Fritillaries galore, Wednesday 27th June

The morning started with myself and stalwart Veronica clearing the parking areas of visitor induced litter...amongst which was a large and very pungent bag of animal bones, you just never know what the day will bring.

Many of you who know Pembrey Burrows LNR will be familiar with the ongoing work to eradicate sea Buckthorn from the reserve, its a slow process and today saw myself, Veronica and another stalwart,Neil surveying areas, [which have already had some work carried out], for regrowth and further management in the coming months.

The eradication work that has been carried out is already proving successful for the flora and a wide range of invertebrates.

Even in the soaring temperatures it wasn't too onerous a task as we were accompanied by a good range and quantity of butterflies in all of the grazing areas, although I did call a halt at 13:30 when the temperature was approach 26'.

On the butterfly front DARK GREEN FRITILLARIES were present in high numbers with around 100 individuals observed across the reserve, one area alone holding around 50 or so individuals; MARBLED WHITES, MEADOW BROWN, and SMALL SKIPPERS were also present in very good numbers, this year looks like being a better one than many previous years especially at a local level.

Dark Green Fritillary

Meadow Brown

One disappointment today was the lack of any MARSH HELLEBORINES at the two sites checked, where last year there were over 100 flower spikes, a cyclical or weather related issue?

With the continuing dry conditions showing no real sign of letting up, the whole of the coastal plain is tinder dry, please be vigilant and let myself or my colleagues in Outdoor Recreation (via the country park) know of any signs of camp fires/BBQ's etc  on the reserves or in the coastal park that may pose a threat.

Morfa Berwig guided walk Saturday 23rd June 2018

In lovely summer sunshine a small group met with Dr Simeon Jones for a guided walk looking at the flora of the Morfa Berwig LNR, a site with a chequered past, from coastal marsh to refuse tip to overflow car park...

Immediately we set off we can across some of the typical plants of the site in the from of Rushes, with Hard, Soft and Compact and Round Fruited Rush all growing in close proximity to one of the seasonal pools.

Hard Rush

Teasel

A little more showy were the Southern Marsh Orchids, now past their best but still identifiable, Marsh Bedstraw, Water Forget-me-Not, Teasel, Meadow Vetchling Nipplewort, Oxeye Daisy, Creeping Jenny and Greater Birds Foot Trefoil were amongst a good range of plants Simeon showed us.

Nipplewort

We also saw Southern Hawker and Black-tailed Skimmer dragonflies, Small Skipper and Meadow Brown butterflies were widespread, feeding on Hogweed we found the aptly named Black and yellow Long Horned Beetle.

Southern Hawker

Black and yellow Long Horned Beetle

The next Carmarthenshire Local nature Reserves event will be at Mynydd Mawr Woodland park Nr Tumble, on 14th July, looking at the range of flora that has colonised this former coal producing site.

Smashing time... Thursday 21st June 2018

So its that time of year, the Summer solstice, all down hill from here then... well actually not now we have the "seasonal lag" where temperatures will probably continue to rise to make our summer, well summer.

Sat taking payment at the entrance to the Pembrey Country Park has it's upside, there's just so  much birdlife in and around the entrance area, a family of Blackcaps kept me amused for most of yesterday as did the antics of the Song Thrushes.

Today I took my camera and managed a short piece of video of the snail eating specialists, who needs snail and slug pellets if you've got these in the garden.

Thrush versus snail  poised and ready

Cormorant update, Tuesday 19th June 2018

This afternoon I found out the ringing details of the Cormorant recovered on Cefn Sidan on Sunday.

The bird was originally ringed on 10th June 2015 on St Margaret's Island Pembrokeshire, by the Pembrokeshire Ringing Group, (some are followers of this blog so if you can tell us more about St Margaret's island please leave a comment).

A REMINDER of a flower walk at MORFA BERWIG LNR with Dr Simeon Jones on Saturday 23rd June at 10am, the reserve is looking good at the moment come and find out more...

Ragged Robin

When is a Heron not a Heron Sunday 17th June 2016

I'm really enjoying my paid job with the Outdoor Recreation Service (ORS) not quite as nature focussed as my volunteer role but still---- a job is what you make of it...

This afternoon I was eating my lunch at the beach entrance in the country park when a visitor approached and let me know that there was a "Heron" on the beach that couldn't fly.

A rescue to brighten an otherwise very quiet day... I called on Oliver the duty ranger while I set off on foot westwards along the beach, ignoring the black rucksac on the beach (I'll come back to that) Oliver duly arrived along with Mandy from the campsite in search of the "Heron" nothing to be found so we headed back, as we approached the black rucksac it moved or rather lifted its head... our Heron was in fact a Cormorant. a quick chase, (yes I chased it along the beach) and it was caught. Cleary not in the best condition we took it into care, the first thing I noticed was that it was ringed with a British ring, it perked up a little while in a box after contacting the RSPCA, Oliver handed the bird into their care.

This is the most flattering photo thanks Oliver!

I have already discovered that the Cormorant was originally ringed as a nestling (pulli) in 2015, I should find out where soon and I'll update you.

Whilst out and about I noticed 100'sof Toadlets leaving the main pond in the forest, difficult not to drive over them.....

Summer sunshine Saturday 9th June 2018

I spent a few hours on the Pembrey LNR this morning before getting on with preparing for the BioBlitz in the Pembrey Country Park which takes place tomorrow (Sunday 10th).

The weather improved quickly this morning from overcast to hazy warm sunshine which caught me out whilst on the beach looking for the STRANDLINE BEETLE, sadly there is very little debris on the beach suitable for the beetle so I didn't find one in the mile or so of beach I checked.

On a brighter note I did find some "new" BEE ORCHIDS, growing in a different location to last year, the PYRAMIDAL ORCHIDS are also beginning to put on a show across the reserve.

Bee Orchid flower

The pond in field 2 continues to improve with 7 times more SOUTHERN MARSH ORCHIDS compared to last year as well as EMPORER, BROAD BODIED CHASERS and BLACK-TAILED SKIMMERS, all putting on a show

Black-tailed Skimmer

Good numbers of SMALL BLUE as well as SMALL HEATH butterflies were pleasing to see as this year seems a bit light on butterfly numbers.

Small Heath

Sunshine and Blues Monday 4th June

A routine visit to the Pembrey LNR was rewarding in so much that the site is looking amazing.

The cattle were taken out of GF2 a couple of months ago, this has allowed the vegetation in the pond to grow without being grazed off, as a result the pond and "slack" area will be at their best in a week or so, Southern Marsh Orchids are already coming into bloom, with the shoots of Lesser Spearwort providing resting places for the Broad bodied Chasers.

Southern Marsh orchid

With many of the summer flowers on show the accompanying butterflies are out in force with 10's of Small and Common Blues on the wing.

mating Common Blues

Now that the kids are back in school and there is a quieter feel to the reserve get out and explore..

It has certainly been a busy half term I'll let the photo below speak for itself, (the used bbq's  had aleady been moved off their original position, hence the burn marks however they were still hot when I got to them so we ended up with FOUR scorched areas of grass!!!)

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Don't forget to join on of our BioBlitz walks/events in Pembrey Country Park on Sunday .