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

Work has started on the completion of the fence around grazing field 1, the guys doing the work make it look so easy, well easier than when we have to keep repairing sections by hand. The right tools make for light work! The machine has switched from banging posts in to straining the wire! so much easier than the "by hand" method.... but eh we love it !! I walked the eastern end of the reserve on what was a very spring like morning with Skylarks in song and a noticeable presence of Meadow Pipits and Linnets, there haven't been many birds around lately. Another sign of spring is the presence of Common Shelduck, they really should be one of our breeding species but there was no evidence last season that they bred, maybe this year? A good sized flock of Ringed Plover (76) and a huge flock of Oystercatchers, around 4250 including a rather poorly bird which had only one foot, it flew off ok but was decidedly lop-sided. A 1st winter Yellow Legged Gull was

Today the conservation ranger team was at Morfa Berwig LNR near Bynea. This new LNR on a mix of brownfield and reclaimed wet meadow has great potential but it is a wet site. Today we worked on a few different tasks, clearing fallen timber from one of the ponds, clearing access routes, installing new information panels and weather proofing the boundary signs opening up resting areas and building refugia. The reserve has easy public access but decent footwear is useful, as winter fades into spring the area will provide good bird watching especially during the first few weeks of migration, later there will be good number of dragonflies, including Brachytron pratense the Hairy Dragonfly  last year Ischnura pumilio, the Small Blue-tail was found using the ephemeral pools. Clearing small Willow from the track to a grazing field Stone refugia, hopefully amphibians will find it useful A south facing mound of rubble and decaying vegetation opened up as a basking site