Monday 28th November 2016

What a load of old rubbish.............


This morning a group of dedicated litter pickers came along to clear a small stretch of beach at Pembrey Burrows LNR.

It is bit of a hike to this part of the reserve, but a pleasant one, and with the crisp conditions it wasn't long before we were getting stuck in to the pile of plastic containers, fishing nets and glass bottles washed up above the high water mark.

Here we go...

Much of the plastic is sent for recycling, provided it is "clean" the glass is recycled but everything else is destined for landfill.

No messages in these bottles

Some of the group getting stuck in..

One of the important aspects of litter picking on the reserve and adjoining SSSI is to leave all wood and large sheets of plastic in situ, this debris provides shelter during spring, summer and autumn for the endangered Strandline Beetle, at this time of year the beetle will have made its way up off the HWM and into the dunes to spend the winter months.

In only two hours around 15 bags of rubbish and recyclables had been collected, and deposited ready for pick up with a vehicle later this week.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Sunday 27th November 2016

Getting colder....

This morning saw the first real ice on the reserve this morning, not enough to skate on of course but enough to freeze the puddles on the tracks and the marsh.

There were few signs of wildlife this morning but with a bit of effort some choice birds were seen.

Jack Snipe (1), Common Snipe (17), Water Rail (3), the three Water Rails were all within a few metres of each other which is so unusual for such a territorial bird.

I was hoping that the male Hen Harrier would still be around and sure enough it was hunting the dunes and marsh, eventually making a kill in the inlet, (which I think is actually called - Swan Pool Drain - on old maps).

A map from 1831

This afternoon I bumped into Veronica and Chris, they had good views of the Hen Harrier again as well as a Sparrowhawk, I saw the bird very well after I left Veronica and Chris, it's a big female, it could well be the same bird that has been seen off and on for almost a year.

A distant shot but gives an idea of the size of the bird

Thursday 24th November 2016

Almost winter, and a bird to savour.....

With the start of winter a few days away, life at Pembrey Burrows LNR is slowing down, the rush of the autumn seems to be over and there are fewer birds to be seen, a few hardier flowers are still in bloom, such as Ragwort and of course Western Furze.

But going back a day, the best bird seen yesterday was a male Hen Harrier, seen only for barely a minute but a stunner, so this today when I decided to have a stroll for the late afternoon high water I was delighted to see the same bird again.... or was it?

Yesterday I was happy to say that the bird was an adult male, today with better views the bird showed distinct barring to the innermost primaries and outermost secondaries, and a diffuse wing band on the upper wing due to the darker tips of inner greater and median coverts,making it a 2nd calendar year male, not a full adult, I guess its more likely I overaged the bird yesterday rather than there being two HH around. Comments welcome, as this  is the first adult(ish) male I have seen in the UK, although I've seen them in France.

I've not tried to upload a video before, I'm disappointed with the image on here, on my camera and laptop it is a lot nicer, but eh its only a bridge camera, and I dropped it again today!!!

Sunday 20th November 2016

Wildlife crime comes to Pembrey Burrows LNR...

Whilst on duty this afternoon two members of the public approached me and proceeded to show me an illegally set mist net which they had found set in Sea Buckthorn bushes on the reserve.

They had removed the two birds, a Great Tit and a Bullfinch, that were trapped and released them, although it sounded like only one was going to survive.

Needless to say I'm pretty pissed off by this discovery, luckily or unluckily I'm also very observant and clocked a suspicious vehicle and occupant in one of the car parks, I can't go into anymore detail at the moment, I may not get paid but I've been at this ranger game a very long time!!!... over to the local Police to deal with.

Not much else to report.........................

Friday 18th November 2016

140............

This morning started much calmer than yesterdays eventful weather, there was little breeze when I got to the eastern end of the reserve at Old Pembrey Harbour, it didn't last too long, and soon a steady breeze built up, it was noticeably colder, not cooler, colder!

The tide was starting to fall and the waders seemed more relaxed, yesterday they were being buffeted by the strong wind. Species and numbers were similar to yesterday, although the Bar-tailed Godwits had reached a grand total of three, actually a good number for the site at this time of year. An Atlantic Grey Seal was "bottling" in the estuary.

