Carmarthenshire - Did you Know?

 Well its ages since I've found time to write a blog post apologies for that but here we go with some interesting facts and personal thoughts about Carmarthenshire wildlife, and a bit further afield.

Did you know:

That we have a County plant, Whorled Caraway, Carum verticullatum; found in typical Rhos pasture a feature of the Carmarthenshire landscape though often under threat from changes in agricultural practices

Did you Know:

That there are 311 species of birds recorded as being seen in the county, a respectable figure by an measure, amongst the rarities are Blue-winged Teal, a species from North America, Black Stork an European species which itself has a limited range. Having a decent stretch of well watched coastline the county is well placed for observers to document the seasonal arrival and departures of migrating birds such as Northern Wheatear, Swift, Willow Warbler, the Carmarthenshire Bird Club is a very welcoming bunch of like minded individuals and its well worth joining, Covid-19 has messed up 2020 events but I'm sure as soon as "normality" returns the club will be back in full action, in the meantime report your sightings on the website.

Did you Know:

Carmarthenshire is a stronghold for the stunning Marsh Fritillary butterfly, and is found on Rhos pasture where it finds the right habitat for its caterplllars, the main foodplant is Devil's-bit-Scabious (Succisa pratensis). On calcareous grassland, it occasionally uses Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis) and Small Scabious (Scabiosa columbaria).

Did you know:

The Hazel Dormouse has a decent foothold in the county with the valleys to the northwest of the county having the perfect habitat for these stunning rodents, there are also records from more coastal locations which is very encouraging, they will be entering their period of hibernation now, finding refuge at the base of trees and dense shrubby.

Another small mammal many wouldn't associate with the Carmarthenshire countryside given the vast acreage of diary farms, is the Harvest Mouse, but they are here in secluded nooks along the coastal strip and no doubt other locations, look out for their tell tale tennis ball sized nests in reeds, rushes bramble bushes.

Did you know:

That Pine Martens probably were never extinct in Wales! just a thought

Did you know:

The first modern record of breeding Goshawks in Wales was in our county.

Did you know:

Some of the best locations to observe wildlife in Carmarthenshire are the four Country Parks and six Local Nature Reserves, when restrictions allow, get out there see what you can find.

Strandline or litterline Tuesday 23rd September 2020

I have recently been asked  to look at  a number of litter issues along the coast, it's always disappointing to see litter washed up anywhere but especially on "our" coastline.

As regular readers will know I have blogged about this world wide problem often, but only when you look closely do you see the impacts made by marine bourn litter, especially of course, plastic in it's many guises.

Over, probably thousands of years man has dumped unwanted materials, of course it wasn't always plastic, but no matter what was dumped much is now incorporated into the geomorphology of the landscape, especially beaches, dunes and saltmarshes.

Driftwood is a natural stabiliser of the beaches and dunes, trapping, holding and allowing sand to form embryonic dunes quickly colonised by a range of "pioneer" plants, you only need to look at the recently exposed dune faces to see how man made items have also been doing the job of natural materials, making removing them very damaging.

I am often disheartened by the amount of plastic wrapped up in seaweeds often impossible to remove which means to remove the plastic then the seaweed must also go, depriving the beach of natural building materials and removing countless food sources for sand-hoppers and the like which in turn removes food for wading birds.

So lets look at the strandline, Collins dictionary gives this meaning, 

"a mark left by the high tide or a line of seaweed and other debris washed onto the beach by the tide"

So after the recent Autumn Equinox high tides the strandline is very visible with debris washed high up on the beaches and salt marshes along the coast, it will take sometime for the evidence of the tides to disappear, however as there was relatively calm weather at the time of the high tides much of the buoyant, unnatural, material was lifted from the beach and carried off shore, this will, sadly, undoubtedly reappear on a coast nearby in the future.

I have commented before that, mechanically cleaning beaches is incredibly destructive and any such action should be targeted and limited, there are no resort beaches in the county and thankfully we do not see mechanical cleaning any longer, better to appreciate the natural beauty and do what we can to remove and recycle as much man-made material as we can.

The natural detritus will decompose naturally and with help from sand hoppers and other detritivores munching on the decomposing vegetation, providing a huge feeding opportunity for the 1000's of wading birds, such as the Ringed Plover below (photo Colin Dalton) and gulls which visit our beaches for the winter.

