons called Drover Holidays promoting ‘Electric Wales – cycling holidays with added power’.

Onwards into Green Park until I noticed the no cycling signs and pushed my way out to Hyde Park and resumed pedal power to Speakers Corner. Through the West End, left at Centrepoint and northwards to Euston.

What a brilliant way to travel especially on the dry and sunny Sunday that it was. My 2 hour adventure had cost £7. The bikes are emblazoned with ‘Barclays’ but everyone calls them Boris’s Bikes (as in Johnson the mayor) which is a bit unfair as it was in fact Ken Livingstone’s idea.

A Swallow's Tale

2011-07-26T20:15:00.003+01:00

Last summer wasps colonised the underhang above our front door and with mixed feelings I zapped the nest with spray foam. This year swallows chose the same place. The nest took shape and on 12^th June the parents began to sit on it. Through the window over the door was a good vantage point and I watched for much of the next three weeks. Surely they shouldn’t leave the eggs for so long on such a cold day?

Eventually they hatched and the sitting switched to non-stop airlifts of food and refuse collection. The parents spotted me behind the stack of books in the windowsill that acted as my hide and screamed as they hovered in front of the lead panes.

Each morning I’d take a look until Sunday 10^th July, 8 days later, the nest was gone. Outside in the pouring rain, there it was on the stone slabs. One dead on its back, the other two face down in the nest but breathing, parents out of sight.

I looked in my workshed and improvised a nestbox out of a plastic shelving tray covered with a plank fixed by rubber bungee. A lump of timber to weigh it down and wedge the nest in place with a stick across the front to stop it falling out then placed it on the nearest windowsill.

When the rain eased off the parents returned, one with its beak full of flies, and flew repeated sorties into the corner where the nest had been. Frustratingly they perched nearby but failed to look at my impromptu haven.

I got a laptop to the open window and played back the sound of baby swallows crying for food, but still they didn’t get the message. After 20 minutes of pressing the play button I gave up on the strategy and, feeling quite sad, took the dog for a walk.

By the time I got back the parents were flying into the new position of the nest feeding their remaining 2 chicks. By now I felt as involved, committed and protective as the natural parents and enjoyed watching their progress.

For some reason I was not expecting their maiden flight until much later but on 18^th July off they went. They both struggled but one of them made it to the greenhouse roof and subsequently took up residence in the workshed.

The other hopped around beneath the nest unable to fly but calling out each time the parents came by with food. Its wing was damaged and the rain was pouring down once more. I filled a beach bucket with wood shavings and rested it on its side in the dry beside the front door. By the time I went to bed the chick had settled in to its shelter.

For the next two days I watched as the chick seemed to get stronger but no closer to flying. Someone said I should put it out of its misery, but I didn’t.

In recent weeks the house had sprung a couple of leaks through the roof but I delayed calling a builder because of the nesting swallows. As the nest was no longer in use I called him and as he drove up he ran over the crippled baby. I didn’t have the heart to tell him.

If you can bear to watch it here’s the video diary. It could have been worse, at least the one chick survived.

On the way to the Royal Welsh

2011-07-16T09:38:00.006+01:00

Natur Cymru does not have a formal presence at the Royal Welsh this year, but Kate and I will be on the Wildlife Trusts stand all four days and I'll be delighted to meet any subscribers and even recruit a few new ones! I'll have a few recent back numbers to sell.

On the Trusts stand you'll be able to see a story-telling chair, kindly donated by Sylvantutch who operate from the craft centre at Corris near Machynlleth. A week or two ago Kate and I took the chair down from North Wales to the reserve at Gilfach, just north of Rhayader. The picture shows Susie from the Radnor Wildlife Trust putting the chair to good use, an hour after it arrived there. We also called in at the kite feeding station at Gigrin, a few miles away, to leave a Natur Cymru display stand.

On the way back up to North Wales we visited the Mont WT reserve at Dolydd Hafren, on the Severn near Montgomery. Access is easy.......once you've found the small carpark! Butterflies were superb along the field margins as we walked to the hides, and the view over the Severn is really remarkable, with cattle in the water-meadows and even in the river. Reed buntings, reed warblers, sand martins and a common sandpiper, but we couldn't spot the little ringed plovers which breed on the shingle there. Brayton Holt gives an excellent account of Dolydd Hafren in Natur Cymru #22. It is one of the hidden jewels of the Wildlife Trusts in Wales (no shortage of those!).

Earlier this week I was able to pop in to another Mont WT reserve on the far side of Wales, to see the ospreys at Cors Dyfi. The three young seemed well-fed and not very interested in a flounder the parents had brought in. Do call in if you are passing, it's right beside the A487 and a couple of miles from the RSPB reserve at Ynys-hir (heard of that?). All the latest news about the Dyfi ospreys can be found via a link on http://www.montwt.co.uk/

Bardsey birds and their SatNavs

2011-07-16T08:04:00.008+01:00

Baby manx shearwater

Bardsey is beautiful and so are the birds; I’ve never been so close to puffins.‘If I drive straight up, they fly off’, said Colin the boatman, as we reversed up to them. On land I was lucky enough to meet someone monitoring the manx shearwaters. Like a magician, he put his hand into what looked like a rabbit hole, and carefully pulled out a large grey ball of fluff. ‘The parents have just the one chick and soon it will fly 7,000 miles to Argentina’.

We climbed to the top of the cliff overlooking Aberdaron and Uwchmynydd. Our main interest was the kittiwake colony below but I couldn’t help be distracted when a squadron of attention-seeking choughs screamed past at eye level. Across Britain kittiwakes have declined by 30% in the past 10 years but here in Wales they seem to be holding their own.

John Clark, marine policy officer for RSPB Cymru, explained the project to attach GPS devices to the kittiwakes. The gadget records data for 3 days and, when downloaded, is used to produce maps – the one I looked at showed the bird to be feeding several miles out, mainly to the southwest.

On the razorbills they are also attaching TDR gadgets where D stands for depth. Through these they can monitor not only where, but how deep, the birds are diving.

