The year is not out yet, Saturday 21st December 2019

The winter equinox will occur at something like 04:19hrs on the morning of Sunday 22nd December, and astronomical winter will begin, ending on 20th March 2020; now that's the way I remember winter being none of this winter starting on 1st December, which is just to make the statistics work!

Maybe now that winter is "official" we will get some winter weather.....

The wintering flocks have arrived in force with well over 3000 Knot on the beach and at the least the same figure of Golden Plover high over Kidwelly Marsh, four Bar-tailed Godwits were in amongst the Knot flock, there were good numbers of Sanderling and Oystercatcher with very good numbers of Common Scoter flying East offshore

Knot (photo Colin Dalton)

Sanderling (photo Colin Dalton)

I had hoped for some raptors on the beach or even some nice passerines, in fact both were absent. Also absent today were the "white buckets" that have been washing up along the coast as a result of being lost from a vessel lost during a recent storm.

The feeding station set up in the park has become quite a draw for the birds, mostly Great and Blue Tits but also two male Blackcaps who are keen on the fat balls.

Blackcap male

More and more Blackcaps are wintering in the UK especially along the southern coasts, I found another just near the park entrance a few days ago; if you are lucky enough to see a Blackcap or Chiffchaff during the winter don't forget to report on your local bird sightings.

With our Christmas events running to a natural closure the next big event will be the annual WALRUS DIP at Pembrey Country Park & Beach on Boxing day morning arrive for 10:45 latest.

2019, round up

Its been a while!

With 19 day still to run of 2019 I hope its not too early to post a round up of how the year has been for me.

There have been personal highlights, a few wildlife highlights as well as the humdrum that is daily life.

The death this week of the larger than life Dr David Bellamy has made me reflect on where my passion for the natural world started to blossom into life. I remember many of his TV shows and perhaps more importantly his passion for botany. I also remember the ITV? children's programme "Magpie" from the 70's which spurned me on to join the Young Ornithologists Club, even forming a local group based at the Afan Argoed Country Park, I was only 15 at the time.

There is no doubt that the influence of both my parents and their love of the countryside played in big part in my learning, I remember my bedroom decorated not with "pop star" posters but with collages of leaves and twigs from the local forest, things in jars, and dissecting Sprats bought from Maesteg Market. a great hands on childhood.

Well back to this year, much has been covered in the few blogs I have posted, but holidays to the Canary islands and Madeira have added nicely to the list of birds and marine creatures, the real gems were Houbara Bustards and Cream Coloured Coursers on Lanzarote; Bulwers Petrel off Madeira with Humpback Whales pick out a few of the best

Having enjoyed early semi-retirement for a few years I have been rewarded with a job that I absolutely love with the passion of an 18 year old, unfortunately my 58 year old body takes a differing view to my desire to get up and go!

Coordinator for volunteers and education, WOW what an opportunity to make the job my own, working with a great team to encourage volunteering across the Country Parks we manage and facilitating elements of the Welsh Schools Curriculum has brought me into contact with some wonderful people.

By the end of the year we will be just shy of 2000 volunteer hours since I took up my post in June, there has been a lot of litter picking but also plant surveys, path maintenance, hide painting, bird box making, sand moving, (always popular when you are a stones throw from the beach!) Christmas crafting and of course decorating "Sion Corn's" cabin.

I found myself a wonderful tutor for my Welsh Lessons- Stuart, I will learn one day!

There have been some odd visitors to the office.....

And lots of fun...... mostly at my expense

NADOLIG LLAWEN

Going Bird Watching Saturday 14th September 2019

Today saw an "introduction to bird watching" event run at Pembrey Country Park.
Five adults and seven 11 and under, hopefully, enjoyed the 3.5hour session.

Starting off with the basics in the conference room we wasted no time in getting outside into a perfect autumn morning of cool but rising temperatures and clear blue skies.

A total of around 20 species was enough to ensure everyone learned something from the morning.

Spotted Flycatcher

Highlights were firstly a single Spotted Flycatcher then THREE of them together in a classic open piece of pine forest with good understorey structure; they were constantly "fly catching" no doubt piling on the grams before their epic journey south.
Britain's smallest bird, the Goldcrest put in an appearance as did a male Sparrowhawk and a distant Peregrine Falcon.

Other sightings included good numbers of Red Admiral butterflies feeding on Ivy flowers, with singles of Painted Lady, Ringlet, Speckled Wood Comma and Small Tortoiseshell. Dragonflies were represented by Migrant Hawker, Common Darter and Ruddy Darter.

A sharp eyed participant found some caterpillars feeding on Birch, they were identified as Buff Tip Moth Caterpillars.

Part two is next Sunday so why not call the visitor centre to book a place and come along to see what fun bird watching can be.... 

Autumn? by what measure Monday 2nd September

So its Autumn, according to the Met office, for those of us with any connection to the seasonal working of the natural world will know that for many birds autumn has been underway since the first returning waders to the shore and marshes, the departing of the Swift and the gathering on the wires of Swallows and House Martins.

On the matter of Swallows, these trans Saharan travellers seemed to arrive later this year but it looks like decent numbers bred at Pembrey Country Park as usual.

