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

  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 joi

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 da

  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 us

  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 a

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 al

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 Rob

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 m

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

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-ma

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

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 w