The output of the research, which feeds into FAME (Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment), a much wider project spanning the Atlantic coast of Europe, will help inform us when we make decisions on developments at sea. Not guesswork nor assumption but science and painstaking monitoring over many years – we can’t afford to get this wrong.

Right now decisions are about to be made about Marine Conservation Zones around the Welsh coast. Colin’s hoping that Bardsey waters will not be one of them, as that would scupper his lobster business. He believes his activities are sustainable and can live side by side with conservation.

Apart from the wildlife you’d expect we also had a rare sighting of the BBC Countryfile team as they filmed the family that lives and farms on the island.

For more information about Bardsey (Ynys Enlli), and details of how to get there, take a look at the website for the Bardsey Island Trust.

A swallow's tale

2011-07-11T07:07:00.002+01:00

The sound of Sunday morning rain warranted a lie-in, but by 7:30 the day was beckoning. I dressed and knelt down to peer out of the bedroom window at the nest of baby swallows, but it was gone. It had fallen 12 feet or so and 1 of the chicks was dead on its back. The other 2 were face down in the nest but breathing.

Still raining, no sign of the parents, what to do? I scoured the shed and found a shoe-box size plastic shelving tray, strapped a board over the top, wedged the nest with a block of wood and an old sock. Finally a stick across the front to stop anything falling out then placed it on the nearest windowsill.

When the rain eased off the parents returned, one with its beak full of flies, and flew repeated sorties into the corner where the nest had been. Frustratingly they perched nearby but failed to look at my impromptu haven.

I got a laptop to the open window and played back the sound of baby swallows crying for food, but still they didn’t get the message. After 20 minutes of pressing the play button I gave up and, feeling quite sad, took the dog for a walk.

But on my return what joy, there were the parents flying in and out with food and removing the poo sack. From the overlooking window I can see only 1 chick so I suspect the other must have died. Will it stay in the nest or will the parents throw it out?

In the meantime the 8 day old surviving swallow is getting lots of rations and parental care.

First (baby) swallow

2011-07-02T13:07:00.000+01:00

After 20 days of the mother sitting on the eggs our first baby swallows have hatched on 2nd July. I was beginning to think the recent cold weather might have damaged the chances of success. The nest is right above our front door so visitors please note to come round the back.

Flowers for Fathers

2011-06-22T07:15:00.002+01:00

For Fathers Day my son took me out on a mountain ramble up and around Y Garn. It was beautiful to see so many and such variety of plants in flower including the Snowdon Lily which I thought would have been just a stalk by 19^th June. See how many you recognise:

Balmy Barmouth, Blue Lobster and Blenny

2011-06-22T07:07:00.002+01:00

50 years ago there were 14 boats fishing for lobsters off Barmouth and, not surprisingly, the population declined. At that concentration it just wasn’t sustainable. Today there’s just the one, skippered by John Johnson, the man who also runs fishing charters on Viking II and supplies tackle from his shop on the high street.

He welcomed me on board to see how, with the help of veteran lobsterman Ray Lewis, he goes about his business. I was lucky to be motoring out of harbour with still water and blue skies – frequent high winds had meant slim pickings for most of May and June.

About a mile out we reached and hooked a marker buoy and winched up a string of 12 pots. 1, 2 and 3 were lobsterless, temporary home to small fish, crabs and jellyfish eggs. Pot number 4 produced the first lobster.

Like a production line, each pot was opened, emptied and baited with a chunk of plaice then stacked in sequence on a bench ready for launching off the stern. Maybe 15 minutes to raise and relay the dozen.

Some pots were empty whilst others were crammed full of life, not just lobsters but edible crabs, spiders, hermits, velvets, butterfish, blennies and whelks to name but a few. The Fisheries ruler was used to measure the length of the lobster’s main shell from eye-socket to the start of the thorax. Any less than 87 mm were returned to the sea, about 75%, and many of these were so frustratingly borderline.

After about 3 hours we had 36 decent sized lobsters in the oxygenated tank with their claws held fast by strong rubber bands. Not for fear of humans being bitten but to limit the injuries they would inflict on each other. Some were so brilliant blue whilst others had more of an orange tinge – the difference between those that blend into a background of rock as opposed to shale.

John’s mobile rang and 18 were sold to the Lobster Pond (01341 281234), the quayside shop for live or cooked lobsters. The other 18 would be buried beneath the waves in one of his chests, ready for the dealer from Bangor who sources up the coastline from mid Wales. From Bangor they go to Spain where lobsters reach respectable prices.

Before returning to port John switched to fishing prawns in a similar fashion. A string of tubular prawn pots baited with ripe herring. 4 or 5 kilos were harvested and secured in the submarine stash.

Back ashore, slightly lobster pink despite my factor 30 sunblock, I had much more respect for this noble crustacean. For summer occasions and anniversaries there’s nothing quite like a fresh lobster from Barmouth caught by John or Ray. So much better than supermarket lobsters from Canada.

Cob 200 - Glaslyn Marsh

2011-06-18T16:19:00.006+01:00

200 years ago in the summer of 1811 William Madocks completed the Cob. Hopelessly over budget and in serious debt. But he did it.

In the winter edition of Natur Cymru there was a great article by Twm Elias about the Glaslyn Marsh and the impact of the Cob. If your Welsh was not good enough to fully understand it and you did not request a translation - here it is. Well worth the read. Diolch Twm.

An Appointment with the Doctor

2011-06-18T14:55:00.005+01:00

Town centre location, short walk from bus stop, café just round the corner – sounds like a good location for a surgery. This surgery is in the heart of a delightful small town in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The ‘surgery’ is something rather special as it contains a range of medicinal plants which would have been used by the local population before 1800. We forget that, except for the last 75 years, we humans have relied almost entirely on plants to treat all manner of sickness, from coughs to TB and malaria; even today we rely on the curative properties of plants in over 50% of our medicines. Elsewhere in the world, people still rely on herbs as a primary source of medicine

There are 12 beds in the Cowbridge Physic Garden, each one relating to parts of the body or to a medical condition. Bed 9 contains plants for the liver, bed 2 the eyes, bed 4 the nerves, bed 10 infectious diseases and so on. Work on the Garden has transformed a derelict site into a place where passers-by pop in to relax and meet friends and into a very special place with history, beauty and a strong reminder of ‘what biodiversity does for us’!

