Fritillaries galore, Wednesday 27th June
The morning started with myself and stalwart Veronica clearing the parking areas of visitor induced litter...amongst which was a large and very pungent bag of animal bones, you just never know what the day will bring.
Many of you who know Pembrey Burrows LNR will be familiar with the ongoing work to eradicate sea Buckthorn from the reserve, its a slow process and today saw myself, Veronica and another stalwart,Neil surveying areas, [which have already had some work carried out], for regrowth and further management in the coming months.
The eradication work that has been carried out is already proving successful for the flora and a wide range of invertebrates.
Even in the soaring temperatures it wasn't too onerous a task as we were accompanied by a good range and quantity of butterflies in all of the grazing areas, although I did call a halt at 13:30 when the temperature was approach 26'.
On the butterfly front DARK GREEN FRITILLARIES were present in high numbers with around 100 individuals observed across the reserve, one area alone holding around 50 or so individuals; MARBLED WHITES, MEADOW BROWN, and SMALL SKIPPERS were also present in very good numbers, this year looks like being a better one than many previous years especially at a local level.
One disappointment today was the lack of any MARSH HELLEBORINES at the two sites checked, where last year there were over 100 flower spikes, a cyclical or weather related issue?
With the continuing dry conditions showing no real sign of letting up, the whole of the coastal plain is tinder dry, please be vigilant and let myself or my colleagues in Outdoor Recreation (via the country park) know of any signs of camp fires/BBQ's etc on the reserves or in the coastal park that may pose a threat.
Many of you who know Pembrey Burrows LNR will be familiar with the ongoing work to eradicate sea Buckthorn from the reserve, its a slow process and today saw myself, Veronica and another stalwart,Neil surveying areas, [which have already had some work carried out], for regrowth and further management in the coming months.
The eradication work that has been carried out is already proving successful for the flora and a wide range of invertebrates.
Even in the soaring temperatures it wasn't too onerous a task as we were accompanied by a good range and quantity of butterflies in all of the grazing areas, although I did call a halt at 13:30 when the temperature was approach 26'.
On the butterfly front DARK GREEN FRITILLARIES were present in high numbers with around 100 individuals observed across the reserve, one area alone holding around 50 or so individuals; MARBLED WHITES, MEADOW BROWN, and SMALL SKIPPERS were also present in very good numbers, this year looks like being a better one than many previous years especially at a local level.
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| Dark Green Fritillary |
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| Meadow Brown |
One disappointment today was the lack of any MARSH HELLEBORINES at the two sites checked, where last year there were over 100 flower spikes, a cyclical or weather related issue?
With the continuing dry conditions showing no real sign of letting up, the whole of the coastal plain is tinder dry, please be vigilant and let myself or my colleagues in Outdoor Recreation (via the country park) know of any signs of camp fires/BBQ's etc on the reserves or in the coastal park that may pose a threat.
Litter is terrible at CE53 and the car park today, I'll message you the licatlocof Helleborine.
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ReplyDeleteHi, a group of around 50 were in the first field on the right GF1, where the buckthorn was cleared last winter (in the middle? of the field. re the litter I'll get someone to look at it asap
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