Paul's Blog - All comments and views are my own,

With a decent day on the cards, and it being Wednesday it was volunteer day at Pembrey LNR. When I arrived on site I was surprised how busy it was but then today was the first "dry" day for a while. The light was great. one of the "ephemeral" pools After talking to a few visitors I made my way on site to be greeted with the tell-tale signs of poachers- a group of blokes standing around looking at the ground with terriers standing by. Further investigation revealed 6 adult males  and three children, three or four terriers and a couple of ferrets, sadly one of the adults was a local sporting star! After establishing the rights and wrongs they left and we carried on with some tasks. Top of the list was putting up some information sheets in the hut, nothing too expensive just in case of vandalism. the "respect" and "enjoy" board Birds to be seen Then it was completing the removal of a field fence before it fell

Its been a bit of a busy week so I've not had much time to be out and about, the best on offer has been the Red Kite and Merlin at Pembrey LNR. The weather has also been against me with rain and wind most days, so some photos of Lesbos might cheer me up..... Red Backed Shrike Greater Flamingos

A decent day today with a quick trip to WWT Llanelli, slim pickings though with totals of Lapwing 236, B H Gull 200+, Wigeon 96+, Greylag 5, Peregrine 1 Down at Pembrey LNR a bit of a raptor fest with Red Kite 2, Buzzard 1, and Merlin ♀/imm a few Ravens and the obligatory Stonechats. Merlin ♀/imm, a very cropped long distance  digi shot Red Kite, a very cropped long distance digi shot ITV were on site filming the Sea Buckthorn clearance for a short Wales news programme.

Another breezy day but it remained dry until dark. The power of wind and wave is becoming increasingly clear on the fore dunes at Pembrey LNR, with huge losses of established dunes being replaced by the formation of embryonic dunes at beach level. wind blown sand being deposited in front of the fore dunes Work continues to clear Sea Buckthorn from a 1km stretch of the foredunes the resulting new habitat will benefit the many invertebrates which thrive in this apparently barren landscape. The machine on tracks makes short work of older stands of Sea Buckthorn while the more nimble "Bobcat" reaches those parts others can't, A flock of 69 Cormorants had gathered at the tide line early this morning.

Storm Desmond, has had a real impact around the country, although here in South Wales we have escaped the very worst of it. The height of the storm at Newgale in Pembrokeshire Nonetheless there have been impacts such as continued erosion of the sand dunes at Pembrey so much so that there has been a real concern that the south east corner of field two would end up on the beach with the cattle escaping and possibly wandering off into the sea, a scenario which happen a few years ago with devastating consequences. Interestingly despite losing several stretches of san dune there has also been a great amount of accreation of sand along the beach. The fence was constructed by volunteers from MENCAP and we had a great day working together, an audience of 19 bullocks added to the entertainment but they soon wandered off to continue the great conservation work they are doing munching their way through the rough grasses. A mixed bunch!

Wednesday is volunteering day with the Millennium Coastal Park Volunteers, today we were at Pembrey Burrows LNR. The weather turned from mild and overcast with a steady breeze to wet and windy and quite a blow. It was a good job I found my waterproof over-trousers yesterday and put them in the car, shame I didn't stop to put them on. There are contractors on site clearing the invasive Sea Buckthorn from the fore-dunes, they are using some heavy machinery to clear the Sea Buickthorn and are cutting and "mulching"  as they go then the area will be sprayed with a Glysophate in the spring to clear any new growth. This smaller machine with a hammer flail is used to clear the hard to reach places As dramatic as this may seem the Sea Buckthorn is not native to Wales and occurs naturally only along the East coast of the UK, in order to maintain the dunes in as natural condition as possible the plant does need controlling. Not much left when the tra

