Message in a bottle and the miracle of nature Wednesday 4th July 2017

An overcast morning was in sharp contrast to the last few weeks, slightly cooler and much more bearable.

Wednesday's are usually volunteer day, but with holidays and a lack of jobs there seemed little point in dragging the team out.

We have had two lads on work experience in the country park so I was asked to give them a tour of the Pembrey Burrows LNR, the plan was a reptile survey and then a Strandline Beetle survey.

The reptile survey was disappointing, even at 09:30 I think it was too warm and most reptiles had warmed up and were already on the move, we did however find a GRASS SNAKE about 40cm long, and a WOOD MOUSE.

The survey for the Strandline Beetle was even more unproductive with none seen, this is the second unproductive survey this season.

We did however find a genuine "message in a bottle", with a bit of trouble including a finger well and truly stuck we managed to retrieve and read the rather sad message, a little too sad to publish on the blog.

On a brighter note we noticed a good number of the daytime flying, SIX SPOT BURNET MOTHS on the wing as well as a caterpillar starting to spin a cocoon, the photos illustrate the sequence of events.

Caterpillar starting to spin a cocoon 

A fresh cocoon 

An older, faded cocoon, from which an adult moth has emerged,

 see the two black "horns"

Adult Six-spot Burnet Moth

Don't be fooled, FIRE... Sunday 1st July

Well what a run of dry sunny weather, reminds me of 1976, yes I am old enough to remember!!!

The butterflies on all the reserves seem to be having a good season, maybe the cold winter played a part in this? It's worth getting out early to enjoy the cooler hours but stay long enough for the butterflies to get going.

Of course one downside to the hot weather is of course that much of the vegetation is "going over" sooner than perhaps it would during a "normal" summer, however the Common Sea Lavender is in bloom as is our speciality Rock Sea Lavender.

The warm weather has brought out the crowds, who in the main, have been well behaved, however no matter how well behaved people are mistakes, and, avoidable accidents do happen, and so it was on Sunday, when despite the small amount of rain, a small fire started in Pembrey Forest just outside the Country Park.

 It appears that an illegal campfire had been lit but despite the efforts of the person(s) responsible to put the campfire out they under estimated the ground conditions so the fire burned deep and reignited a few metres away....

Fortunately some passing dog walkers called the Fire Service however they were unable to provide a precise location, however after some thought and exploration we found the site of the fire.

The nature of the fire meant that water was required, no mean feat in the middle of Pembrey Forest, but the fire fighters soon had that sorted and the fire site thoroughly soaked with around 1000l of water

The few showers we had on Sunday have not reduced the fire risk at all it is still HIGH.

NO FIRES OR BBQ's ON THE DUNES, BEACH OR IN ANY WOODLAND, and ONLY BBQ IN THE COUNTRY PARK AT APPROVED SITES, KEEP DISPOSABLE BBQ's OFF THE GROUND

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.....