Anglesey AONB Winter Bird Watch

Saturday 15^th February is a date to put in your diary if you would like to see the spectacle of winter birds on Anglesey. This time last year 100 different bird species were recorded on the day of the event plus bottlenose dolphins and otters. I went along to meet Lowri Hughes (the organiser) and Ben Stammers (one of the bird experts) for a preview of what might be on show at Cemlyn, one of the many sites to be surveyed on the day.

Lowri and Ben on the shingle ridge at Cemlyn

Rather than try to repeat  Ben’s descriptions and the overall atmosphere you can hear what’s on offer on this Sunday’s Country Focus on Radio Wales. This programme is now available as a podcast for 30 days after broadcast. Click here for details of the podcast.

The terns for which Cemlyn is most famous are not due to arrive until mid March, which is just as well because the islands in the lagoon, where they nest, are currently submerged.  Between now and mid March Ben and members of the North Wales Wildlife Trust will regulate the flow of water to make sure there is sufficient island nesting space.

If you would like to take part please make contact with Lowri on 01248 752 446 or by email to lehpl@anglesey.gov.uk

The plan is for everyone to meet at Penrhos Coastal Park car park at 8.15am to split into different groups, then once the day’s bird watching has been completed, everyone will meet back at Caffi’r Parc at Breakwater Country Park for some food and a chat about the days sightings at around 4.15pm.

Islands almost completely under water

Signal Box at Penmaenpool

Nothing compares with the beauty and joy of walking the Mawddach Trail from the coast to Dolgellau than perhaps walking from Dolgellau to the coast. I was there the day after the first snow; a crisp blue sky and autumn colours in the oak woodlands. My guide was Rhys Wynn, area warden for the Snowdonia National Park.

Rhys checks out the visitor book

We walked a stretch of the trail while making a recording for Country Focus which will be broadcast on this Sunday’s edition at 7am and available as a podcast for the next 30 days. Rather than tell you what he said, I recommend you to tune in for this and other great stories.

We ended up in the signal box at Penmaenpool. No longer the levers and cables for moving the rails but a Tardis-like natural cum cultural history museum with a brilliant view across the estuary. It’s staffed by Rhys and a team of ten volunteers and will be open over Christmas and New Year, then again at February half term and more frequently from Easter onwards. The more volunteers, the more often it will be open. If you would like to join in, please contact Rhys whose details are here.

A great example of the National Park working with volunteers at minimal cost to create a high value attraction out of a piece of history.

Red army on the march

Fifteen years ago Anglesey’s red squirrels were close to extinct, about 40 adults, but today there are estimated to be more than 500. I don’t know whether it’s getting a bit crowded on the island but adventurous reds are storming the mainland, thought to be crossing the Menai Strait on the lower deck of the Britannia Bridge.

Craig Shuttleworth talking to Radio Wales Country Focus
Photo  BASC 

I joined a group of volunteers in the National Trust woodlands of the Vaenol, overlooking Plas Newydd, for a briefing session with Dr Craig Shuttleworth of the Red Squirrel Trust Wales. My fellow volunteers were mainly members of BASC (British Association for Shooting and Conservation) and that gives a clue to the success of the reds. Part of the BASC Green Shoots initiative.   

Reds and greys can’t coexist – the larger greys from America out-compete the reds for resources. They also carry a disease which is lethal to the reds. For the successful restoration of the Anglesey population a pre-requisite has been the systematic killing of the greys. A population of over 3,000 is now thought to be less than 30. Not everyone approves! A survey indicated 65% approval for culling, 20% no opinion and 15% against.

Culling is by shooting or by trapping and Craig demonstrated best practice with a trap. On the day nine traps were inspected, two contained reds, which were released and scampered free into the trees, and two which contained greys. All traps had been covered with a sheet of black plastic, to keep the animals dry and warm, and covered with leaves for camouflage. To deal with the greys a hessian sack was placed over the entrance to the trap and when the door was opened, the squirrel ran to the far corner of the sack where it was held tight and swiftly despatched with a cudgel to the head. Brutal but quick. 

Red squirrel ready for release
Photo BASC

It’s difficult to know how many reds are present in this bit of woodland but maybe about 20? There are other pockets of reds, including some pioneers in the woods near  Bethesda, right on the edge of Snowdonia National Park. Esmé Kirby, founder of the Snowdonia Society, and who galvanised people into action for the red squirrels, would be very pleased with this progress. The intention is to cull around the Menai Strait and inland to prevent  greys returning to the island and encourage their spread up the Ogwen valley. When will they be in my garden in Ffestiniog? 

