Thursday 17th December

Its been a bit of a busy week so I've not had much time to be out and about, the best on offer has been the Red Kite and Merlin at Pembrey LNR.

The weather has also been against me with rain and wind most days, so some photos of Lesbos might cheer me up.....

Red Backed Shrike

Greater Flamingos

Friday 11th December 2015

A decent day today with a quick trip to WWT Llanelli, slim pickings though with totals of

Lapwing 236, B H Gull 200+, Wigeon 96+, Greylag 5, Peregrine 1

Down at Pembrey LNR a bit of a raptor fest with Red Kite 2, Buzzard 1, and Merlin ♀/imm

a few Ravens and the obligatory Stonechats.

Merlin ♀/imm, a very cropped long distance  digi shot

Red Kite, a very cropped long distance digi shot

ITV were on site filming the Sea Buckthorn clearance for a short Wales news programme.

Wednesday 9th December 2015

Another breezy day but it remained dry until dark.

The power of wind and wave is becoming increasingly clear on the fore dunes at Pembrey LNR, with huge losses of established dunes being replaced by the formation of embryonic dunes at beach level.

wind blown sand being deposited in front of the fore dunes

Work continues to clear Sea Buckthorn from a 1km stretch of the foredunes the resulting new habitat will benefit the many invertebrates which thrive in this apparently barren landscape.

The machine on tracks makes short work of older stands of Sea Buckthorn while the more nimble "Bobcat" reaches those parts others can't,

A flock of 69 Cormorants had gathered at the tide line early this morning.

Monday 7th December 2015

Storm Desmond, has had a real impact around the country, although here in South Wales we have escaped the very worst of it.

The height of the storm at Newgale in Pembrokeshire

Nonetheless there have been impacts such as continued erosion of the sand dunes at Pembrey so much so that there has been a real concern that the south east corner of field two would end up on the beach with the cattle escaping and possibly wandering off into the sea, a scenario which happen a few years ago with devastating consequences.

Interestingly despite losing several stretches of san dune there has also been a great amount of accreation of sand along the beach.

The fence was constructed by volunteers from MENCAP and we had a great day working together, an audience of 19 bullocks added to the entertainment but they soon wandered off to continue the great conservation work they are doing munching their way through the rough grasses.

A mixed bunch!

Wednesday 2nd December 2015

Wednesday is volunteering day with the Millennium Coastal Park Volunteers, today we were at Pembrey Burrows LNR.

The weather turned from mild and overcast with a steady breeze to wet and windy and quite a blow.

It was a good job I found my waterproof over-trousers yesterday and put them in the car, shame I didn't stop to put them on.

There are contractors on site clearing the invasive Sea Buckthorn from the fore-dunes, they are using some heavy machinery to clear the Sea Buickthorn and are cutting and "mulching"  as they go then the area will be sprayed with a Glysophate in the spring to clear any new growth.

This smaller machine with a hammer flail is used to clear the hard to reach places

As dramatic as this may seem the Sea Buckthorn is not native to Wales and occurs naturally only along the East coast of the UK, in order to maintain the dunes in as natural condition as possible the plant does need controlling.

Not much left when the tracked machine has been through

We drove to the corner of F2 where the fence is in danger of disappearing into the sea as a large stretch of dune has been swept away in the past few months, its going to be a bit of a job with 42 posts needed to make the field secure.....

Tuesday 1st December 2015

Another breezy overcast with drizzle but mild sort of day.

An afternoon visit to the beach (Cefn Sidan) at Pembrey LNR and a litter pick, mostly discarded fishing rope and plastic, and bizarrely some lemons!!

The rough seas have thrown a lot of litter onto the beach but it is now mostly covered by blown sand,

with lower tides (8.7m) the high water mark is lower and cleaner but still plenty to see including the following.

Trigger Fish Balistes carolinensis

Common Jellyfish Aurelia aurita

Bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus

L-R Oyster spp Common Cockle, Prickly or Rough Cockle spp

Monday 30th November 2015

Storm Clodagh is blowing its way through this morning, with high tide due at 08:50hrs a visit to Pembrey Harbour was in order. The site opposite the eastern end of the Pembrey reserve although separated by a tidal inlet a large part of the reserve is visible from the harbour.

A JACK SNIPE along the top of the old harbour wall was a surprise then a RED BREASTED MERGANSER ♂ in the inlet, I was joined by Adam Dare who told me that he had just seen a SWALLOW near his home, unbelievably as we chatted I looked at the Merganser again and spotted a SWALLOW battling the wind as it flew low over the inlet towards the marsh.

This is a late date for Swallows, so was this bird, and the bird Adam had seen earlier, scooped up in the run of storms over the past week and totally blown off course??

The next hour produces OYSTERCATCHER c700, RINGED PLOVER c60, DUNLIN c20, GREAT BACKED GULL 10, GREAT CRESTED GREBE 1,

I then went over to the entrance to the reserve and walked around F3, picking up SPARROWHAWK ♂, and a RAVEN.

Just outside the reserve boundary checking a flock of gulls, I picked out a BLACK HEADED GULL with Darvic ring VH21, along with over another 100 BH Gulls and COMMON GULL 95.

Black Headed Gull, with White Darvic engraved VH21