Work began in 2005 to transform the half acre space, now maintained by an enthusiastic band of volunteers linked to the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust. They are only too happy to show you round and explain their story and that of our reliance on nature.

http://www.cowbridgephysicgarden.org.uk/

Nuts - who ate the nuts?

2011-06-16T22:13:00.001+01:00

At this time of year the nut feeders empty fast. Experimenting with a time lapse camera the 720 images, taken every 2 minutes over 24 daylight hours, tell the story. A couple of the creatures have bushy tails instead of wings. Here it is:

Cemlyn NWWT Reserve, NW Anglesey

2011-06-13T23:18:00.004+01:00

Cemlyn is the place to visit now, better than oakwoods as the bluebells are over and the pied flycatchers have fledged and left the area (the Springwatch ones that died were late broods, the ones in the main nesting period did much better).

Visit Cemlyn to see Sandwich terns flying low over your head to feed their chicks a few yards away, each adult with one sandeel, sprat or young cod in its beak. 1600 pairs make a grand spectacle and it's the only colony in Wales! The NWWT wardens will point out the less numerous common and arctic terns, also the pair of Mediterranean gulls whose eggs have now hatched.

Go any day, or join one of the guided walks (Tuesday & Sunday 2pm up to the end of July).
No charge for visiting or for the walks, but a donation in the NWWT box would be welcome.

Directions are on the NWWT website. The easiest is the A55 route, turn off for Valley (NOT the RAF camp) and at the traffic lights in Valley turn right onto the A5025. After 9 miles, turn left (signed to Jam Factory & Cemlyn). Pass the Jam place, 1km further on keep left until you see the lagoon, then right for the car park.

I'd hoped to include Huw's UTube clip of film from 2010 but he'll have to add that.

Woodpeckers in the Woods – a week later

2011-06-12T20:36:00.002+01:00

Walking past there was quite a commotion coming from the woodpecker nest, louder and more insistent than usual. Was this the father insisting the chick took its maiden flight? It was having none of it. Certainly not in the rain.

Meanwhile another young chick overshot the nut feeder and crashed into our kitchen window. Dazed and confused it eventually flew off.

Natur Cymru YouTube Services

2011-06-07T10:11:00.007+01:00

Over the past year we have made 16 films to help the Welsh Assembly Government illustrate different ecosystems. What are they? Why are they important to us?

The contributors have all been front line workers, as opposed to media savvy presenters, which makes the films that much more real. You are hearing it from the horses' mouths and without a script. We didn't always have picture postcard weather!

If you would like help in communicating a story, please get in contact. Below is a list of films, some of which were grant funded by CCW (thank you!).

Ynyslas Spit
Rheidol Valley
Dyfi Wetlands - Ynyshir
Dyfi Wetlands - Cors Fochno
Mawddach Estuary
Mussels on the Menai Strait
Cambrian Mountains Initiative
Soil Testing & Slurry
Soil Testing & Slurry Cymraeg
Salt Marsh
Salt Marsh Cymraeg
Blanket Bog
Blanket Bog Cymraeg
Hay Meadows Elan Valley
Lleyn Heaths
Meirionnydd Oakwoods

Two Bioblitzes in 36 hours!

2011-06-05T21:50:00.002+01:00

A Bioblitz is definitely a core activity for Natur Cymru readers, as it’s a concentrated effort over a day to find and identify as many plants and animals as possible on a specific site. Usually experts are drafted in and beginners are encouraged to come along and learn/help. So it should be a fun activity as well as generating lots of records.
Anyway, I went along to Ty Hwll (the Ugly House) on the A5 near Capel Curig for the Snowdonia Society’s Bioblitz on May 20th. My contribution was supposed to be an Owl Walk at dusk; what I actually did was to inspect all the nestboxes in the grounds, accompanied by two ‘beginners’ who had never seen inside a box before! They were delighted to see nests of blue & great tits, pied flycatchers and even a nuthatch nest. After this was over, the bat team were setting up a harp trap (for bats) and switching on their sophisticated bat detectors.
Thirty-six hours later I was on the outskirts of Bangor at my second Bioblitz, held at Eithinog, a 33-acre area of old fields and hedges near Ysgol Friars. The site has recently become an SSSI on account of its grassland fungi, and Gwynedd Council is about to hand it over to North Wales Wildlife Trust. Despite strong winds and heavy showers, nearly all events were well-attended, including a Wild Flower Walk led by our Editor and his wife Joanna (see photo!). Roy Tapping from COFNOD (Local Records Centre) popped in several times to collect records as the groups returned to base. Although Eithinog’s wildlife is unusually well-documented, species will die out and others arrive, so listing must continue indefinitely. At present the site is effectively a Public Open Space. Future management may be more pro-active, but hopefully there will be no shortage of naturalists (from experts to beginners) to continue the programme.

Stray Pigeons

2011-06-05T10:38:00.001+01:00

Pigeons might be common elsewhere but it’s a rare sight that we find them perched on our roof. I could see they both had rings. Two of them hung around for most of Saturday, barely moving, soaking up the sunshine. One moved on and the other seemed to be dozing on top of a chimney.

We consulted the racing pigeon website and followed their guide on what to do if you find a stray racing pigeon. The advice in our case was to provide food and water. Sue clambered out of a bedroom window to scatter the corn and place the bowl. That was enough for the pigeon .... he or she was off.

Where were they racing to and from? There were only 106 races listed for the 4^th June on the racing pigeon website!