Another breezy overcast with drizzle but mild sort of day. An afternoon visit to the beach (Cefn Sidan) at Pembrey LNR and a litter pick, mostly discarded fishing rope and plastic, and bizarrely some lemons!! The rough seas have thrown a lot of litter onto the beach but it is now mostly covered by blown sand, with lower tides (8.7m) the high water mark is lower and cleaner but still plenty to see including the following. Trigger Fish Balistes carolinensis Common Jellyfish Aurelia aurita Bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus L-R Oyster spp Common Cockle, Prickly or Rough Cockle spp

Storm Clodagh is blowing its way through this morning, with high tide due at 08:50hrs a visit to Pembrey Harbour was in order. The site opposite the eastern end of the Pembrey reserve although separated by a tidal inlet a large part of the reserve is visible from the harbour. A JACK SNIPE along the top of the old harbour wall was a surprise then a RED BREASTED MERGANSER ♂ in the inlet, I was joined by Adam Dare who told me that he had just seen a SWALLOW near his home, unbelievably as we chatted I looked at the Merganser again and spotted a SWALLOW battling the wind as it flew low over the inlet towards the marsh. This is a late date for Swallows, so was this bird, and the bird Adam had seen earlier, scooped up in the run of storms over the past week and totally blown off course?? The next hour produces OYSTERCATCHER c700, RINGED PLOVER c60, DUNLIN c20, GREAT BACKED GULL 10, GREAT CRESTED GREBE 1, I then went over to the entrance to the reserve and walked around F3, picking up

Technical issues with loading photographs solved??? Lets see........ possibly problem solved

With high tide at a more respectable time of around 07:30hrs I was in position early to check out the duck on the marsh at Pembrey LNR. As the light improved I managed to find: Teal +100, Mallard c15, Wigeon c15, Redshank 47, Curlew + 5, Green Sandpipers 2. B H Gull +100, Common Gull 1, Peregrine 1, Sparrowhawk 1♀, Goldcrest 1, Skylark 7 (including a partial albino), Buzzard 1 If the site was visited by more birders I am sure that the number of species recorded would grow. What this morning showed was the limit of a 9m tide, useful for determining net sets in the right weather. A stock photo mixed waders and egret

Another break in what is an unsettled week saw the Gower Ringing Group or members of, at Oxwich NNR. With only one set of nets up a quiet start soon built into a steady stream of birds with Blue Tits making up the bulk, a smattering of other species added variety with Greenfinches providing the best of the glamour. Greenfinches occur in the  area in decent numbers and are a nice bird to handle, sex and age. I have a theory that where they are being fed via bird feeders the male birds appear later in the morning than the females, Greenfinches are "late risers" anyway but the early birds just seem to be females or immatures. Yellowhammers, especially the males,a species I've not handled since moving back to Wales, also seem to "appear" later in the morning- this may be because the males go off on territorial duties before feeding.... well that's my theory! More wind and rain on the way for the weekend.

After the start of the first cold snap of the winter, all of two days, this morning was cold, frosty and I had to scrape ice off the car at 6am. There was no breeze so perfect for a ringing session  at Pembrey LNR. The temperature was -3'c when I got out to set the first nets, it was a quiet session but still great to be out. Blackbird (3), Song Thrush (3), Robin (3), Reed Bunting (2), Dunnock (2), Chaffinch (1)Goldfinch (1), Wren (1), Great Tit (1), Blue Tit (1) There were also about 15 Magpies in the scrub, at least 15 Skylarks, 4 Ravens. a Buzzard and a male Stonechat. no photos today........

Another overcast wet day but at least the wind eased off quite a bit. A visit to WWT Llanelli produced. B H Gull 243, Common Snipe 45, Lapwing 25, Pintail 11, Greenshank 6, Spotted Redshank 2, Brent Goose 2, Dunlin 1, Stonechat ♀, Peregrine 1. Given the conditions of persistent rain not a bad hour and a half birding. No photos today still issues with Blogger and Windows 10.