Many thanks to the BASC for organising this event. Walking back to the cars I was busy chatting and missed the red that ran across our path.

If you want to know more about the red squirrel project there is a very informative website. You can also listen to Craig talking on the Country Focus programme on Sunday 3rd March. 

Making Cake at RSPB Conwy

Joy has been training youngsters at RSPB Conwy to make seed cakes for the birds. It’s one of those messy sorts of activities with appeal. You can hear the instruction and the fun on Sunday’s Country Focus, Radio Wales, as millions get ready to take part in Big Garden Birdwatch – the world’s largest bird survey. 

The Lord Lucan of Welsh mammals found squashed on road by Newtown

As one of the many people who have spent countless hours scouring the Welsh countryside for evidence of pine martens I’m not sure what I feel about the news that a young male has been found squashed on the road at Aberhafesp, just outside Newtown, Powys. On the one hand it’s reassuring to know they are still about and not just as memories or imagination. On the other hand it’s a shame that such a rare creature should be mown down by a driver.

This is the first specimen to be found in Wales since 1971 and the only other concrete proof in recent years has been a pine marten scat from the Vale of Rheidol in 2007.

There’s a report about the recent finding on Country Focus (Radio Wales, 11^th November) which will be on the iPlayer until 18^th November. If you want to get involved in the great pine marten hunt you should contact The VincentWildlife Trust. If you want to see what a pine marten looks like, or learn more about the scat survey methodology, here’s a (rather long-winded, sorry) film clip:

  

Nora hates flounders

Last weekend was bad news for the Dyfi ospreys and you can hear Emyr Evans describing the storm, the death of one chick and the dramatic rescue of the other, on Country Focus, Sunday 17^th June.  I met up with Emyr on Thursday afternoon to make the recording and Ceulan, the rescued chick, had doubled in size over five days and was looking fit and well.

I will NOT eat flounder

But there were concerns that Ceulan had not been fed that day. Monty, the male osprey, had delivered a flounder to near the nest and left it draped over a branch. Nora, who started her life in Rutland Water, well away from strange-looking flat fish, ignored it while crows pecked away. By the time I left the wind had picked up, another storm was on its way and Monty had not delivered anything more appetising. What happened next?

The wonders of social media .... there was a tweet from @DyfiOspreys to say Monty had arrived with a huge grey mullet at teatime. See live streaming here. At the time of posting this item both mother and chick looked fit and well.

Emyr has written a brilliant article about the reserve which will appear in the next edition of Natur Cymru due back from the printers on 22nd June. The summer edition would have been a week earlier but for the fact that the printers, based in Aberystwyth, also got flooded! 

Easter week

Migrating tourists started to arrive and the weather put on a spectacularly varied performance. On the first wet day I was taken for an explore 600 metres or so into Rhosydd Quarry overlooking Cwm Croesor – it took the Victorian miners eight years to build the main adit on level 9, working in both directions and meeting at exactly the right spot without the aid of laser gadgets. Not much sign of wildlife inside except a few cavers emerging out of the inky darkness.

The following day we had blizzard conditions in the mountains giving a perfect excuse to catch up on office work and participate in my Natur Cymru meeting by audio conference. Sunshine broke through the following day and although the list of chores was long there was nothing for it but to go up the mountain and enjoy the snow drifts. I can’t describe in words how much fun that was but here’s the film: 

Dry and occasionally sunny conditions continued making for good progress in the vegetable patch. A passing bird watcher said she thought she’d heard a redstart but I’ve still not seen it. She pointed out a vigourous patch of opposite leaved golden saxifrage growing in the boggy bits outside our barn. Now I know its name it’s more special to me. 

opposite leaved golden saxifrage

One of the highlights was the weasel which hopped onto the kitchen window sill at breakfast time and brought a vole or mouse out of a drainage pipe. Subsequent slow motion analysis of the video footage revealed a bit of black on the tail so the majority think it was a stoat.

Monday was a wash out, the only redeeming feature a chance to catch up with Country Focus on the BBC iPlayer. This week was the second of an excellent five part series on the Wales Coast Path which is presented by Jane Davidson. The path opens on the 5^th May and there is a great article about it in the current edition of Natur Cymru.  

It’s not a bog!

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.

Slime Moulds at Loggerheads

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.