Woodpeckers in the Woods

2011-06-05T08:23:00.002+01:00

Not the flash of bright colours but the whimpering of hungry chicks, that’s what gave away the nest, about 15 feet up an oak. Precision drilled to fit woodpeckers. I waited a couple of minutes until the parents flew in, first one, then the other delivered the food parcels. Within 5 minutes they were back again. It’s a never ending shuttle at the moment.

Hay 2011

2011-06-01T10:58:00.005+01:00

It was great to mix with the good and the great at this year’s Hay Festival. What a wonderful setting for the Inspired by Nature prize-giving ceremony.

Thanks to RSPB Cymru for inviting us into their tent and to WWF Cymru and Tŷ Newydd for sponsoring the competition prizes. To all the competitors, the winners, the judges and Gillian Clarke for presenting the prizes.

Thanks also to BBC Radio Wales for featuring us on the Jamie and Louise programme and the Roy Noble Show. Roy called in to see us .... I think he’d heard about the cake which was the star of the show!

Inspired by Nature & Cake

2011-05-30T09:22:00.000+01:00

We'll be cutting the cake at the Hay Festival on Tuesday 31st May at 3pm. Come to the RSPB stand and have a slice. The occasion is the prize-giving for the nature writing competition but it's also a chance to celebrate the various significant birthdays: RSPB Cymru 100, WWF 50, Ty Newydd 21 and Natur Cymru 10.

Cake made by Debbie's Cake'ole

Nature Week .... so much nicer than biodiversity!

2011-05-29T20:28:00.000+01:00

June 4th is the start of Wales Biodiversity Week with over 70 events across the country. Here's a list of what's on, when and where:

Calendar of events during Wales Biodiversity Week

Boles!

2011-05-28T08:44:00.002+01:00

Boles are alcoves or shelves built into walls to house skeps of bees, the way it was done before the invention of efficient, wooden beehives. By placing the skep in the alcove it would be protected from the worst of the rain and insulated from the cold on 3 sides.

Towards the bottom of our drive are a couple of derelict buildings with bee boles, one called Beekeepers Cottage. ‘Our’ bee boles are beautiful, dry-stone constructions, but a bit run down.

Just down the road towards Dolgellau, at Dolmelynllyn Hall, the National Trust are restoring their wall of bee boles. It’s a case of one-upmanship, not just a few but 46 boles!

On 5th June 2011 they are holding an open day to celebrate 75 years of the property being in National Trust ownership. This event will include an expert on hand to explain the traditions of bee-keeping with skeps on display. The wall and the skeps will not be used for bee-keeping as this is not good for the welfare of the bees compared to modern hives.

If you miss the open day it’s still a sight worth seeing. The old house was the one time home of William Madocks, builder of the Cob at Porthmadog, and is now a characterful hotel and restaurant.

Fire-Fighting yn ennill cystadleuaeth ysgrifennu

2011-05-19T19:53:00.001+01:00

John Harold yw enillydd cystadleuaeth ysgrifennu Natur yn Ysbrydoli Natur Cymru a noddir gan WWF Cymru a Tŷ Newydd, y ganolfan ysgrifennu genedlaethol.

Dywedodd Gillian Clarke, bardd cenedlaethol Cymru ac un o'r beirniaid: 'Rhoddais y wobr gyntaf i John Harold am Fire-Fighting. Hwn oedd y darn y dysgais fwyaf ganddo. Mwynheais y ffordd y gwnaeth y stori am dân yn y rhostir a'r mynyddoedd ddatblygu, a gallu'r tân i ddinistrio ac adfywio. Roedd cais Frances Voelcker yn agos at y brig hefyd, a hynny am ei harsylwadau ar amgylchedd naturiol cyfnewidiol Graig Goch.'

Bydd Gillian Clarke yn cyflwyno gwobr ariannol o £500 i John Harold yng Ngŵyl y Gelli ar 31ain Mai a hefyd yn cyflwyno taleb o £500 ar gyfer cwrs preswyl yn Nhŷ Newydd i Frances Voelcker.

Dywedodd James Robertson, golygydd Natur Cymru, 'Roedd y beirniaid yn cytuno'n unfrydol ar enillwyr y ddwy wobr. Roedd y ddau yn rhagorol. Rhoddir y wobr gyntaf i John Harold am ei waith gwreiddiol, pwerus am dân ar yr ucheldiroedd. Rhoddir yr ail wobr i Frances Voelcker, am ei darn ystyriol, telynegol sy'n disgrifio ei mynydd'.

Disgrifiodd Andrew Forgrave, golygydd materion gwledig y Daily Post a'r beirniad arall, y ddau gyflwyniad buddugol: 'Mae Fire-Fighting yn mynegi barn uniongyrchol ar fater sy'n dwyn dinistr i fryniau Cymru yn flynyddol. Diffoddwr tân neu losgwr? Yn fedrus, mae'r awdur yn aros ei gyfle cyn cyflwyno'r gwir, ac yn gorffen y darn yn grefftus â rhai safbwyntiau personol. Mae Graig Goch yn ddarn telynegol. Er nad oes naratif cryf mae delweddau bendigedig ac, ar y diwedd, teimlir cyswllt yr awdur â'i phwnc yn glir. Ysgrifennu trawiadol, heriol gan saer geiriau dawnus.'

Dywedodd Anne Meikle, Pennaeth WWF Cymru: 'Mae WWF Cymru yn falch iawn o fod wedi noddi cystadleuaeth ysgrifennu Natur Cymru eleni. Y gobaith yw y bydd darllen gwaith mor ddawnus yn annog pobl eraill i ddarganfod rhyfeddodau byd natur a rhai o'r bygythiadau maent yn eu hwynebu.'

Mae'r ymgeiswyr eraill a gafodd wobr gydradd yn y gystadleuaeth, a theitlau eu herthyglau, fel a ganlyn:

John Woolner Welsh Dragon
Merlin Evans A Little Bird Told Me
Julian Jones Re-Wilding My Town

Cyhoeddir yr erthyglau buddugol yn rhifyn haf Natur Cymru sy'n dathlu ei 10fed pen-blwydd. Cynhelir y seremoni wobrwyo yng Ngŵyl y Gelli ar stondin RSPB am 3 pm ddydd Mawrth 31ain Mai.