There was one red-breasted Merganser present and he didn't want his photo taken, so a rushed and heavily cropped photo is all you are getting today!

Red-breasted Merganser

After chatting with the sea watch king, Adam, I drove around to the reserve entrance and made my way to the beach at CE51, plenty going on here with a massive 161 Great Cormorants and 63 Ringed Plover.

Most of the 161 Great Cormorants

On the beach I was sheltered to a great extent from the breeze and it was quite pleasant, I walked to the end of the reserve bit of the beach scanning the estuary, I spent a good 45mins looking and looking when a "duck" flew across my line of sight, at last a LONG-TAILED DUCK, with only brief but conclusive views species 140 was in the bag phew!!!

Most of the 600+ Sanderling with Ringed Plover behind

Thursday 17th November 2016

The state of things today....

Yesterday, being a Wednesday was volunteer day for the Local nature Reserves volunteers, so we met at our newest reserve at Morfa Berwig, to find out more about the reserve you will have to go back through the blog.....

We were joined by a couple of people who had  seen the "Keep Wales Tidy", Facebook page and saw that they could come along and help with a litter pick... many thanks.

With the usual array of empty cans, bottles, sweet wrappers, crisp packets and general litter dumped from a house we found this little lot...

Used syringes, and a couple of "bongs" used for smoking drugs

Its sad to say that Llanelli like most provincial towns has a significant drug addiction problem, a whole generation seems to be "lost" with those involved oblivious to little else other than the difficult life they find themselves in, its not for me to judge but I object to their life style having a negative impact on others, in whatever form that may be.

On a cheerier note today, Thursday, one of the last of the Super Moon high tides was due at around 08:25hrs, so I decided to visit the eastern boundary of the Pembrey LNR where a great sea watching point is located , the Old Pembrey Harbour. The weather has certainly become more seasonal with leaden skies and a stiff breeze blowing.

Despite the tough conditions there were birds to be seen including: Oystercatchers (3000+), Sanderling (600+), Ringed Plover (30+), Curlew (46),  Shelduck (8), Red-breasted Merganser (2)Peregrine (1) and Bar-tailed Godwit (1)

With significant winds forecast for the next few hours (10:00 - 16:00), tomorrow may be a good day to get out sea watching again as sea birds may well be blown into the estuary

A bit blowy

Sunday 13th November 2016

Effort pays off, up with the Larks....

Being a sand dune reserve, there are good numbers of Skylark wintering, probably joining the already strong breeding population.

I have toyed with the idea of trying to catch and ring Skylarks for a few months, finally I bit the bullet and having found what looked like the perfect spot, a disused car park which is now very weedy surrounded by sand dunes, I put thought in to action.

So it was yesterday evening that I set out the positions of the nets for an early morning session today.

On site at 05:30hrs, to put up the nets, the poles and guys were where I had left them!, when all was set  some very loud Skylark song was played and I retired to the van.

I checked the nets carefully and was amazed to find a Wren in the bottom pocket and a few metres away a SKYLARK. Relatively few Skylark are ringed each year so it was good to be able to handle this iconic bird.

Skylark

Skylark (VH)

I was joined by my able "scribe" Veronica and after a busy net round with mainly Goldfinches, and a deserved cup of coffee we went back to the nets to find another Skylark, this time nearer the top of the net, I'm guessing that due to the cunning set of the net it hadn't time to lift over and evade the net, so TWO SKYLARKS in one session, I'm well pleased.

In 2015, a total of 582 Skylark were ringed in the UK, of these 345 were pullus, (nestlings), in the same year 99 were ringed in Wales 16  were pullus

I have to thank Matt Prior, or as some ringers know him "trapper" Prior, he  is a first class ringer, and has an incredible talent for working out the best way to catch most species, and gave useful advice prior to the session and yes, there was a "dogleg" in my net set........

The morning panned out with the following birds caught and ringed, Goldfinch (14), Linnet (11),  Chaffinch (4), three each of Wren, Meadow Pipit and Greenfinch with a Blue Tit and a Dunnock completing a nice session of 42 birds.

What next?