Saturday 26th March 2016

The first migrants ahead of storm "Kate".......

Yesterday (Friday 25th) I had my first sighting of Northern Wheatear on the reserve at Pembrey, the were a bit too active to get a photo, there will be opportunity later in the spring I hope.

A stroll around my local "patch" at Sandy Water Park in the evening found the male Goldeneye still on the lake, plus the first Sand Martins (10) that I have seen this spring

 distant male Goldeneye

A mix of winter and summer, as the day had been perfect clear blue skies and warm sunshine, not so good for migrant watching but a lovely day to enjoy the area.

Great Crested Grebe

I don't often spend any time taking photos of the local wildfowl but the light was so interesting yesterday evening it was hard to walk on by.

male Mallard

female (L) & male (R) Gadwall

female Tufted Duck, looks like its swimming in molten metal

this should be an easy "mystery bird"

On Thursday I carried out a water quality test on the lake, as part of a project being run by the Freshwater Habitats Trust, I'm pleased to say that based on the results on Thursday the water in the lake is very low in nutrients !!

First Barn Swallows of the season at Sandy Water Park this morning (2) !!!!! here comes summer, opps storm Kate first.

Wednesday 23rd March 2016

New reserve.....

A new local nature reserve (LNR) has been designated in the Llanelli area called Morfa Berwig, this is an area of reclaimed industrial land on what was a marsh/beach hence the Welsh term Morfa meaning beach.

A great deal of work has been undertaken including the creation of ponds and pools as well as scrub clearance, inconjuntion with ARC trust, (Amphibian and Reptile Conservation) , Keep Wales Tidy and the county council.

We met there today to open up a public footpath and clear moss from the footbridges.

Lunchtime

Whilst we were there I carried out a basic water quality test as part of a project with the Freshwater Habitats Trust, the test is for Phosphate and Nitrate levels, it was pleasing to see that the ditch running through the reserve had almost negligible levels of either.

a simple sample test  before recording the answers

(the phone is to count down the three or five minutes)

I sent Veronica in to get the water sample!!

Just before the water test I saw two Water Voles on the far side of the ditch, the Water Voles at this site have the distinction of being slightly larger than their relatives on other sites nearby.

Flowers are starting to show with Coltsfoot, and Primroses evident.

Coltsfoot

Primrose

Sunday 20th March 2016

First day of spring... properly....

Today marks the Spring Equinox, the days will really start to get longer than the nights  now.

 third hand report of an Otter nr the reserve car park had me out and about early this morning, in the hope of a glimpse of this elusive creature that I have tracked around the reserve for the past 5 months... NO I didn't see the animal but if anyone wants to lend/donate a camera trap then I've got the perfect place for one to be put.

I fared better on the bird front with the still lingering female Merlin, I managed to creep up on the bird to within 50m, after she had failed to catch a meadow Pipit.

Merlin

Merlin

A couple of shots one has been slightly cropped, I am quite pleased with the result given I only use a "bridge" camera.

The bird list for 2016 has now reached 81 species recorded which I am pretty pleased with there are lots more species to be added during the coming months and I reckon the list by December 31st could hit 110.

The 81st species was GOSHAWK a male (on size) was being harried by gulls but paid not attention and made its way across the reserve.

Bring on the butterflies, dragonflies and the orchids....