NATUR CYMRU OFF AND ON A TRAIN

2011-05-17T19:14:00.005+01:00

We set off from Plas Tan y Bwlch station on the Ffestiniog railway, six of us and a dog, to observe springtime in the Vale of Maentwrog.

First stop was the 'rainforest' look-out, high above the River Dwyryd; the streams were still flowing but the trees and ground flora were thirsty for moisture and not showing off their luxuriant mosses and liverworts.

The track through the plantation was sheltered and sunny, with butterflies lighting on the wayside flowers. On the dark, needle-soft, moist plantation floor we found the heart shaped leaves of the marsh violet, the food plant for small pearl bordered fritillary.

We escaped the darkness and emerged into the sunshine, onto a cleared area where oats were once grown to nourish former smallholders and their stock. From here we could see the Tomen y Mur hilltop encampment used by the Romans and others - it has an amphitheatre!

The sparse acid oak woodlands on the slopes below the railway were alive with birds- flycatchers, warblers, tits, woodpeckers and overhead, we saw and heard choughs. The woodland floor was bursting with fern fronds and blaeberries and the blue sheen of bluebell was breathtaking. We walked past cottages and a willow sculpture with histories, a fortifed house with its own 'halt' on the railway and on up the slope towards the fascinating railway 'loop' at Duallt. Bog bean was in flower around the little Llyn beside the 'request stop'.

The train steamed into view and we climbed aboard for an 'overview' of our route back to Plas station.

Stone Walling 12th June 2011

2011-05-15T22:17:00.002+01:00

It's coming round to that time of year with Open Farm Sunday and the Snowdonia Society's Dry Stone Walling Competition. Three times I've competed and each time failed to come in the top 3 of the amateurs. Maybe this year?

It's not the winning but the taking part. Great food is laid on, £10 if you complete your section and the stunning scenery of Snowdon towering above Hafod y Llan. Details of the event are here and for an idea of what last year was like have a look at

Bluebells and goats in the Vale of Ffestiniog

2011-05-15T10:15:00.000+01:00

The bluebells in the Maentwrog nature reserve are fantastic this year. With the blessing of the warden I cut and raked a lot of bracken last September and this has improved the display. I’ve also been tip-toeing around uprooting or snipping new bracken with my pruners. Next year I’ll extend the patch to make it even more stunning for people as they walk down the Vale of Ffestiniog.

In bright sunlight the blue is pale, but by mid evening, after rain, it’s a deep rich colour. Nicely offset by the black and white of the goats as they browse their supper.

Otters on the Dwyryd

2011-05-15T09:46:00.000+01:00

Six years ago I saw my first otter by the Afon Dwyryd, playing in a puddle on a rainy night. Having got my eye in I expected they’d be commonplace but it took until last Friday (13^thMay) for my second sighting.

A mother seemed to be teaching her two large children how to catch fish. From the film below you can see the moment the fish is caught and hear the squeals of delight as they leap out and in to the holt or resting place. Mother emerges first, then one of the children leaving the other to eat the fish.

On the original film I think you can make out that it is a small eel but YouTube quality is a bit grainy for that detail.

'Fire-Fighting' wins writing competition

2011-05-12T06:43:00.000+01:00

John Harold is the winner of the Natur Cymru Inspired by Nature writing competition sponsored by WWF Cymru and Tŷ Newydd, the national writers’ centre.

Gillian Clarke, the national poet of Wales and one of the judges, commented: ‘I gave first place to John Harold for Fire-Fighting. This was the piece from which I learned most. I enjoyed the unfolding story of fire in the heathland and mountains, its power to destroy, to regenerate. Close behind was Frances Voelcker, for her observations on the changing natural environment of Graig Goch.’

Gillian Clarke will present John Harold with the £500 cash prize at the Hay Festival on 31^st May and also present the £500 voucher for a residential course at Tŷ Newydd to Frances Voelcker.

James Robertson, editor of Natur Cymru, commented ‘The judges were unanimous in agreeing on the winners of the two prizes. Both were outstanding. First prize goes to John Harold for his original, powerful take on fire in the uplands. Second prize to Frances Voelcker, for her thoughtful, lyrical exploration of her mountain’.

Andrew Forgrave, rural affairs editor at the Daily Post and the other judge, described the two winning entries: ‘Fire-Fighting is an insider’s view of an issue that brings annual devastation to Welsh hillsides. Fire fighter or arsonist? Cleverly, the author bides his time before coming clean, and rounds off the piece nicely with some personal perspectives. Graig Goch is a lilting piece with a poetic quality. Lack of a strong narrative is off-set by some wonderful imagery and, at the finish, the writer’s bond with her subject is clearly felt. Impressive, challenging writing by a gifted wordsmith.’

Anne Meikle, Head of WWF Cymru, said: ‘WWF Cymru is delighted to have sponsored this year’s Natur Cymru writing competition. We hope reading such talented work will enthuse others into discovering the wonders of nature and some of the threats which they face.’

The equal runners up in the competition and the titles of their articles are as follows:

John Woolner    Welsh Dragon
Merlin Evans    A Little Bird Told Me
Julian Jones     Re-Wilding My Town

The winning articles will be published in the summer edition of Natur Cymru which celebrates its 10^th anniversary. Prize giving at Hay will be on the RSPB stand at 3 pm Tuesday 31st May.

ENDS

For further information please contact Huw Jenkins, Natur Cymru on 01766 590272 huw.naturcymru@btinternet.com

Fixing upland footpaths

2011-05-10T20:24:00.002+01:00

I had been on Snowdon with a gang of Snowdonia Society volunteers helping unblock the drains and prevent footpath erosion on the Pyg Track. At the bottom of the path you could not help but notice the boots dangling from the power cables. Maybe someone overcome with the elation of surviving Crib Goch?

This film shows you what the gang got up to.