KEEP SAFE 

Nutha(s) Thursday 10th September 2020

 A perfect morning with the right conditions, overcast not a breath of wind and importantly no rain, for a brief ringing session at Pembrey Country Park, in fact apart from two Swallows this is the first session for me since 17th December 2019, a combination of weather, Covid-19 and enthusiasm.

I've managed to find another very suitable location for woodland ringing, and despite the likelihood of a "Tit fest"  (ringers know what I mean) there is potential for it to be quite productive.

The best of the morning were three Coal Tits, all hatched this year, a Great Spotted Woodpecker again a bird of the year, a Blackcap and two Nuthatches ( BTO code-Nutha), I've not seen a Nuthatch at the Country Park in the five years I've been involved with the team so to capture two a male and a female has been a success.

I have a purpose designed nest box which I received as a gift some years ago which has been out of action since moving back to Wales so it will be put to good use for next Spring and hopefully it will become a home to the two birds caught and ringed today.

It looks like a good year for Oak with many of the trees in the area laden with large acorns

Storm Ellen 20-22 August 2020 autumnal feel

 

A taste of Autumn indeed, with gusts over 50mph recorded at the Met office weather station - Pembrey Sands, it was no surprise to discover that there has been more erosion of the dunes along Cefn Sidan, no doubt the missing sand will reappear somewhere else along the coast.

A couple of decomposing Common striped Dolphins were not, I feel, connected with the storm, the Ravens were not shy in tucking into them.

On the bird front a quick visit to Old Pembrey Harbour yesterday afternoon was good with four Knot, in excess of 50 Ringed Plover, a few Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls with 800 Oystercatchers.

Today a check of the beach at high tide revealed plenty of common Scoter riding out the rough seas off shore and a STORM PETREL, very close to the beach. Not regularly recorded in Carmarthenshire Storm Petrels are summer visitors and breed on the Pembrokeshire Islands so this could have been one blown of course in the storm, a very characteristic bird with an almost dainty flight appearing not too dissimilar to a House Martin.

With less stormy weather forecast it would be a good idea to head down to the coast for the morning tides in the next few days, high water will be around 10am at Burry Port tomorrow, and check out the sea and shore to see what birds are around.

Autumn marches on Monday 17th August 2020

The natural world doesn't follow the calendar as we do, it moves to it's own rhythm and can be evidenced by the birds we consider to be passage migrants, that's to say some arrive for the summer and some arrive for the winter.

I see from the Carmarthenshire Bird Club sightings page that Ospreys have been seen today, origin will be unknown but their destination is likely to be West Africa, probably in the Senegal/Gambia regions were large numbers of them spend the winter and for this years youngsters they will probably spend a few summers there also.

Osprey Migration 

Northern Wheatears are another passage migrant that has appeared along the Carmarthenshire coast this week, this bird has one of the longest migrations for a passerine (perching bird), with individuals travelling as far as the Arctic to breed.

Northern Wheatear migration

Sanderling are another bird which travels long distances between its breeding and wintering grounds, of course not all of the birds travel all of the route with many spending their winter on our very own Cefn Sidan, which can have around 1.5% of the world population feeding on the beach, numbers of this "clockwork" like bird have built rapidly in the past few weeks with close to 1000 birds present currently.

Sanderling Migration

As well as these long distance travellers there are plenty of great wildlife sightings to be had at the moment, with good numbers of dragonflies including Migrant Hawker and Common Darter on the wing.

Common Darter

On mans Weeds anothers' Wildflowers; Saturday 1st August 2020

There are a profusion of yellow coloured flowers on show along the coast at the moment, this particular bank of "weeds" was particularly interesting.

Hoary Mustard

With Ragwort, Hoary Mustard, Wild Parsnip, Evening Primrose, Great Mullein, and Autumn Hawksbit in  the mix.

Great Mullein flower close up

Ragwort and Cinnabar Moth caterpillars

The Ragwort had a few Cinnabar Moth Caterpillars, just one of the 87 or so invertebrates which rely on the plant for survival; whilst the Great Mullein showed some signs of being attacked by the Mullein moth caterpillar.

Plenty of other wildlife about with Holly Blue, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and Large White Butterflies all on the wing, and recently born Viviparous (common) Lizards on the wooden wall near the main access to the beach at Pembrey Country Park, a few adults were also on show, this lizard has a highly variable pattern of markings making for quite a show. Also on the wall was a very nice Robber Fly, whilst harmless to humans these are voracious predators actively hunting other insects.

