Choices, Natural, Semi-natural or unnatural Saturday 11th February 2017

I have been doing a lot of pondering since Monday, when I went to a Llanelli Naturalists AGM and listened to a talk by Barry Stewart on the status of the Strandline Beetle Eurynebria complanata, and having read in detail his report to Natural Resources Wales,  (I will refer to E complanata, as the beetle in the rest of the blog).

The beetle was recently reclassified as endangered following a decline which now finds its UK range restricted to a few special areas of Carmarthen Bay,

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The Strandline Beetle, Eurynebria complanata (photo VH)

The beetle is closely associated with strandlines and sandy beaches backed by the right sort of sand dune and the resultant vegetation community.

Ecologically I assume the beetle evolved to survive the natural processes of the dynamic and shifting patterns of beach, strandline and dune formation relying on purely natural objects under which to seek refuge.

The state of our oceans, and thus our beaches in the 21st century are generally much less natural and more semi natural, by which I mean that there are vast amounts of man made objects to be found lying on the beaches, a look at any of the eroding dune faces along Cefn Sidan will reveal any number of plastic compound objects in the stratification of the dune face, perhaps a clear example of the anthropocene epoch of geological time!

Now the beetle has adapted to make use of many plastic objects as well as tyres old sofa cushions, polystyrene  etc. Seeing these objects on a beach is to many ugly, unsightly and must be removed.

NO! if only it was so simple.

Yes it is depressing to see the vast amounts of plastic bottles of all shapes and sizes washed up, sometimes into great piles, on our beaches along with old fishing nets, rope as well as more domestic rubbish like dustbin. But before we act we must stop and consider the outcome we really desire.

There is a real and significant risk that we will lose this distinctive ground beetle from our fauna unless action is taken very soon, this will need to consider the level of "cleanliness" some of our beaches can tolerate, this will need to include careful monitoring of the amount of natural materials being removed by the public, usually driftwood, and how fires are controlled on the beach by the party animals of the area.

There will need to be an acceptance that "useful rubbish" will need to be left insitu on the beach to provide shelter for the beetle, especially where the quantities of natural material seem to be declining, I walked from CE52 to the "nose" at Pembrey Burrows, (2.7km), today and saw very little wood on the beach, certainly considerably less than this time last year,; maybe its buried under the ever shifting sands of Cefn Sidan, or the currents have changed as a result of the accretion of sand on the beach mid way along that particular section of beach?

This view of the beach between CE52 and the Nose was typical NO NATURAL DEBRIS

On a brighter note there is a plan!, this plan is to supplement the amount of wood on the beach, carefully control any "beach cleans" and engage with beach users to help them understand the part they play in the survival of the Strandline Beetle, Eurynebria complanata.

The fight is on................

I will come back to this hot topic over the coming months...............

Jelly and Brains Tuesday 7th February 2017

When the forecast for this morning said "isolated heavy showers" they were not wrong, I thought I had better try and find out where one of the young cattle had managed to escape from on Sunday, yes another escapee but successfully rounded up and returned to the herd.

I could see the sky darkening in the west so set off at a pace, there was no sign of any gaps in the fence so maybe the beast had jumped over, they can be very nimble.

My attention was drawn to a jelly like substance on the side of the path, closer examination showed it was one of the Jelly Fungus species; I took the obligatory photographs and sent them off to Dr Philip Jones to confirm its identity.

Philip soon replied with:-

This is Yellow Brain = Tremella mesenterica and often on gorse but may be seen on a wide range of trees/shrubs.  Best seen during winter months after lots of rain ---- if dries out just forms a crust on the wood then rehydrates with rain.  Tremella species are what is known as 'jelly-fungi' as they 'wobble'.  Part of the picture shows it is white as spores have gone or developed into the asexual spore stage.  It is thought that most of these  jelly-fungi are parasitic on an inconspicuous fungus on the wood but not on the wood itself.

Thanks to Philip for the confirmation..

Yellow Brain Jelly fungus Tremella mesenterica

SEA WATCH EVENT

JOIN ME FOR A FEW HOURS MONITORING ANY BIRD MOVEMENT IN THE BURRY ESTUARY ON SUNDAY 12TH FEBRUARY.

WE WILL MEET AT 07:15HRS, AT THE ENTRANCE BARRIER TO THE PEMBREY BURROWS NATURE RESERVE

BRING BINOCULARS,IF YOU HAVE THEM, AND WRAP UP WARM.