Well yesterday Barney came and went winds locally up to 76mph so quite a rough evening  this morning was still overcast and breezy. Today I went and volunteered with the Millennium Coastal Park (MCP)volunteers at a local place called Morfa Berwig. or Berwick Levels, sounds grand but nothing on the scale of the Newport or Somerset levels but nonetheless a really nice low lying area of wet meadows, reedbeds, ditches and scrub. Typical habitat at Morfa Berwig  L-R Dan (keep wales tidy) Veronica (MCP volunteer) Simeon (Conservation Officer)  The area had become derelict a few years ago but through the efforts of MCP, Amphibian and reptile Conservation (ARC) and Keep Wales Tidy it is on its way to becoming a nice and interesting area for wildlife, with an indigenous population of Water Voles on site. The site needs some grazing so today we were making one of the fields stock proof again. Despite the on off rain the job was done and finished.

So we've had Abigail, now we wait for Barney, well a lull in the shite weather of late, got me down to Pembrey harbour for high tide. Given the strength of the wind in the past few days, and it was blowing this morning I thought there may be a few unusual sea birds about but nope. Instead the faithful regulars in were sheltering from the weather and the tide. Oystercatchers 700+, Ringed Plover 106,Mallard 13, G B B Gull 5, Dunlin 3, Wigeon 2, Sanderling 1?, and then it rained..........

I just had to sit and write something, its been wet and windy for a few days now so getting out has been pretty pointless. I have managed to create some ringing rides at Pembrey LNR, with little effort, another three to do when it stops raining, at least with it being windy its allowed me to work out the most sheltered sites. The cattle are on site now so I have lost the ponds until the spring, but with the amount of water being held on the marsh there are quite a few pools appearing. Well back to watching the rain......

This morning was a lot breezier than the forecast suggested, but since the car was packed and I was awake I set off to Pembrey Burrows & Saltings LNR. My first encounter was with a HARE which is the first I've seen in my visits, based on its size it looked like a few months old. My aim was to sample my third "subsite" on the reserve, having seen crests and tits in the area on Sunday. It proved to be a good move as on "round 3", of the morning a FIRECREST was in the most sheltered net. Always a great find but one which I felt was sure to be around it just has so many Goldcrests on site in the Gorse and Buckthorn. The biometrics for this individual are as follows: Sex        ♂ Wing     52mm Weight  5.3g Age       BTO code 3 a first year FIRECREST This was the highlight of a very quiet morning, sightings included C1000 STARLINGS and two LITTLE EGRET

A mild start to November with clear skies a little mist over the marsh and birds singing and butterflies flying, what is going on... A perfect morning and despite a late start ( not on site until 8am) I came across a flock of well over 1000 Starlings preening and bathing along the track to the hut, luckily? I didn't have a net set there!! The tides are lower now as the moon wanes but there were still a few waders on the marsh, with REDSHANK and a small flock of OYSTERCATCHERS in flying into the creeks. A STONECHAT and small groups of Tits flew off towards Burry Port. When the Starlings got agitated I could see the female/juvenile MERLIN in the flock but with no success it flew towards the beach a few seconds later a cloud of over 1000 KNOT took to the air coincidence?? I doubt it. SKYLARKS seemed to be on the move this morning but hard to be certain that they weren't just local birds moving off to feed. A COMMA butterfly showed well, as did a singin

One of the last good tides of the cycle saw me at Pembrey Burrows and Saltings just after first light this morning, after a wet night it was dry and breezy. The tide had flooded the saltmarsh and was still pushing in to the edge of the dune grassland. The light was not good for photographs but it looked pretty impressive. Birds present were: Barn Owl, Wigeon 6, Shelduck 2, Shovelor 1, Teal c70, Mallard c50, Redshank 9, Snipe 29, Curlew 26, MERLIN ♀ , Water Rail 2. Skylarks were overhead I cannot decide if they were all resident birds or there was a bit of movement. Redwings passing over and in the Buckthorn along with a few Goldcrests and Robins, as I've mentioned before Robins are present in good numbers.

