Posts

Showing posts from August 12, 2018

Heads down, Ynys Dawela Nature Park Wednesday 15th August 2018

Image
Today the Wednesday gang headed to Ynys Dawela Nature Park near Brynamman in the north east of the county. The weather was less than conducive for the task in hand, searching for the larval food webs of the rare Marsh Fritillary butterfly. This stunning butterfly needs "scabious" plants on which to lay its eggs and then for the caterpillars to feed. Areas of the site have been managed by the cutting and collecting of vegetation from four meadow areas, Marsh Fritillary does live in the area but is a fickle creature. The search involves delving into the bases of the scabious plants looking for the tell tale signs of the caterpillar, disappointedly none were found today. larval food web ( Wikipedia ) I did however find several stunningly coloured Four-spot Orb wed spiders, quite fearsome looking beasts in shades of orange and yellow. Four-spot Orb web spider

Pembrey Country Park Moths Tuesday 14th August 2018

Image
The older toilet blocks at the country park are a real magnet for the hundreds of species of moths found on the site. This mornings collection included a Lime-speck Pug and a Sharp-angled Peacock moth, both quite stunning looking moths. Lime-speck Pug Sharp-angled Peacock Moth Accompanying the moths were a number of Toad-lets, which I liberated back into the wild, they must have had quite  a journey as the nearest pond is at least 2km away. Yesterday evening the Carmarthenshire Bird Club held its annual Tern Watch event at Old Pembrey Harbour on the eastern boundary of the reserve, a good turnout of around 20 people saw a good range of birds, as detailed below, Turnstone and Mute Swan were new for the reserve list which now stands at 104 species for 2018. SANDWICH TERN 70, MED' GULL 44, WIMBREL 7, KNOT (in summer plumage 2),   TURNSTONE 1plus REDSHANK, RINGED PLOVER, DUNLIN, HERRING GULL GBB GULL, LBB GULL, BH GULL, CORMORANT, and CURLEW. Sandwich Tern R