WE WILL PROBABLY BE FINISHED BY AROUND 09:30HRS

AS ALWAYS I CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT WE WILL SEE BIG NUMBERS BUT WE SHOULD SEE SOMETHING OF THE BIRDS WINTERING IN THE ESTUARY.

Natural processes at work? 1st February 2017

By its very nature the coastline of the UK is in a constant state of change, no more so on the Welsh coast here at Pembrey Burrows.

Dune systems play a number of important roles in the protection of the hinterland, and therefore are at their best when allowed to be dynamic in nature, with the Burry Inlet facing the full force of most Atlantic weather systems it doesn't take much to impact the resilience of the dune system.

The fore-dunes at the eastern end of the reserve,

with an eroded face with displaced Sea Buckthorn on the beach

It can be quite awe inspiring to see the erosive effects on the  seaward face of the dunes with many metres being lost during a single storm.

Of course all this sand has to go somewhere and currently accretion is taking place in two main areas, one being "the Nose" on the eastern boundary of the reserve, the other is at one main point half way down the beach on the reserve's southern boundary. All of this is perfectly natural, or is it?

The "Nose" at the eastern end of the reserve where accretion is happening rapidly,

although a good storm can soon reverse the process

I pose that question because it is a natural process that produces the very best dune systems however what impact is climate change having, with more storms and confused seasons it will be interesting to see the longer term impacts, in dune systems, a few decades can be the "longer term".

Neil one of the stalwart volunteers spotted evidence of our largest mammal well away from its expected range, albeit a few tracks and a "dung pit" nevertheless very interesting.

Badger tracks and ""dung pit" or latrine, complete with Badger poo!

More than one nature reserve, Friday 27th January 2017

There are several Local Nature Reserves in the county, although my effort is mainly at Pembrey Burrrows.

The newest designation, as I've mentioned before is at Morfa Berwig, an interesting reclaimed industrial/brownfield site to the east of Llanelli, and near the WWT centre.

The entrance sign waiting for a coat of Linseed oil

I spent this morning there, and saw only one other person, it was overcast and quite cool with a steady breeze, there wasn't much to see but a handful of Teal, a Buzzard, Grey Heron, Little Egret and one Common Snipe.

Pond a year old, already well used

I hadn't bothered with wellies so didn't venture into the fields where I'm certain there would have been more Snipe, in hindsight it may have been interesting to see what sort of numbers there were.

Afon Goch, with great Cetti's Warbler habitat on the far bank

There are a mixture of habitats on the reserve, with dry/damp Gorse scrub, wet rushy meadows, reed beds, a small river and Willow Carr. These habitats hold a good range of birds including Marsh Tit, Bullfinch, Cettis Warbler, and in season a wide range of migrant Warblers.

Gorse a great habitat for invertebrates and in the spring holds good numbers of warblers

The site is well known for Water Vole, and is a stronghold from which individuals have been taken, under licence, for breeding in order to provide stock for other areas, including the Wildlife Trust reserve at Ffrwd Fen near Pembrey.

cute as a button, Water Vole.

How times change Wednesday 25th January 2017

There is currently tree thinning taking place in Pembrey Country Park, so it was interesting to go along and see the work taking place.

The trees being felled are Corsican Pine, planted many years ago, some are a good size, with one in three being cut to open up the forest and allowing the under storey to develop.

These days it's down to machinery, rather than a team with chainsaws, to do the job and with 33 trees being felled, snedded and corded in an hour it's a pretty impressive machine.

Whilst we were in the park we went and put the Barn Owl box, which had been taken over by Honey bees in the autumn, back into use.

There was another stunning sunset after a day of clear blue skies.

Thanks to Veronica for today's photographs

Corvids galore Monday 23rd January 2017

It pays to pop out at odd times, this evening I wanted to set the camera trap which meant I had to leave deployment until as late as possible to avoid the wrong type of prying eyes.

There were a surprising number of people about, even as the sun had set, however there were nowhere near as many people as there were Jackdaws in the pre roost gathering.

How many Jackdaws and Carrion Crows?

I estimate there were 700+ birds if anyone wants to count then feel free to let me know the answer, use the comments section.

Close up?

An update on the camera trap, tomorrow??