Monday 4th -Wednesday 6th April 2016

440 miles around mid Wales

A last minute idea to have a few days away saw the two of us heading West towards Cardigan in Ceredigeon, passing the famous Cenarth Falls on the river Teifi, which were running nicely after the recent spell of rain.

Cenarth Falls

We were told that a 10lb Sewin (Sea Trout) had been caught from below the falls that morning.

We moved on towards cardigan and the South and West Wales Wildlife trust centre t the Teifi Marshes, it is fair to say we were not particularly impressed with the visitor centre or the lack of greeting from the person on the desk.

Leaving here we headed for Aberystwyth and spent the night at the Belle Vue Royal Hotel on the sea front, all I can say is if we had the large breakfast I would hate to see the small version....

We headed towards Machynlleth stopping at Ynyslas NNR part of the larger Dyfi NNR, the Natural Resources Wales staff were very friendly and I met "Ali" one of the staff that I share "tweets" with.

Common Lizard

From there we headed on and arrived at the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust Dyfi Osprey centre, The Ospreys have just arrived back and I was hoping for some views, I was not disappointed the Trust have  had funding to build an "observatory" WOW!! what a building using recycled products, a superb facility and superb views of the Ospreys (3). The volunteers and staff were great. On the feeders near the car park were Lesser Redpoll and Siskin

Lesser Redpoll and Siskin

the Observatory at the Dyfi Osprey centre

From here we headed North to Betws y Coed and stayed at the Swallow Falls Hotel, in the past we've always driven on thinking the hotel would be too expensive but at £60 B&B it was a great stop over.

Swallow Falls

Leaving Betws y Coed this morning we headed to wards Bala, and then into the heart of MidWales heading toward Rhayader and the 70 Sq mile Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water Elan Valley Estate visitor centre and the reservoirs.

Due to the high winds the reservoir, Caban Coch was flowing OVER the dam.

impressive

The visitor centre here is great and the rangers were very friendly.

Having visited four very different visitor centres I thought I would share my views on the merits of each and rate them out of 5 with 1 being adequate and 5 offering a great experience.

Cardigan Wildlife centre SWWWT, a modern commercial facility, lots of families on site, information /shop not the best and staff member did not acknowledge us. score 2

Ynyslas visitor centre NRW, a basic centre in the dunes, lots of maps and narratives plus lots of signage around the site, staff very friendly. score 3

Dyfi Osprey centre, the car park in undergoing an extension and the entrance centre with live webcam feed of a very high quality and a small shop before accessing via a boardwalk the new observatory, all of the volunteers were friendly, well informed and passionate about the Ospreys and the site, the paid staff seemed a little reserved. score 5 !!!!

Elan Valley visitor centre, a good centre in an outstanding location managed by the "not for profit", Welsh Water, staff and ranger welcoming, restaurant was rammed !, displays about the reservoirs, their history and the 70 Sq mile estate was informative.  score 4

Wales has so much to offer.....

Oops and as for wildlife, Red Kites (far too many to be ecologically sound?) Osprey (3), Common Shelduck, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Lesser redpoll, Siskin, Pied Wagtail, Raven, plus Common Lizard, Bluebells, Dogs Mercury, Dog Violet and lots of Celandines.