A pair of slime molds

2011-05-09T21:51:00.000+01:00

Walking home through Coed y Bleiddiau, part of the Maentwrog nature reserve, I saw a pair of unusual objects about 10 foot up a tree. Bearing in mind some of the unusual sculptures on the nearby nature trail I thought I’d best check with the warden to see if this was another work of art. Not art but nature or maybe witchcraft. These were slime molds.

Doug (the warden) kindly copied me a 7 page document about the finer details of slime molds. It was the sort of prose that requires a dictionary every other word and by the end of the first page I was none the wiser.

What I have managed to absorb is that they are shape shifters. A bunch of amoeba? Reach for the dictionary and you will understand they are a ‘genus of Protozoa’. Amoeba is derived from the Greek word meaning change and Proteus was a Greek god who could change his shape. So now you know.

Looking at the images on Wikipedia I can see that mine most closely match the False Puffball, Enteridium lycoperdon. It’s at the stage called ‘aethalium’ which precedes the release of spores after which it’ll look like the dried remains of a mudball.

If you go down to the woods today, you’ll never believe your eyes.

Peacocks love nettles

2011-05-08T07:22:00.000+01:00

7^th May and new nettles are being devoured by hungry black caterpillars. Looks like another good year for the peacock butterfly. We hosted several of these on our bedroom window, it was like a conservatory for basking butterflies last winter. Unlike most butterflies, which live just a few weeks, these have a long life with adults surviving potentially 11 months from July until June .... provided they settle down to hibernate rather than play in our window.

If you look at the film you’ll see lots of little black droppings, not poo but ‘frass’ and I think it will be very good for the garden.

Dark bees and Russian kale

2011-05-01T13:46:00.001+01:00

Russian kale survived and fed us through the cold winter. Now in full flower, with millions of yellow petals, I’m told it’s a prolific self-seeder. That’s good because the northern dark bees (apis mellifera mellifera) love it. They’re also doing a good job with the imminent strawberry harvest and perpetuating the dominance of chives in the herb garden.

A Tale of Two Beetles

2011-04-28T13:53:00.000+01:00

A Tale of Two Beetles and some pond snails.

Whilst walking along by the Montgomery Canal at its mid-point near Pool Quay, I was first absorbed by the plant life: a profusion of primroses, violets, ground ivy, garlic mustard, emerging cow parsley, stands of cuckoo pint at the flashing stage, and liverworts in the leaky walls of locks. But the whirligig beetles whizzing about on flat water, slaloming between new rushes and rising horsetails, soon grabbed my attention. It was like having an aerial view of expert dodgem drivers. On the water the beetles look dark – silvery black if they’ve trapped a bubble of air. They have split vision. The bottom half of their eyes are adapted to seeing under water and the top half to seeing in air. I was thrilled by their speed and agility but none of this registered with my greyhounds who wanted to move on to some shade.

The darker section of water was Pond Snail City. Most creatures were parked on the bottom like clockwise, corkscrew trailers. I expect they were guzzling detritus. A few big ones hung upside down from the surface O2ing and filling their lungs. I couldn’t resist mouthing back to them.

Back in the sunlight I noticed a beautiful dark, metallic turquoise beetle had become my brooch. A whirligig was taking a chance to be still. I felt honoured to have such a neat, bright creature, slightly smaller than a ladybird, hitching a ride on my T. shirt. I didn’t see fly away but I hope it was accepted into a new zooming colony.

The morning after I found a dead cockchafer beetle across the road from Newtown’s night club and made a mental note not to leave lights on and windows open. I can admire the architecture of maybugs when they’re still: huge, domed, shellac wing cases, and the go-faster white pennants which edge their abdomens, but I don’t welcome them hitching a ride. Sometimes, when carrying out a benign eviction, I think they’ve flown off into the night only to get into bed and hear their motors start. They’ve embedded the leaves of their huge antennae into my hair or into a fleece.

Last year I saw them flying by daylight for the first time. At first I thought a magpie was attacking me as it swooped low and brushed my head but its focus was the ginger whir just ahead. The magpie snapped with relish. A few feet away another cockchafer was descending. I expect she was about to lay her eggs in the meadow.

Fire!

2011-04-26T07:21:00.000+01:00

I love the woodlands but I wish they would not keep catching fire. This is the 3rd fire I've helped put out in less than 3 weeks. The bracken is quick to recolonise the scorched earth and shrivelled bluebells put on a brave face.

Vanishing elms

2011-04-23T17:56:00.001+01:00

Vanishing Elms?

Now is a brilliant time for spotting elms. In hedgerows and wood edges, elms light up at this time of year, aglow with thousands of golden fruits; with the light behind them, these greenish-yellow seed-holding discs briefly transform an elm into a spectacle. But you have to be quick. Other trees such as oak are bursting into yellow-tinged leaf, and elm leaves rapidly follow the fruits, covering up their glory.

In the late 1970s we were warned that there would be no more elms – Dutch elm disease, a fungus transported by a bark beetle, had done for them. One elegiac book was called ‘Epitaph for the Elm’. A recent guide to wild flowers notes that common elm flowers and fruits are rarely seen, because trees old enough to flower are killed by the fungus. Yet all the lanes around me have elms in them, there are a dozen in my own hedges, and I have counted hundred of trees in full fruit. Many of these may be Wych elms, which have more resistance to disease, but I think most of the hedgerow trees are common elm. The elm is back.

Funnily enough, one of the few places where you don’t see elms in on newly planted sites, because elms have been written off as a species worthy of planting. Nature has a way of confounding human certainties. I rejoice, as elms are the food plant for several moths, and for that scarce, little-seen butterfly, the white-letter hairstreak. But mostly because, for a few days in April, elms become visible from hundreds of metres away, illuminating wood and hedgerow. Then, as quickly, they are absorbed by the gorgeous green of early summer foliage.

Heaven On Earth!

