Baby Tawny by the Ffestiniog

It was the sort of day for hippos and ducks, but Molly doesn’t mind a bit of rain, so off we went, into the woods with wet bluebells all around.

At the base of an oak was a cute little Tawny owl and I think I caught a glimpse of its parent flying away from the scene. For a few minutes I watched from behind a tree, and then another, but all the while the baby was transfixed, not a move of the head, just the tiniest slit of a motionless eye and its claw set into the moss on the bark. I left it where it was and hope the parent will be back to protect and feed.  

Two summers ago I found a baby Tawny being attacked by crows which I shooed away. I approached that baby and off it flew, into the trees; with dusk approaching it would be safe. For a couple of weeks I followed the progress of that owl and its fellow nest mates as they moved from tree to tree calling out for food. 

As if finding a Tawny was not enough excitement for one day there was a grey coloured Fairlie on the Ffestiniog - Dafydd Lloyd George after a paint job! Is this just an undercoat or here to stay? Rainy days can be good.

The wolf is free!

For four years the willow wolf in Coed y Bleiddiau has been imprisoned within a picket fence. It was for his own good really, to keep hungry goats away. But now he’s a fully grown, mature wolf, strong enough to withstand a bit of bark nibbling, so the wardens have removed part of the fence in order that children (adults too) can crawl into his stomach and exit through the oversized tail. 

Not everyone recognises our beautiful sculpture as a wolf, some just don’t get the howling jaws pointing up to the skies. But from today people with smartphones and a barcode scanner can find out all about it via a pair of QR codes. The top code gives a snippet of information direct from the code to the phone and the bottom code gives much more information via a link to the website historypoints.org  

Across from the wolf is the old Railway Inspector’s cottage which many people stop to admire but few know much about its colourful history. All can now be revealed on the QR code.

These are just two of the many ‘history points’ to be found along the edge of the Ffestiniog Railway and are part of the 750 history locations across Wales. I asked Rhodri Clark how he chose the name for the website and the project. ‘Everyone’s familiar with cash points, history points is the same but dispensing history.’

This is a really good and unobtrusive way to signpost the countryside in an unobtrusive way. You can get lots of information which is easy to update and translate into multiple languages; so much more flexible and enduring than an interpretation board, much cheaper too. Well done Rhodri and everyone who contributes to creating historypoints.org

Shaggy wolf makeover

It’s that time of year, spring and getting ready for the visitors, when our shaggy wolf gets a makeover. Doug the warden waited until the worst frosts were over to avoid snapping the shoots that needed weaving back into the sculpture. It’s now looking smart once more with a tonne of new bark chippings mulching its base. If all goes to plan the picket fence will be moved back to protect people from falling off the cliff and allow children to crawl through its stomach and out of the tail. What big eyes you’ve got grandmother!

Wolf weaving and pruning in Coed y Bleiddiau
Maentwrog National Nature Reserve

Wolf’s MOT in Coed y Bleiddiau

On a dry and frosty February morning I joined Doug and Gareth to tidy up the wolf before spring 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 weave back into the structure.  Shaggy bristles around the jaws were lopped off.

Worryingly there are quite a few strands of dead wood, particularly on the end of the tail. Do we need to call in the expert? To help Beryl, the willow sculptor from Llanidloes, decide what needs doing we made a film clip so she could see the severity of the problem.