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.

Lockdown Observations, Thursday 7th May 2020

COVID-19; Is this nature's revenge for the ruthless negligence we, the intelligent ape, have inflicted on the only world we have?

I would never describe myself as an "eco warrior", a "nature lover", I'm not the "tree hugger" type, I eat meat and vegetables, (I've often wondered about vegetarianism, veganism, each to their own and I'm sure there is some merit in each chosen lifestyle) I would say that I have a considered and intellectual approach to our environment and the natural world, I've seen the good and the bad approaches to nature conservation; we all have differing views!

My point, well it is abundantly clear that an unintended, (or was it?), effect of the Covid-19 virus across the world is one of self repair, nature is proving that given the opportunity it will repair the damage inflicted, in the main, by us the intelligent race.

Of course the human cost in all of this cannot be ignored, and my heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones as a result, directly or indirectly, of the Covid-19 virus; economically there is and will continue to be suffering across the world, but with resolve and cooperation there will be recovery. 

An interesting point was made by one travel pundit yesterday, how many people will now realise they don't need to travel across the world to attend a meeting, they can get as much work done using the internet, and even at a local level if employees can be as productive working from home as they would travelling to a central place of work will this be the new "norm"?

What will annual holidays look like in the future, I wager that the rest of 2020 will be more "stay local" and less driving to an airport, (although I have a growing urge to see my friends on Lesvos and Gran Canaria, but they will still be there in 2021, I hope) we need to make considered choices.

Air quality is vastly improved, a major contributor to human wellbeing, across the world nature is having a break from the injurious activities of man, (well unless you are on the path of the HS2 scheme or unlucky enough to be the victim or unscrupulous land owners and wildlife criminals). I understand that many international illegal wildlife markets are either closing down or under scrutiny, I do believe that it is more likely that the virus has made the biological leap from non-human to human, not as some leaders would have us think that the virus was made in a laboratory, although if it was I shudder in horror at what may come next.

At a local level nature seems to be enjoying the break from human and domestic animal interaction, whilst only temporary there is a point to be made, give the natural world room to breathe it will repay us in heaps.

We only have one place to live in the vast universe of space, we've messed it up enough let's all take a lesson from this pandemic

Lockdown Observations Monday 27th April 2020

And so it continues, no more to be said really.

Nature seems to be taking full advantage of the relative quietness in the countryside generally, roadside verges looking as they should, resplendent in a covering of wildflowers.

Of course the weather has played a part with settled conditions and no rain making for an easier start for many breeding birds and animals, what we don't need now is a spell of cold wet weather.

Apple blossom is out in a few locations in the woodlands, mostly the result of discarded apple cores, nevertheless this blossom provides another nectar source for pollinators.

I stumbled across a rather aggressive Hornet, I usually find Hornets to be quite docile so I can only assume that it was distressed, I moved it off the roadway and put it in a safe spot.

Checking one of our picnic areas today I was disappointed to find the mess as shown in the photograph, if you're wondering there were 29 mixed beer and cider cans, 1 wine bottle and 4 water bottles, and a disposable BBQ, I thought the country was in lockdown?

Todays high tide brought in a few Helium filled balloons! how long have they been floating in the ocean?

Lockdown - Observations, Monday 20th April 2020

I sincerely hope that wherever you are reading my Blog, and thank you, you are keeping safe and making the most of this challenging and strange time.

Apart from noticing that there are very few people out and about, compared to normal, I have noticed another quite remarkable aspect to thie lockdown.

The outdoors smells different, when I noticed this a few days ago I thought no, too much time indoors, so I never mentioned it then out of the blue a colleague said, "don't you think the air smells different", and it certainly does, cleaner maybe I can't quite say why it's different, but it is.

On the wildlife front the summer migrants are arriving fast, with numbers of Whimbrel increasing daily, and the woods full of the song of Blackcaps, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs, of course own own local birds are in full song also follow the link for a short burst of Even-Song

I spotted some Cowslips yesterday looking magnificent.

As sunset approached the skies changed with some interesting cloud formations and a stunning sunset.

KEEP SAFE

Lockdown-Observations Sunday 12th April 2020

We are well into lockdown, as a team we are either working from home, on an emergency rota ensuring the  Country Parks that have open access are safe, clean and secure or redeployed within the authority.

It seems that the vast majority of people are heeding the advice and instructions to stay at home except for the permitted activities, I have been taking my daily exercise hour walking around one of our green spaces, Sandy Water Park, as it is only 300m from my front door, I can honestly say that I am seeing fewer and fewer people out and about which is a good sign, I vary the time of day I go out and again can say I've not seen any obvious infringements of the social distancing advice. (well one which was being dealt with by the Police)

The Gorsedd Stones, 

looking over the lake at Sandy Water Park

It seem the majority of people appreciate the ability to be able to enjoy some wonderful countryside and amazing views on their door step, which brings me to some observations and three questions

Looking towards Burry Port, 

with the sand dredger just leaving anchorage on a flood tide

There is a significant increase in the amount of dog faeces on the edge of the path around the lake, I find this very concerning as the majority of dog walkers must be very local, with the car park out of bounds. There are more than enough bins to use and they are being emptied on a regular basis, so why? (no photo you all know what it looks like)

There is also an increasing amount of garden waste being "fly tipped", (because that's what it is- fly tipping), on the edge of the lake, again why? when it can be bagged up to take to the local recycling centre, less than 3  miles away when it opens again.

There's the odd bit of vandalism, broken signs etc but perhaps worse of all is can someone tell me where the bench, that has lived at the western end of the lake for years, has gone to, is it self-isolating?

It was there a few days ago!

I am aware that across the UK countryside services are seeing similar issues including wildfires, wildlife crime, vandalism and theft. Asking the emergency services to respond to these criminal activities means them taking their focus off the pandemic crisis, which just shows how the tiniest minority of the public are prepared to use the current crisis to their own selfish advantage.

Keep Safe.......

One Swallow...Saturday 4th April 2020

Living so close to Sandy Water Park makes for an easy "permitted exercise" walk.
This morning in cool overcast conditions I walked the mile or so around the lake with less than a dozen people seen let alone passed.

Waterfowl are making their way back north to breed so it is this that may have increased the count of Tufted Duck up to 13 from 8 yesterday and Pochard, a duck in decline, up from one to two this morning. 

Small numbers but when logic is applied to what is going on in the natural world it makes sense to notice the small things.

Just as I approached the end of the walk a small flock of Sand Martins arrived, careful viewing located a lone Swallow always a pleasure to see the first one, I expect that with the wind turning more southerly this will provide a boost to arriving migrants.

Swallows have been the source of some odd myths one from the 16th century tries to explain where they disappear too each autumn. Archbishop Olaus Magnus of Uppsala theorised that they spent the winter at the bottom of lakes and ponds as depicted in this wood block carving.

Fortunately we now know so much more about these trans-Saharan migrants