29th November 2025

 

Bore da pawb, croeso.

Cymaint yn digwydd yn ystod yr wythnos ddiwethaf, llawer iawn o reoli cynefinoedd gan gynnwys adfer ardal wlyb yn Pembrey Burrows GNL, a phlannu coetir newydd.

So much happening in the past week, a great deal of habitat management including restoring a wet area at Pembrey Burrows, and planting  a new woodland.

There is an area on the Pembrey Burrows LNR that I remember ten years ago was floristically rich, however for too many reasons to go into here, the area has been encroached by Eared Willow, Sea Buckthorn, one or two Aspen, and despite an acceptable grazing regime much rough grass and resulting "thatch" on the ground.

I discussed a plan with my colleague from Natural Resources Wales and well when a plan comes together it comes with surprises, under the willow etc there was a dune slack waiting to blossom , and now it will.

Plenty of south facing slopes for inverts to use, and a great seedbed for all those buried seeds which didn't have chance under the existing conditions; I am looking forward to spring and summer to see how nature recovers. Very little excavation was needed it was removing the willow etc by its roots that allowed the water to rise to the surface very quickly.

This project will require careful monitoring of the returning species - there may be surprises!

Bird highlights already include dozens of Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and, briefly, a Common Snipe! The area will be securely fenced to reduce any disturbance.

Meanwhile back in Pembrey Country Park, myself Ray, one of our stalwart conservation vols, along with contractors planted 629 young trees into a rough unused area of the park as a condition of the felling licence to remover 120 Corsican Pine and Willow from another restoration project  

(Ray and I planted the 19 "big trees" ).

This area excludes people and dogs at the moment to allow the trees to establish and to allow time for me to design a network of paths so that the woodland will be used for quiet relaxation, with perhaps a couple of suitable rustic benches dotted around.

Rain and a taste of Winter 22nd November 2025

Bore da pawb.

Its been a busy couple of weeks, with meetings and planning work.  Contractors are on site carrying out habitat restoration works and have  now completed phase 1 at Pembrey Country Park.

This was a dune slack 30 years ago

Here we go

Almost there, invertebrate bank at the rear

All we need is water !

Remember the Fin Whale on Cefn Sidan, well the lower left jawbone has detached itself from the body as a result we have been able to recover the huge bone back to Pembrey Country Park along with a few vertebrae, once the skull is recovered, probably sometime in 2026 we will create an interpretive display so that visitors can learn more about the whale. Photo next time !

At Llyn Llech Owain Country Park, conservation volunteer and licenced bird ringer Alice has successfully ringed two "new" Willow Tits, the additional data from Alice will build into the ongoing work to ensure the survival of the species at Llyn Llech Owain

Willow Tit, handled under licence, photo by Alice

Another week

 Bore da pawb

Well we seem to be paying for the really nice summer we experienced, over three inches or 75mm of rain was recorded at Pembrey country Park.

Ponds which have languished with summer levels have now filled up, and are recharged nicely.

Myself and colleagues from the Natural Environment team went to an all Wales Grazing Conference at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells which was very well attended, with some useful learnings.

The bird hides at Pembrey Country Park are undergoing repairs and a tidy up, if I could find someone to fill any bird feeders regularly, (twice a week without fail), then I would set up a small feeding station.

This weekend is the monthly Wetlands and Estuaries Bird Survey, WeBS, I count Ffynnon Helyg, Ashpits, Tywyn Bach and Burry Port inner Harbour all very poor today; the saving grace was Old Pembrey Harbour area with 2450+ Oystercatchers, 96 Ringed Plover , 2 Knot, 15 Curlew
and a single Common Snipe the best.

Alistair  Mckechnie has asked me to share a link if you know anyone who may be  keen to get involved with a local conservation or environmental project, here's a new online guide to help you. The link is www.llanelligreenguide.wales 

Batty time

 Bore da pawb Croeso.

This is week has been all go awarding contracts for the winter projects across the estate that we manage, Wednesday I spent the day with Jenny and dan from Vincent Wildlife Trust | Conserving threatened mammalswith… they were installing the last of the additional roosting features into five out of the 6  WW11 bunkers at Pembrey Country Park, committed to Greater Horseshoe Bat conservation , the presence of two very flirty looking, yes flirty not flighty, GHB's stopped the sixth bunker being completed for now- in fact they weren't being flirty just good mates!

Tile to fit flat to the ceiling

 These features, tiles and flower pots, have been       adapted to replicate roosting features in caves, very   clever. Many thanks to Dan and Jenny for what was a   very dusty job, no bats were disturbed during this   work which was carried out under licence.

Inverted flower pot roughed up with concrete

A dusty job

Other winter work contracted out is meadow management and pond creation at Morfa Berwig LNR, dune slack restoration at Pembrey Country Park, and scrub and meadow management at Ynysdawela LNR, more on those jobs when they happen.