Robber Fly species

Adult Viviparous (common) Lizard, Juvenile below

Autumn is here:- 27th July 2020

Not so fast some may think, however in the natural world the signs of the changing seasons are all around, not least along the coastline.

An hour on Cefn Sidan showed just what is happening with waders breeding in the sub-Arctic regions already back on the beach, with 170 Sanderling and c30 Dunlin, many moulting from summer plumage into the drab winter plumage.

Sanderling

Juvenile Black-headed, Herring, Lesser Black-back and Greater Black-backed gulls forming large mixed flocks with a few Mediterranean Gulls in the mix.
The recent unsettled weather with well timed high water has, as usual brought Gannets and Manx Shearwaters in close.

While all this is going on second brood Holly Blue butterflies are around Pembrey Country Park along with Dark Green Fritillaries.

Most flowers are "going over" however look closely and there are plenty still to be found, Yarrow in both white and pink forms is plentiful, with Common Mallow, Restharrow, Wild Carrot being some of the more obvious flowers on show.

Yarrow

Interestingly there are plenty of recently born Common Lizards to be found basking on bare patches such as the sleeper fence on the way to the beach.

Last week I noticed a flock of around 50 Swifts over the grassland areas of Pembrey Country Park, around the same date as last year, it won't be too long before they leave our skies heading south for the winter.

Now is a good time to get out and visit Old Pembrey Harbour, pick a time with a high tide and you may see decent numbers of Mediterranean Gulls, and Sandwich Terns building up as they usually do at this time of year.

Lockdown easing, Observations 7th July

Five years ago this week I moved from the Cotswolds to the Llanelli area, somewhere I had sworn I would never come to live, how wrong I was, whilst I very much miss the great friends I had in the Cotswolds with so much to do within easy reach, I feel quite settled here. Having "retired" I went back to work and what a job I have, well it's what you make of it I suppose.

Anyway observations, this blog is more about the dead than the living but sometimes the dead can tell us so much.

In the past few weeks there have been two Short-beaked Common Dolphins washed up along with very young Harbour Porpoise.

Short-beaked Common Dolphin, the gulls had been feeding

Young Harbour Porpoise

Sea Gooseberry and Moon Jellyfish have also come ashore in bigger than usual numbers.

Sea Gooseberries

Sea Gooseberry, a "Comb Jelly" with tentacles,
these are almost always lost when beached

Moon Jellyfish, these have a mild venom

An update on the Long-eared Owls would appear to confirm that at least one juvenile is still being fed by the adults, Mistle Thrushes appear to have had another successful breeding season with a flock of 11 seen on the north side of the park with another uncounted flock on the south side.

I get the impression that the Pyramidal Orchids have not been as showy this year, I met ranger Oliver on the woodland trail at Pembrey Country Park where he had encountered around 50 butterflies, including Marbled White, Small Skipper, Ringlet,

and Meadow Brown, in a sheltered glade designed for, butterflies!









I hope we have a spell of summer weather soon, however for many migratory birds autumn has already begun, so watch the beach for a gradual build up of Mediterranean Gulls and Sandwich Terns especially around Old Pembrey Harbour.

Lockdown Observations, catch up Wednesday 17th June 2020

So much has happened so quickly.

Firstly a reliable sightings report of a PINE MARTEN in the Pembrey Forest was long overdue, spotted by one of our rangers, Oliver, a brownish, heavy mammal much larger than a Grey Squirrel weighing down the branch in a Sycamore tree, so what were the options, Stoats are known to climb trees but are no bigger than a Grey Squirrel, unlikely to weigh down a branch as described, and there we run out of options. 

Pine Marten, (Wikipedia free to use)

Historically it would seem likely that Pine Marten's have kept a toe-hold in the county for many years and now bolstered by the programme of planned releases in Mid and North Wales, perhaps there is some consolidation of their status, Work by local naturalist Ian Morgan highlights the history of this enigmatic mammal in Wales.

https://eur04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.llanellinaturalists.org.uk%2Findex.php%2FWinter-1992%2F1993%2Finterim-notes-on-the-status-of-the-pine-marten-in-south-and-mid-wales.html&data=02%7C01%7C%7C0b5c7694361c4fa9fc9608d812a55843%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637279848637648411&sdata=8TBFJM86JUkmXu1CejP8y2GXxPy8BTvZegEmu5yKxgk%3D&reserved=0

The second surprise of the week came in the form of a Instagram message from one of my colleagues, Steve, at Pembrey Country Park showing a photo of what was instantly recognisable as a fledgling Long-eared Owl, spotted by a visitor sat on the ground and rescued by Steve and Mandy and placed safely in a tree;

as it was late in the evening I didn't get to check the bird until the next morning, but it had left the tree with no sign of it anywhere. Long-eared owls leave the nest, on average, at just 29 days old and spend the next two months being fed by the parent birds, being adept climbers and wanderers the young could be anywhere. Later that evening an attempt to listen for the unique creaky door sound of the parents calling did reveal a very poor view of an adult and one call, usually heard best after dark we left the birds to fend for themselves with follow up observations planned.

