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

I have been doing a lot of pondering since Monday, when I went to a Llanelli Naturalists AGM and listened to a talk by Barry Stewart on the status of the Strandline Beetle Eurynebria complanata, and having read in detail his report to Natural Resources Wales,  ( I will refer to E complanata, as the beetle in the rest of the blog). The beetle was recently reclassified as endangered following a decline which now finds its UK range restricted to a few special areas of Carmarthen Bay, . The Strandline Beetle, Eurynebria complanata (photo VH) The beetle is closely associated with strandlines and sandy beaches backed by the right sort of sand dune and the resultant vegetation community. Ecologically I assume the beetle evolved to survive the natural processes of the dynamic and shifting patterns of beach, strandline and dune formation relying on purely natural objects under which to seek refuge. The state of our oceans, and thus our beaches in the 21st century are genera

When the forecast for this morning said "isolated heavy showers" they were not wrong, I thought I had better try and find out where one of the young cattle had managed to escape from on Sunday, yes another escapee but successfully rounded up and returned to the herd. I could see the sky darkening in the west so set off at a pace, there was no sign of any gaps in the fence so maybe the beast had jumped over, they can be very nimble. My attention was drawn to a jelly like substance on the side of the path, closer examination showed it was one of the Jelly Fungus species; I took the obligatory photographs and sent them off to Dr Philip Jones to confirm its identity. Philip soon replied with:- This is Yellow Brain = Tremella mesenterica and often on gorse but may be seen on a wide range of trees/shrubs.  Best seen during winter months after lots of rain ---- if dries out just forms a crust on the wood then rehydrates with rain.  Tremella species are what is known

JOIN ME FOR A FEW HOURS MONITORING ANY BIRD MOVEMENT IN THE BURRY ESTUARY ON SUNDAY 12TH FEBRUARY. WE WILL MEET AT 07:15HRS, AT THE ENTRANCE BARRIER TO THE PEMBREY BURROWS NATURE RESERVE BRING BINOCULARS,IF YOU HAVE THEM, AND WRAP UP WARM. WE WILL PROBABLY BE FINISHED BY AROUND 09:30HRS AS ALWAYS I CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT WE WILL SEE BIG NUMBERS BUT WE SHOULD SEE SOMETHING OF THE BIRDS WINTERING IN THE ESTUARY.