Ospreys in Wales

Ospreys started nesting in Wales in 2004, with pairs in two locations, close to the Severn near Welshpool and in the Glaslyn valley near Porthmadog. The Severn pair raised one young but have not returned to breed there; the Glaslyn nest tipped in a gale and the young died. The Glaslyn pair – the same two birds – did not give up but have returned each year since and always reared young.

Thousands of people have been to this site to view the nest and watch close-up pictures on screen. Emyr Evans was the project manager for the RSPB on the Glaslyn for the first few years, and then moved to the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust reserve on the Dyfi when Ospreys started prospecting there. After great dramas with flooding, torrential rain and interference by visiting ospreys, this pair has also become established and is well seen from a new HLF-funded observation tower reached by a boardwalk across the Cors Dyfi marshes.

Emyr has now written and published the story of the first 10 years, as a handsome coffee-table book with superb illustrations and the complete history of the sites, the people who made it all possible, the individual ospreys, young reared, their migration to West Africa in the autumn as shown by satellite-tagged birds from the Dyfi, and really everything you might want to know about this really exciting story. Just the book to cheer you up during a wet, windy, Welsh winter.

It costs £25 if ordered direct from Emyr; post-free if you place your order by Jan 18th 2015, otherwise a small charge. Full details and how to order: www.ospreysinwales.com

A visit to the Dyfi Biosphere Reserve



An intrepid band of members from North Wales Wildlife Trust braved heavy rain, road works on the A470 (and even a minibus with wet seats!) on Saturday to visit two jewels of the Dyfi Biosphere Reserve, namely Cors Fochno (Borth Bog) and Cors Dyfi. The latter is perhaps better known (at this time of year) as the home of the Dyfi Ospreys.

Cors Fochno is a fascinating raised bog on the edge of the Dyfi; the centre of the peat dome is indeed 9 metres above the floor of the original forest which covered the floodplain. Part of the western side of the bog was ‘reclaimed’ when the Afon Leri was canalised after 1820; in Natur Cymru #17 Mike Bailey describes how these fields were restored to the Bog around 20 years ago. On Saturday Mike (CCW Site Manager) gave us a conducted tour along the boardwalk at the northern edge of the reserve; much of the rest is best seen from a hot-air balloon! He showed us otter tracks over the path, and produced a floating board covered in water vole droppings (see photos). Mink are now largely absent from the site (Mike thinks the otters may have seen them off) and the water voles are back.

After lunch at the picnic tables at the Ynyslas Dunes Visitor Centre (the weather had relented by then), we headed back towards Machynlleth on the A487 (more road works here) to see the Ospreys at Mont Wildlife Trust’s reserve at Cors Dyfi. Emyr Evans writes about this site in the latest Natur Cymru. An adult brought in a fish to feed the surviving chick - two had died earlier in the season and this one had to be fed by hand for a short while, as it was too weak to hold its head up. It's doing fine now (see their website). A water buffalo dozed in the marsh, while Siskins and a Redpoll took seed from the feeder in front of the hide.

What a day!

Mike with the Water Vole platform



Wildlife Trusts Wales - Natur Cymru summer edition

Artwork by Chris Chalk

• Wildlife Trusts in Wales - how did it all begin? Kate & Geoff Gibbs
• Cors Dyfi - one of nature’s jewels. Emyr Evans
• At the bottom of the garden - wildlife surveys in Cardiff. Rob Parry
• Wildlife gardening in north Wales. Anna Williams
• Running a Wildlife Trust. Huw Jenkins
• Dandelions of Cardiff. Tim Rich
• NATUR. Celia Thomas
• Fifty years ago - great black backed gulls on Skomer. David Saunders
• Lady Park Wood - the loss of ground flora. Kathleen Vanhuyse, Pieter Vangansbeke and George F. Peterken
• Coedwig ffosil Brymbo. Raymond Roberts                            
• The Denbigh plum - threats to native varieties. Oliver Prŷs Jones
• Is Pwyll y felin a turlough? Gareth Farr
• New Dyfi catchment and woodland research platform. Huw Evans
• Marine Matters - Protected or not? Mick Green
• Mammal news. Frances Cattanach
• Green bookshelf. Book reviews on bumblebees and slime moulds of Cheshire.
• A review of the Iolo Williams DVD box sets - The Secret Life of Birds and WildWales.

Publication date 22nd June (there was a slight delay as our printers, based in Aberystwyth, were victims of the recent flooding). Cover price £4.00. Quarterly by subscription £16 p.a. or £15 by direct debit. For further information visit www.naturcymru.org.uk or call 01248 387 373. If you would like to download an A4 poster for this edition please click here.

Wildlife Trusts – Natur Cymru special edition summer 2012

Original oil painting by Chris Chalk

·         Wildlife Trusts in Wales - how did it all begin? Kate & Geoff Gibbs

·         Cors Dyfi - one of nature’s jewels. Emyr Evans

·         At the bottom of the garden - wildlife surveys in Cardiff. Rob Parry

·         Wildlife gardening in north Wales. Anna Williams

·         Running a Wildlife Trust. Huw Jenkins

·         Dandelions of Cardiff. Tim Rich

·         NATUR. Celia Thomas

·         Fifty years ago - great black backed gulls on Skomer. David Saunders

·         Lady Park Wood - the loss of ground flora. Kathleen Vanhuyse, Pieter Vangansbeke and George F. Peterken

·         Coedwig ffosil Brymbo. Raymond Roberts                            

·         The Denbigh plum - threats to native varieties. Oliver Prŷs Jones

·         Is Pwyll y felin a turlough? Gareth Farr

·         New Dyfi catchment and woodland research platform. Huw Evans

·         Marine Matters - Protected or not? Mick Green

·         Mammal news. Frances Cattanach

·         Green bookshelf. Book reviews on bumblebees and slime moulds of Cheshire.

·         A review of the Iolo Williams DVD box sets - The Secret Life of Birds and WildWales.

                                                                                               

Publication date 15^th June. Cover price £4.00 or quarterly by subscription at £16 p.a. or £15 by direct debit. ISSN 1742-37400106 Format: 170 x 220mm, 50 pages, full colour.

For further information visit www.naturcymru.org.uk or call 01248 387 373.

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