Adult Long-eared Owl, (Joyce Rae)

This observation of a confirmed breeding attempt is the first recorded in Carmarthenshire for fifty years, and has attracted a lot of attention from across both Wales and the UK.

Lockdown observations Saturday 13th June 2020

It's not over yet, yes restrictions have been eased very slightly but the overall message remains, Stay At Home.

For those venturing out to exercise keep safe, to those venturing out to be stupid, well you need to think about what you are doing and how it affects other peoples enjoyment of the freedom to be outdoors.

You will remember the recent blog about the fire in Pembrey Forest over the days of 29th, 30th and 31st May, and the lack of significant rain, (well until the last few days). 

The fire was declared out! well in reality the fire had not gone out properly, yes there were no flames but it had moved underground burning slowly in the humus under the trees, so it was little surprise to be called to investigate smoke discovered  by some walkers on 8th June, they had managed to pour their drinking water on the smouldering ground. We also went and checked again on the 9th June and found another smouldering patch, now luckily these patches were !in the black" that is to say they were inside burnt ground and unlikely to cause a real problem but we doused the area with water just to make sure.

Doesn't look like much but there were a few of them and the ground was hot to touch

Apprentice ranger Llinos! 

(actually sales & promotions coordinator)

After the rainfall of recent days hopefully all smouldering patches have been extinguished.

On a brighter notes the lack of visitors to the countryside has given wildlife a real chance to take advantage of the peace and quiet with some real good sightings of Badgers and Foxes.
The plants have done well, not so much because of the lack of visitors but more due to the weather, I found a very nice patch of Common Broomrape, Orobanche minor, this is a parasitic plant which gets it's nutrients from the host plants usually plants in the daisy or Asteraceae family.

Common Broomrape

Good news, All of the county's Country Parks and Green Spaces are open although with some changed opening times, no facilities and social distancing restrictions apply. KEEP SAFE.

Lockdown observations Sunday 24th May 2020

And so it continues...…..

What were the chances of a global pandemic, affecting the UK, more specifically Wales, coinciding with a long run of mostly amazing spring weather; I wouldn't have taken bets on it.

My thoughts go out to those personally affected by the Coronavirus, and to those who are struggling to come to terms with what may become the "new norm".

Nature has certainly taken advantage of this brief respite from human activity, with normally timid animals becoming much more confiding, there are some Greater Spotted Woodpeckers in one of our Country Parks which have taken very much to feeding on the rotting wooden bollards around the car parks with not so much as a by your leave when I drive slowly passed.

A pair of Grey Heron have set up home on an island in the lake at Pembrey Country Park which must be as a direct of there being next to nothing in the way of disturbance from dogs.

If you have been able to exercise in the Millennium Coastal Park you will have noticed that until the last few days no mowing has been done, and now going forward expect a very specific mowing regime to be taking place as a result of last years "experimental" mowing regime.

Ashpits Lagoon Local Nature Reserve has become home to a new non-native,, we are not entirely sure how long this individual has been in the pond but has been showing well, what is it... we seem to have a Yellow Bellied Slider, Trachemys scripta scripta in residence, This native of the South Eastern USA seemed quite at home, thanks to Kim Bailey for the heads-up and photo.

The dry weather, despite the recent heavy downpours, means that the Country Parks, dunes and forests are tinder dry and fires will spread easily, sadly a deliberately set fire on the SSSI adjacent to the Ashburnham Golf Course was a case in point... ground nesting birds, reptiles and countless other creatures would have been destroyed in the fire

On a happier note the Oxeye Daisy is in full bloom all over the coast at the moment and is looking really lovely, personally I'm waiting for the Pyramidal Orchids to appear and hopefully if you are local you can see them also.

The Blue and Great Tit chicks in the nest boxes put up in March by members of the Junior Ranger Club are doing great with this box of Great Tits doing particularly well, they should fledge in the next few days.