Gone Batty, Tuesday 20th August 2019

Yes, I'm still here....

Monday evening saw the team at Pembrey Country Park lead one of our very popular Bat and Night Wildlife Walks.

We set off with 18 guests and hadn't walked more than a few metres from the new restaurant when Common Pipistrelles appeared.

A walk across open ground and back into some woodland near the Ski & Activity centre found more Pipistrelles, one or two swooping low above the heads of the captivated guests, much to the delight of the children in the group, some of the parents were not so keen....

With the Bat Detectors set to various frequencies, to make sure we picked up, as many species as possible, everyone was amazed as on of the detectors started "whistling and warbling" with the unmistakable sound of Greater Horseshoe Bat..... 
follow the link below to hear the unmistable echolocation sounds 

https://soundcloud.com/wildlife-sound-recording/greater-horseshoe-bat


The distinctive "splat" sound and sight of a large high flying bat was our third species in the form of a Noctule

We suspect that we also picked up another Pipistrelle speices, the Soprano Pipistrelle giving us our fourth species for the night.

We had put out two moth traps but the cool and breezy conditions did not produce anything of real interest.

A very satisfied group returned to the restaurant at around 10pm.. another succesful evening.

We plan on holding another three events in the next few weeks, keep an eye on the Pembrey Country Park website as well as facebook and Twitter

Llanelli coast garden Wildlife 7th July 2019

It's exactly four years since we moved to Llanelli, so much has happened in that time; not least is the number of new friends I have made, a great bunch of people many of them experts in their field, and many like-minded people.
I've retired, volunteered and now have a dream job working in the Outdoor Recreation Service with more conservation thrown in than many realise, I just wish getting older didn't come with so many ailments!
Recovering from my first encounter with Gout I have spent a few days looking at the wildlife in our small garden, with a bird list of just 38 species it's not the best garden for birds. 

A quick mention about work, check out the Facebook pages of Pembrey Country Park for July walks, the August and September walks and workshops will be advertised soon, (book online)

The pond had been more successful with Palmate Newt, Smooth Newt, Common Toad, Common Frog (both now disappeared) and a range of damselflies with Common Bluetail, Common Blue being abundant whilst Large red made an appearance for the first time this spring. Three years ago Common Darter emergence was amazing but not a single one since, maybe the newts are to blame.

Yesterday I paid close attention to some insects, I only have four Imperial Lily plants but the dreaded bright red Lily Beetle, Lilioceris lilii has found them and decimated the plants.

The Ichneumon wasp, which has newly appeared is awaiting a positive identification but provisionally is Ichneumon stramentor

The hoverfly is Scaeva pyrastri, unless anyone wants to correct me!

Along with a host of Spiders including the very formally named Long Jawed Orb Spider, now the Common Stretch Orb Spider Tetragnatha extensa, which cleverly spins its web over the pond.

Butterflies are reasonably represented but a Small Skipper, Thymelicus sylvestris yesterday morning was a surprise.

A Whale of a time, Madeira 2019

Its been a while since my last blog, time flies.

Just returned from a trip to the island of Madeira, where the sun shone and the heat built, very different to the weather left behind in the UK.

Although not a birding/wildlife holiday there were a few highlights worthy of mention, all except one of the sightings are from the hotel room balcony!

Plain Swift, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, (all subspecies) Blackcap, Blackbird, Y L Gull, Manx, Cory's and Bulwer's Shearwater, Common tern, Goldfinch and Feral Pigeon!

Bulwers Shearwater ( photo Madeiriabirds)

I found the Blackbirds interesting as they appear larger and more robust than the birds I'm used to in the UK with a noticeably larger bill, I also watched a female actively hunting the abundant supply of Madeiran Wall Lizards.

The bird highlight came in the originally misidentified House Martin, (seen from a gondola car on the way down a mountain) which just looked wrong, and it was as it turned out to be a LITTLE SWIFT, a vagrant to the island (14th record?) 

Little Swift, (internet free to use image)

The holiday highlight for me was spotting the unmistakable movement of cetaceans off shore, I couldn't be 100% certain  but the Dolphins appeared to be Common Dolphins, while the two whales were thought by locals to be Humpback Whales.

Humpback Whale breath spout, (internet free to use image)

The flowers were, as previously, just amazing although around the hotel they were mostly non-natives.

On a more local note keep an eye out on the Pembrey Country Park website and social media, for a range of guided walks at Pembrey Country Park and the Millennium Coastal Park during July

Wales Nature Week Pembrey Country Park, 31st May 2019

Outdoor Recreation Service held the first of three events for Wales Nature Week on Friday a little early but designed to link with school half term.

Three moth traps were set in the park and forest, which meant a very early start to recover the traps before daylight.

A good range of moths were caught and shown to a group of 12 children and three adults. As usual the "hawk moths" stole the show with Privet and Poplar caught.

Some of the more interesting moths though included Obscure Wainscot, noted in Carmarthenshire as rare/local, in J S Bakers, MOTHS 2004, the food plant is Common Reed. Others included, Spruce Carpet, Sandy Carpet,  several of the "Minors" aggregate, Puss Moth, Sharp-angled Peacock, Scallop Shell, and both pale and dark morphs of Peppered Moth.
Thanks to Dr Stuart Blackmore for his assistance.