Sandwich, Common, Arctic and Little Tern have all been recorded from along the Pembrey Coast in the last week or so, with over 200 Sandwich terns at the high tide roost opposite Old Pembrey Harbour.

Today, a day off coincided nicely with a decent forecast so I ventured out for a very short ringing session dominated by Blackcaps, mostly birds of the year but with a few adults. Only two of the catch were carrying any appreciable amount of fat for their journey to the south.

I took the opportunity to pick a feed of the abundant Blackberries, the small amount I took won't impact on the availability for Blackcaps to feast on, The wasps and butterflies including the very smart Comma are also making the most of the juicy Blackberries.

Many of the berry bearing trees and shrubs are laden with berries, a sign, not perhaps of harsh weather to come but, of the benign spring and summer.

With less people about most days get out and enjoy the great green spaces we have in Carmarthenshire.

Gone Batty, Tuesday 20th August 2019

Yes, I'm still here....

Monday evening saw the team at Pembrey Country Park lead one of our very popular Bat and Night Wildlife Walks.

We set off with 18 guests and hadn't walked more than a few metres from the new restaurant when Common Pipistrelles appeared.

A walk across open ground and back into some woodland near the Ski & Activity centre found more Pipistrelles, one or two swooping low above the heads of the captivated guests, much to the delight of the children in the group, some of the parents were not so keen....

With the Bat Detectors set to various frequencies, to make sure we picked up, as many species as possible, everyone was amazed as on of the detectors started "whistling and warbling" with the unmistakable sound of Greater Horseshoe Bat..... 
follow the link below to hear the unmistable echolocation sounds 

https://soundcloud.com/wildlife-sound-recording/greater-horseshoe-bat


The distinctive "splat" sound and sight of a large high flying bat was our third species in the form of a Noctule

We suspect that we also picked up another Pipistrelle speices, the Soprano Pipistrelle giving us our fourth species for the night.

We had put out two moth traps but the cool and breezy conditions did not produce anything of real interest.

A very satisfied group returned to the restaurant at around 10pm.. another succesful evening.

We plan on holding another three events in the next few weeks, keep an eye on the Pembrey Country Park website as well as facebook and Twitter

Llanelli coast garden Wildlife 7th July 2019

It's exactly four years since we moved to Llanelli, so much has happened in that time; not least is the number of new friends I have made, a great bunch of people many of them experts in their field, and many like-minded people.
I've retired, volunteered and now have a dream job working in the Outdoor Recreation Service with more conservation thrown in than many realise, I just wish getting older didn't come with so many ailments!
Recovering from my first encounter with Gout I have spent a few days looking at the wildlife in our small garden, with a bird list of just 38 species it's not the best garden for birds. 

A quick mention about work, check out the Facebook pages of Pembrey Country Park for July walks, the August and September walks and workshops will be advertised soon, (book online)

The pond had been more successful with Palmate Newt, Smooth Newt, Common Toad, Common Frog (both now disappeared) and a range of damselflies with Common Bluetail, Common Blue being abundant whilst Large red made an appearance for the first time this spring. Three years ago Common Darter emergence was amazing but not a single one since, maybe the newts are to blame.

Yesterday I paid close attention to some insects, I only have four Imperial Lily plants but the dreaded bright red Lily Beetle, Lilioceris lilii has found them and decimated the plants.

The Ichneumon wasp, which has newly appeared is awaiting a positive identification but provisionally is Ichneumon stramentor

The hoverfly is Scaeva pyrastri, unless anyone wants to correct me!

Along with a host of Spiders including the very formally named Long Jawed Orb Spider, now the Common Stretch Orb Spider Tetragnatha extensa, which cleverly spins its web over the pond.

Butterflies are reasonably represented but a Small Skipper, Thymelicus sylvestris yesterday morning was a surprise.

A Whale of a time, Madeira 2019

Its been a while since my last blog, time flies.

Just returned from a trip to the island of Madeira, where the sun shone and the heat built, very different to the weather left behind in the UK.

Although not a birding/wildlife holiday there were a few highlights worthy of mention, all except one of the sightings are from the hotel room balcony!

Plain Swift, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, (all subspecies) Blackcap, Blackbird, Y L Gull, Manx, Cory's and Bulwer's Shearwater, Common tern, Goldfinch and Feral Pigeon!

Bulwers Shearwater ( photo Madeiriabirds)

I found the Blackbirds interesting as they appear larger and more robust than the birds I'm used to in the UK with a noticeably larger bill, I also watched a female actively hunting the abundant supply of Madeiran Wall Lizards.

The bird highlight came in the originally misidentified House Martin, (seen from a gondola car on the way down a mountain) which just looked wrong, and it was as it turned out to be a LITTLE SWIFT, a vagrant to the island (14th record?) 

Little Swift, (internet free to use image)

The holiday highlight for me was spotting the unmistakable movement of cetaceans off shore, I couldn't be 100% certain  but the Dolphins appeared to be Common Dolphins, while the two whales were thought by locals to be Humpback Whales.

Humpback Whale breath spout, (internet free to use image)

The flowers were, as previously, just amazing although around the hotel they were mostly non-natives.

On a more local note keep an eye out on the Pembrey Country Park website and social media, for a range of guided walks at Pembrey Country Park and the Millennium Coastal Park during July