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.