2011-04-23T11:56:00.002+01:00

What better place is there to be, than a Welsh sessile oakwood in late April – on a sunny day of course? The young oak leaves are just beginning to emerge but the sun still gets down to the woodland floor. The celandines and wood sorrel are in full flower and the bluebells are just coming out. Speckled wood and orange-tip butterflies flit about over the fallen oak leaves. You can hear a full hand of summer migrants in song – pied flycatchers, redstarts and the first few wood warblers. Actually, the redstarts prefer the old ash trees further up the valley, near the falls. I look inside one nest-box and see an almost complete flycatcher nest. All it needs is a lining and 7-8 blue eggs.
Various questions come into my head – will the first egg date be even earlier this year? Will the looper caterpillars be ready at just the right time to be fed to young flycatchers (and young tits)? After several years of low predation rates, will a rogue weasel get into the boxes and cause havoc again? Maybe you can detect my priorities here – caterpillars are for birds to eat, but a weasel that eats birds is ‘rogue’!
Just in case you are wondering – my sessile oakwood is Coedydd Aber NNR, near Bangor; Kate and I live about two miles away. Others are even more fortunate – Natur Cymru blogmeister Huw Jenkins lives in a sessile oakwood (Coedydd Maentwrog, also an NNR, near Porthmadog).
So, get yourself to your nearest sessile oakwood as soon as you can. Galapagos? Antarctica? Ngorongoro? Seen them all on the TV, don’t need to go there. Heaven on earth is right here, in Wales.

2011-04-20T09:52:00.003+01:00

Every day since the 24th November 2010 when I was treated to a spectacular kingfisher sunset I've longed to see the kingfisher on the stretch of the Severn that runs through Dolerw Park in Newtown. But the big freeze lasted and lasted and the new path on the other bank got busier and I thought all the kingfishers dead or settled into new territories. This morning, a patch of red caught my eye. At first I thought it was a robin on the riverside mud having a drink, but my gaze triggered flight and turquoise ignition. The river is so low that it's showing its soft gums and sharp knuckles.

Last week I had some exciting sightings just metres from the Powys border in Shropshire - a glossy male ring ouzel with a perfect white crescent bib perched on a stile close to the foot of Corndon Hill, and, about 10.30 pm on 14th April, I think I glimpsed courting nightjars near Bishop's Castle and again, virtually on Offa's Dyke, near Mellington.

My friend's car has a huge sunroof. I saw a pale flick, a float and a bank, then another bird with nuthatch coloured underparts and upheld wings. Though the image was brief, I knew that they didn't have the density or composure of owls. WhenI saw a similar pair a couple of miles on I was reminded of the agility of hawks. There are several small woods along the B4385 and the land rises south of this to the Kerry Ridgeway in a series of quite secret brackeny cwms. At certain points on the Ridgeway I've often remarked that these cwms look like something from Thomas Hardy's Dorset. I wonder if anyone else thinks it likely that these were nightjars?

Ticks – just hitching a ride

2011-04-04T21:36:00.003+01:00

I’ve plucked many a tick from our dogs and an occasional one from myself or a member of the family. Always trying to get the whole thing out but never quite realising the significance until I spoke with a couple of people touched by Lyme disease.

The symptoms described are dreadful and the consequences far reaching. One person has been unable to work for the past 6 years, another is recovering but knows there is a chance of recurrence. It’s one of those fairly new diseases about which we know very little for definite.

Why is it called Lyme? After the town in Connecticut where an unusual cluster of arthritis cases was brought to the world’s attention in the 1970s and a few years later the cause was connected with the tick. I bet that discovery has done wonders for the local tourism industry!

From what I understand the ticks lurk around at the top of grasses and other plants waiting for a passing host to snag into. Once on board they climb up to a suitable position then dig in, typically into the nape of a dog’s neck, but anywhere will do.

When digging in, the ticks inject an antiseptic to numb the area and disguise the invasion. Then they gorge themselves for maybe 10 days until the pin-prick sized beast is as big as a grape and drops off. After days of feeding off their larder of blood they’re ready for more, climb up onto the plants and wait for another unsuspecting host; maybe a rabbit, badger or polecat. A rich cocktail of bloods.

The other day, after removing several bloated ticks off Molly, our collie kelpie cross, we had applied the ‘frontline’ tick deterrent. Instead of burrowing in, there were four of them walking around the top of her white fur seeking more tasty skin. Inside the house or car this is a time when humans look particularly appetising to a hungry tick. I carefully plucked the ticks off onto the kitchen table to photograph them – the rest of the family was none too pleased.

Tick Bite Prevention Week begins Monday 11^th April and there’s lots of information on their website at http://www.tickbitepreventionweek.org/

For practical advice on tools to remove them, see this short film from someone living in Snowdonia.

Pied Flycatcher/Invisible Birds

2011-04-02T11:42:00.002+01:00

Pied Flycatcher: I help to look after 99 nestboxes in Coedydd Aber National Nature Reserve near Bangor. These are used by about 25 pairs of Pied Flycatchers and assorted tits (Great and Blue, mainly). A keen group of students do the leg-work checking the boxes during the breeding season, but I do have to visit before April to check the boxes, repair and replace as necessary. I was up there last Tuesday (29th) replacing a box high up in the oakwood above the carpark, and heard what sounded like a Pied Fly singing rather quietly. Then I saw it - my first ever March record! First eggs are not laid until the end of April, and it will have to wait some time for a lady friend to turn up. Invisible birds: I've written an article about birds which are difficult to find, it's in the latest Natur Cymru. Naturally I was hoping for some response, and was delighted yesterday to get an email from Jim Marshall who lives beside the railway bridge at Dyfi Junction, a few miles down the river from Machynlleth. Jim has sent me a great list of birds he and Sally have seen at their feeding station this winter, including up to 9 Yellowhammers, a Black Redstart and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (male and female). Jim's Lesser Spot W'peckers are the first records for the BTO Winter Atlas for SN69, the 10km square he lives in!