A home form home

 Bore da pawb croeso.

No blog for a while as I have been away on leave.

Just before I left a few projects were underway and I am please to say they are now finished off .

Protecting the winter hibernation roosts of Greater Horseshoe Bats, GHB's) at Pembrey Country Park has been a long held campaign, well with funding from Welsh Governments Local places for Nature and the huge support of Isabel Macho and Matthew Collinson in securing those funds; six of the seven WWII bunkers now have secure and improved roosting opportunities.

I engaged Vincent Wildlife Trust, Vincent Wildlife Trust | Conserving threatened mammalswith…  to be our consultants on the project and both Dan and Jenny have been nothing other than fantastic working with one of our countryside contractors they ensured that the work, which has involved building walls and installing metal gates to a design GHB's will use.

Not without issues as the GHB's have already returned for the winter, well four of them never left! Work, conducted under licence, had to start and stop a few times, but now its done.

Monitoring will continue as it has done for several years with hopefully an increase in hibernating and maybe fingers crossed, breeding GHB's. - I have just realised I haven't taken any photos of the finished work !!

A project I do have photos for though is the Sand Martin nesting box project at our Ffynnon Helyg proposed Local Nature Reserve.

Designed delivered and installed by John and Jake from Green Future Building, Green Future Building Ltd (GFB) - Green Future Building it wasn't without its issues though, within seconds the van they were driving got stuck in the only patch of mud ! Well an hour later and we were underway again.

The units provide 96 nesting holes for Sand Martins, mitigation and future proofing for the potential loss of their breeding site on Burry Port East beach. It may take several years before the birds decide to move in, but in the meantime we will prepare the nesting holes with sand and grit to provide as natural an experience as possible for the birds.

The reason the units appear so tall is that John from GFB has worked out that the birds are more likely to use the higher holes, we will plant willow whips at the rear to help hide the supporting piers.

Well that's it for this week....

More tales of the sea... one way or another

 Bore da,  croeso pawb.

Wedi bod yn bythefnos prysur iawn – mae gwaith y gaeaf ar y gwarchodfeydd natur wedi dechrau, a mae prosiectau eraill fel blychau nythu Gwennol y Glennydd yn mynd ymlaen nawr.

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks – the winter work on the nature reserves has started, and other projects like the Sand Martin nest boxes are underway now.

The incessant rain since the start of September has certainly made up for what has been, in my opinion, an almost perfect summer, can the rain now stop !

Sabines Gull

The series of Low pressure systems has delivered some nice birds to the coast, including multiple Grey Phalaropes, Arctic Terns, and Sabines Gull.

Additionally the influx of Glossy Ibis across the UK has reached Carmarthenshire.

Interesting though less welcome have been Portuguese Man 0 War "jellyfish". The Portuguese man o’ war may resemble a jellyfish, but it's actually a siphonophore—a colony of genetically identical organisms called zooids. These zooids develop from a single fertilised egg and bud into specialised parts that can't survive alone.                  Together, they function as one creature,                                                                                                         working in unison to move, and catch food.

The Fin Whale continues to fascinate locals and out of area visitors alike, I have managed to remove the skull, 5m x 2.5m, with the aim of removing any remaining flesh through the winter and eventually creating a display at Pembrey Country Park.

Anyone visiting our Morfa Berwig Local Nature Reserve will see that the winter work programme is well underway, phase 1 is complete with phase 2 planned for later in the winter, don't panic it will look amazing next summer. - go an have a look!

Ar ôl blynyddoedd lawer, dw i’n hapus iawn dweud bod ein safle Ynysdawela’n ffurfiol nawr yn Gwarchodfeydd Natur Leol. Mae’r broses gyfreithiol wedi cymryd tipyn o amser, ond ’di llwyddo cyrraedd y pwynt yna, ac ’dan ni’n gwybod nawr y ffordd orau i fynd drwodd gyda’r pethau cyfreithiol

After many years I am delighted to announce that our Ynysdawela site is now officially a Local Nature Reserve the legal process has taken an age, but we've got there and now understand the best and appropriate routes to navigate legalities .

All at sea or not

 Croeso pawb

A short blog this week to record an unusual and unpleasantly sad event.

On Monday afternoon our Lifeguards reported a large cetacean washed ashore on Cefn Sidan, initial inspection that evening found the decomposing body of a large Whale, measured at around 20-22m in length, weighing possibly as much as 30 tonnes

My initial thoughts were either Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus or Sei Whale  Balaenoptera borealis.

The carcass is quite decomposed especially on the ventral side whilst all colour seems to have been lost from the skin on the dorsum, it may be the outer layer has been lost.

The finding was reported to the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, CSIP.

UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme

Their team attended on Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd September and identified the whale as a Fin Whale, the second largest mammal on earth, considered vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN.

Follow this link for more information, Fin whale - Wikipedia

Any further information from the CSIP will be in the next blog