Today looks like being the best day of the week for ringing so I took myself off to Pembrey Burrows LNR and was on site for 05:15hrs, it was magical as I had forgotten that it was a high tide and a big one at 9.2m I set three nets, but was disappointed to see them blowing in the stronger than expected wind, luckily it calmed down. The first net round was exciting as what I thought was an empty net in fact had a JACK SNIPE a first for the site. I was joined by Veronica who is one of the stalwart band of volunteers on the Millennium Coastal Park. The ringing was pretty slow with 19 birds processed, just 17 new but great quality. Jack Snipe (1), Redwing (5), Reed Bunting (3) Meadow Pipit (3), Goldcrest (1+1 retrap) Wren  (1 retrap) Chaffinch (2) Dunnock (2) Jack Snipe Saltmarsh just after high tide Meadow Pipit

A Blustery morning, with the breeze too strong for ringing, so I decided to have anogther look around the site at Pembrey Burrows LNR. Thanks to directions from one of the locals I found pond number 2, and managed to flush a lone Snipe from the margins of the pond. The primary role of the ponds are to provide water for the herd of cattle which graze the dunes as part of their on going management although currently they are absent. There are still a few flowers on show including Yarrow. On the bird front Raven (2) and Mistle Thrush (3) were the best on offer, although there has been a noticeable increase in Robins on site. Pond 2 Yarrow, still in flower on the dunes, this one is pink not white which is more usual

Today is a relaxing day after a few busy ringing days, it amazes me whenever I go out and find another great wildlife site. Today we went to "Swiss Valley " reservoir, (yep that's what the area is called), unusually for most reservoirs I have experienced apart from the outer dam wall all the internal shore walls are covered with vegetation, albeit mowed to an inch.  There wasn't masses of wildlife but Great Crested Grebes 5 inc 1 juv, Cormorant, Heron, Mallard on the water; with Grey Wagtail, Coal Tit, and Goldcrest in the overflow runoff and surrounding woods. the babbling brook Field Maple Swiss Valley reservoir After a great pot of tea at a nearby garden centre it was back to Sandy Water Park for a stroll around the lake, my first for several weeks, it was high tide so quite a few gulls loafing on the grassland including two Mediterranean gulls, Common Gulls and Black -headed Gulls. There were 15 tufted Duck and only 39 Mute Swan.

This morning I joined Charlie at Oxwich NNR for a ringing session with thrushes very much in mind. Another dry cool autumn morning saw us on site at 06:30hrs, we immediately put the mp3 players out with Redwing on two nets, Crest on another and Woodlark (they have been seen in the area this week). The First round delivered a few surprises firstly 13 Redwings and a COMMON SNIPE in one set of nets, nothing in the "crest" net and in the third a Song Thrush and a JACK SNIPE. What a first round.... Common Snipe and Jack Snipe for comparison Jack Snipe Common Snipe Jack Snipe after being released, they usually just sit on the ground pretending to be invisible it flew off after a minute or so We carried on for a few more rounds and caught seven more Redwing, and  11 Goldcrests along with a mix of other usual fare.

The forecast is set for a change in the weather, so I decided to go to Pembrey Burrows LNR and try out another site (site2) in some willow scrub/reeds The weather was calm and overcast when I set up and stayed that way until the end of the session. A Magpie was a surprise in the first round then more usual fair of Robin (1), Wren (3), Reed Bunting (2), Chiffchaff (2), Goldcrest (1), Chaffinch (1), Dunnock (1), Blue Tit (2). Robin age 4  What wing is this and what age would you assign

A trip to WWT Llanelli this morning, with high tide (7.6m), at 09:45hrs saw a lot of waders on the outer scrape, Black-tailed Godwit (673), Knot (600+), Greenshank (22), Spotted Redshank (2), Lapwing (11), Great Crested Grebe (60+) on the estuary, Redshank, Curlew, Peregrine (1), Water rail (1), Kingfisher (1), This afternoon I attended a Llanelli Naturalists society Fungi walk at Pembrey forest.  Pale Tussock Moth caterpillar  Despite the lack of rain in these parts for the past few weeks there was a decent showing of species.  The Sickener   Russla sp