Winters end? Tuesday 19th February 2019

Apparently we will see "spring like" temperatures by the end of this week, with mild conditions forecast to last to the end of the month, which is of course also the end of meteorological winter. I wonder if winter is really done yet?

A wander around Pembrey Country Park found a few wildflowers in bloom including Greater Periwinkle, near the beach entrance, Daisy and Dandelion.

Greater Periwinkle

Daisy

One of the less obvious flowers at this time of year is the female flower of the Hazel, we are all familiar with the "lambs tails" catkins which are the male flowers full of pollen which is wind dispersed and needs to land on the minute female flowers.

Hazel catkins, male flowers

Hazel - female flower

On the bird front the lake was quite busy with 10 Greylag, 14 Mallard, and a few Moorhen; whilst the feeders had a good variety with Great and Blue Tit, Long tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Jay, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon all taking advantage of the free food.

I'm still waiting to see my first Bumblebee or butterfly, but the moth traps will be going out later this week, Ill let you know what if anything gets caught.

As you follow the trails around the park look out for information signs relating to various topics such as soil, fungi, bark, and wet woodlands, there's also a QR code which takes you to a website with more information (you'll need a phone signal and a QR scanner app).