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

Cefn Sidan beachcombing... I spent the afternoon walking along Cefn Sidan beach towards the South Eat corner of the Pembrey reserve. After a wet and dreary start to the day the afternoon was clear blue skies with a steady westerly breeze. Looking East South East along the beach towards Burry Port I collected a good number of shells from the high water mark to make a reference collection for guided walks and school parties, the one thing I couldn't collect was this The underside of a Sea Mouse Top view of a Sea Mouse My walk took me around the end of the reserve and back on to the salt marsh where there was more evidence of Otters using the site with foot prints at the edge of a brackish pool. A bracing and interesting two hour walk ending back at my starting point. Sea Mouse Aphrodita aculeata this incredible scale worm lives it's life buried in the sand

Ringing, Pembrey Burrows An early start in sub-zero temperatures, and an unexpected breeze, saw me setting nets for Skylarks out on the dry ish area on the marsh, I've been watching them leave the area at first light for a few days so thought I'd give them a go. When I walked the area towards the net just before dawn there were at least 15 Skylarks which I moved from roost but with only myself I couldn't cover all bases and they flew off to my right well before the net. Feeling frustrated I walked on to check the  obviously empty net, and in the bottom shelf there sat a Water Rail a really unexpected result The Water Rail was duly processed and I aged it as a 5, an immature based on its white chin, leg colour and wing feathers. This where you'd expect a nice photograph!!! well the batteries ran out so no photo. The rest of the morning was very quiet and cold with the breeze steadily getting stronger.

Pembrey Burrows & Saltings Local Nature Reserve Ringing report & wildlife notes 2015 prepared by, Paul Aubrey : January 2016 Overview Ringing commenced at the Pembrey Burrows LNR in mid October 2015. It always take time to establish the best locations for setting mist nets at a new site; 2016 will bring consistency to the locations used. Being a coastal site ringing is very dependent on the weather especially the strength of the wind and anything over 9 miles per hour effectively cancels any attempt at ringing. In total 10 ringing sessions took place between October and December 2015 with a total of 105 birds ringed of 18 species. There are three main areas where the mist nets are set, ·         The Willows/Reed Bed opposite the Welsh Water, treatment works. ·         The area of Sea Buckthorn along the hard track from the cattle pens to the first stile into field 2. ·