Springwatch in the Vale of Ffestiniog

2011-03-07T10:27:00.000Z

Sunday 6^th March. In the foothills of Moelwyn Bach, on a sunny afternoon, my son was enjoying splashing through puddles on his bike when something caught his eye! A lively adder, woken from its siesta, wriggled away with ‘wheelspin’ as it struggled to find purchase on the long grass. Spring – watch out!

4 legs good, 2 legs better

2011-03-02T21:29:00.002Z

The wild goats in Maentwrog nature reserve (Forest of the Wolves) have been enjoying the removal of the double height fence. This has provided an abundance of previously untouchable winter food. After a couple of months of feasting, the brambles are looking in a sorry state and ivy leaves can only be seen above the five foot mark. Maybe this was how the giraffe started off.

Birds from a hide, and help us track down Ravens!

2011-03-01T10:22:00.003Z

Recently I spent some hours in a hide at Aberogwen (The Spinnies), the North Wales Wildlife Trust reserve just across the Ogwen from Penrhyn Park near Bangor. Trust members man the hide once a month over high tide, to chat to visitors and help them identify birds on the reserve and out on the estuary.
We had 49 visitors while we were there, from as far away as Hertfordshire, Oxford area and Chester, also many locals including the family from the farm across the road! Everyone hoped to see a kingfisher, but it didn’t show up. Maybe the very cold weather in December and January did for it. Luckily other key birds like water rail and greenshank did appear, along with bullfinches (2 pairs), mergansers, goldeneye ducks (30 of these) and other usual denizens (39 species in all). Our key volunteer Richard provides all the bird feeders and fills them up ready for the weekend. We all enjoyed very close views of birds on the feeders, including a great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, long-tailed tits and six greenfinches. A handsome squirrel didn’t cause too much trouble.
Our next hide session at Aberogwen is on March 5th, 11am – 3pm.

Fieldwork for the BTO Winter Atlas 2007-11 finishes at the end of this month, and the final period for the Breeding Atlas starts in April. So we have March off! However mid-March onwards is an excellent time for spotting raven nests, because this species is a very early breeder. We’d love to hear about occupied raven nests in North Wales, with date and locality (grid reference if possible). You could ring through the details on 01248 681936 (please leave your name and phone number), or email the Natur Cymru office and ask Mandy to forward on to me. Many thanks.

Prequel to Natur Cymru

2011-03-01T09:27:00.002Z

The first edition of Natur Cymru was published in summer 2001 but the tradition of in-depth nature writing goes back to spring 1955. Our predecessor, titled Nature in Wales, was published in an unbroken run for 32 years until 1987.

This is an invaluable resource for anyone seriously studying changes, patterns and trends in the natural world. Copies of the journals are held in libraries and amongst private collections but as of a couple of days ago the whole series is available on line. A big thanks to the National Library of Wales with funding from the JISC Digitisation Programme.

If you’d like to see the collection it’s just a matter of clicking here.

Naturally I went to the first journal and scanned the list of contents with articles by heavyweights such as R M Lockley and Bill Condry. But of course you don’t need to plough through all 83 volumes. Just type in a search word and you will find pointers to the articles in which it appears. Progress can indeed be a good thing.

Encounter with a Sparrowhawk

2011-02-28T12:56:00.005Z

In the middle of my lawn is a berberis shrub about 5 feet high and with a spread of some 7 feet. Small birds love this shrub. Throughout winter I throw food underneath it and the birds hide safely in its branches - though it's deciduous, there are plenty of sharp thorns for protection. The birds hop down to grab a morsel, then quickly hop back up again. Blue tits and great tits are the most abundant, with robins, dunnock and coal tits following. Chaffinches, though there are plenty around, don't seem drawn to it for some reason.

The bush is useful shelter not just from cats but from other birds. In the big freeze before Christmas 2010 the bigger birds descended looking for food. Crows and jays took their pick of the best, while at one time there were 14 blackbirds (11 of them male – where were the females?) who bullied each other and anything smaller that came near. The small birds hid nervously in the berberis until these thugs had gone.

Then last week the bush showed its true worth. I was on the phone, watching the birds out of the window. Suddenly there was a flurry of blue landing on a branch – a pigeon I thought at first, though they rarely come in the garden: it was about pigeon sized. Then with astonishing agility the blueness flipped itself about the shrub, landing briefly here and there. It was so fast there were only flashes of slate blue and russet. The small birds were far too sensible to try to escape: they knew their best chance was to stay put amongst the tight berberis thorns. Sure enough, their pursuer landed briefly on the ground before taking off and vanishing, still hungry, to hunt elsewhere.

It was almost certainly a sparrowhawk, but I've previously only seen them shooting past at a zillion miles per hour. It was a great treat to see one so close. Meanwhile, my daughter was on the other end of the phone saying "What, what is it?", wondering why I'd let out a squawk and then stopped speaking.

High Tide

2011-02-20T17:10:00.001Z

Ten minutes by car and I am at the seaside. Not the buckets and spades variety, this is the sheltered strip of sea between the mainland and Anglesey, the Menai Strait. The tide is exceptionally high, higher than I ever remember seeing it here, so there is only a narrow strip of shingle between high water and sea wall. This strip is coated with bladder-wrack, a harvest I would dearly like to gather to improve my asparagus bed, but it is laced with plastic debris. I doubt if the little huddle of seven oyster-catchers standing only feet away mind about that, but for me it is a reminder that we treat the sea like a dustbin.

As I watch, the tide starts to pull the waters away towards the ocean, and a riffle appears where the retreating water is drawn across the concrete edge of a small quay. What power there is in the tides, and how long before someone suggests building a barrage here to harness it to feed our collective energy hunger?

Further along the shore there is a small woodland, which I approach carefully, treading gingerly on the thick bed of seaweed. The wood is the colour of spring, a carpet of bluebell and sanicle, violet and lesser celandine, but mostly of wild garlic, tens of thousand of bulbs sending up a single bright green leaf to greet the new year. The sun is shining, I revel in this moment of greenery. No need for a barrage. All it takes is a walk by the sea to re-charge your batteries.