Obscure Wainscot, (Leucania obsolete)

The afternoon session was pond dipping, with the event sold out, with 10 children and five adults getting their feet wet in search of a myriad of pond life, the best finds were Water Scorpion, and two of the largest Ramshorn pond snails I've seen. (I'll post a photo when ranger Oliver sends them !)

Our next event is a Bat talk and walk on Wednesday 5th June, to book a place please visit

 pembreycountrypark.wales  whats on.

Intensive botanising Thursday 23rd May 2019

Today I joined in with the visit by the BSBI, Wales AGM gang for their visit to the Pembrey Burrows LNR.

A great bunch of people with an amazing wealth of knowledge, passion and generosity of spirit. Some of these people are "published" experts but to chat with them was so refreshing and a great learning experience.
When I have the full report in some months time I will share the highlights.
However to start, a new plant for me Long-stalked Crane's-bill Geranium columbinum, a beautiful and delicate flower which I would have just walked passed.

A flower that is hard to miss due to its vibrant yellow colour and its starry bracts and a favourite of mine is Goats-beard Tragopogon pratensis,  just a stunner.

The reserve looked and felt very dry, with the Green-winged Orchids all gone over and ground underfoot feeling "crunchy" so it was no surprise to see masses of snails, in aestivation, on Wild Radish, a state of summer dormancy to avoid the heat and dry environments.

Small Blue butterflies dominated with a few Small heath, Large White and a lone Green Hairstreak.

We ended up at the pond in GF2 where a female Broad-bodied Chaser was busy egg laying, a nice way to end a great day.

All Change Wednesday 1st May 2019

I have had the pleasure of volunteering with Dr Simeon Jones and Carmarthenshire Local Nature Reserves part of Carmarthenshire County Councils, Outdoor Recreation Service; since October 2015. My time spent at the reserves especially Pembrey Burrows has been very rewarding personally and I hope I have added to the data base of species found on the site.

Many of you will be aware that I started a paid position with the Outdoor Recreation Service about a year ago, working primarily at Pembrey Country Park, my time there has been immensely enjoyable and again I hope I have contributed something to the park.

Now its time for a change, well almost, today I was confirmed into a new and exciting role with the Outdoor Recreation Service as the Volunteer & Education Coordinator. The role is to develop a strong volunteer team within the service, coordinate the roles of the many other volunteers we have and to review the education offer we make to schools across all ages and abilities. (although based at Pembrey CP the role covers all of our sites)

As such my  volunteer role on the reserves will come to an end, wildlife contributions are likely to diminish, and I will be focussed on other issues whilst I settle in; but do let me or one of our great ranger team, know of anything interesting, anything amiss etc as many of you have done in the past. Once I'm settled in I will be back into the wildlife recording....

Simeon has a great series of walks planned for the year check the park website for details*

In the coming weeks I hope to be able to offer a range of volunteer roles that I hope some of you will be interested in so keep an eye on the blog and the Pembrey Country Park website:* 

www.pembreycountrypark.wales  *

Park residents Sunday 14th April 2019

When recording the presence of wildlife at a location there are times when the first evidence comes from finding the corpse of an individual. So it was this weekend when Our Campsite Warden asked me to identify a dead mammal that a visitor had reported to her.

When I was presented with what was clearly a full poo bag I did check my qualifications, forensic science is not amongst them... in fact what was inside was a rather splendid, but sadly deceased male POLECAT.

Now here we need to consider the possibility that it was a domesticated ferret-polecat but immediately it was obvious by its size, condition and pelage that we had the real thing. The presence of Polecats has long been suspected with odd reports from the nature reserve and from the forest. I took the relevent measurements, tail, hindfoot, nose to body etc and all fitted in the range for a male Polecat in the welsh population.

Formidable claws

A sad sight but useful information gained, 

the wind was blowing the fur around revealing the underfur

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The Vincent Wildlife Trust say this about the status of the Polecat;

The polecat (Mustela putorius) is of considerable conservation significance in Britain.

This is particularly so because of its current recolonisation of many areas of lowland Britain from which it was trapped to extinction at the end of the 19^th century.

Today, polecats have spread out from their historical stronghold in mid Wales and have recolonised much of southern and central England and have recently reached parts of south-west England and East Anglia. There are also polecats present in north-west England and parts of Scotland originating from reintroductions.

The polecat’s conservation status in Britain is much more favourable today than it was a hundred years ago. Provided that no new serious threats emerge to halt the current recovery, it seems likely that the polecat will become widely re-established in mainland Britain.

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Of all of the Mustelid family the following are known to occur along the coast/hinterland from Lougher to Pendine: Badger, Otter, Mink, Polecat, Stoat and Weasel the only one missing is Pine Marten but with the ongoing recolonization in mid-Wales they may turn up.

I've removed the skull to send off to a friend who will clean it up so that we can use it on our nature table.