Breeding Birds & Heronries Survey Carmarthenshire; Tuesday 4th February 2020

Wearing a different hat, as the regional representative for the BTO, I am putting out a plea for volunteers to carry out Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) and/or Heronry surveys.

Having contacted registered BTO members across the county I have had a very positive response to the email I sent, with possibly two new heronries identified already.

Just to whet peoples appetite here is a list of the known heronries in Carmarthenshire, if anyone wants to express interest in visiting and confirming breeding this year please get in touch, also see links to the BTO Heronries and BBS pages.

https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/heronries-census

https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/bbs

HERONRIES, (some duplicates)

CARM	SN794126	Ystradgynlais, Giedd Forest	SN7912
CARM	SN778112	Upper Cwm-twrch (Palleg) (Brynhenllys)	SN7711
CARM	SN753309	Allt Cwar Mawr, Llandovery (or Allt Trefenty, Llwyn y wermwd Park) (GR=SN773322?)	SN7530
CARM	SN25.08.	Llanmilo, Pendine	SN2508
CARM	SN573212	Wern Wood, Allt y Gaer, Dryslwyn (ex Dynevor Park SN6122 & Golden Grove, Aberglasney 580216)	SN5721
CARM	SN750413	Neuadd-Fawr, Cilycwm, Llandovery	SN7541
CARM	SN267205	Castell Gorfod, Meidrim	SN2620
CARM	SN76.34.	Ystrad, Llandovery	SN7634
CARM	SN656384	Allt Pen-y-coed/Ynysau, Crugybar (Glan yr Annell)	SN6538
CARM	SN48.21.	Cwm Farm, Nantgaredig (GR uncertain)	SN4821
CARM	SN512425	Gwargraig, Llanybydder	SN5142
CARM	SN322100	Craig Ddu, Laques-fawr, Llansteffan	SN3210
CARM	SN33.14.	Cwm, Llangynog (GR approx)	SN3314
CARM	SN336209	Berthlwyd, Llanllwch (Banc y felin)	SN3320
CARM	SN441117	Gwempa Wood, Pontantwn, near Kidwelly	SN4411
CARM	SN397136	Pentrecwm (Coed Farm, Ferryside)	SN3913
CARM	SN768287	Near Cefn-gwrych, Myddfai, Llandovery	SN7628
CARM	SN562322	Bryn Cothi, Abergorlech, near Glan Rhyd-y-Gwial, Brechfa Forest	SN5632
CARM	SN492012	Coed y Strade, Llanelli (Stradey Castle Woods) (prev at 489014)	SN4901
CARM	SN621124	Tirydail, Ammanford	SN6212
CARM	SN383255	Carmarthen Reservoir, Cwm Tawel, Cynwyl Elfed (Rock & Fountain Inn)	SN3825
CARM	SN588461	Cwm Talfoel, Tanlan, Cwmann, Lampeter (?= 044030)	SN5846
CARM	SN523453	Maes-isaf, Pencarreg, Lampeter	SN5245
CARM	SN383045	Pembrey Forest, Llanelli	SN3804
CARM	SN229245	Cwmfelin Mynach, Llanboidy, Whitland	SN2224
CARM	SN498148	White Hall, Cwmisfael, Porthyrhyd (from 044014?)	SN4914
CARM	SN530317	Lletty'r Deryn, Gwernogle, Brechfa Forest, Llandeilo	SN5331
CARM	SN679258	Crwel, Bethlehem, Llandeilo (= 044035?) (Coed Mawr, Manordeilo)	SN6725
CARM	SN300228	Castell Bron-niwl, Meidrim	SN3022
CARM	SN656384	Allt Pen-y-coed/Ynysau, Crugybar (use 044008)	SN6538
CARM	SN578466	Allt Tanlan, Cwmann, Lampeter (?= 044021)	SN5746
CARM	SN42.06.	Morfa Cydweli (GR uncertain)	SN4206
CARM	SN679429	Trebeddau, Cwrt-y-cadno, Llanwrda	SN6742
CARM	SN464399	Allt Pantyfen, Llanfihangel-ar-arth, Llandyssul (VC46) (= 460403)	SN4639
CARM	SN578078	Ystlys y Coed Uchaf, Pont Abraham, Fforest, Pontardulais	SN5707
CARM	SN675256	Coed Mawr, Maenor Deilo (= 044027?)	SN6725
CARM	SN43.37.	Banc Scythlyn, Pencader	SN4337
CARM	SN651298	Goitre, Taliaris	SN6529
CARM	SN764413	Penfedw Fawr, Cilycwm	SN7641
CARM	SN567017	Morfa Llangennech	SN5601
CARM	SN515135	Gors, Mynydd-cerrig	SN5113
CARM	SN406267	Crychdu, Llanpumsaint (GR wrong?)	SN4026
CARM	SN199289	Aber Elwyn, Glandwr	SN1928
CARM	SN412252	Allt Troed-y-rhiw-Fawr, Cwmdwyfran	SN4125
CARM	SN518309	Felin Marlais, Brechfa	SN5130
CARM	SN455294	Alltyllan, Llanllawddog	SN4529
CARM	SN166237	Fronhaul, Login	SN1623
CARM	SN694293	Allt y Fron, Llangadog	SN6929
CARM	SN757408	Cae'r Beili, Cilycwm (moved from 044038)	SN7540
CARM	SN670263	Glanbrydan, Manordeilo (moved from 044035?)	SN6726
CARM	SN795376	Tan-y-pal, Cynghordy	SN7937
CARM	SN766336	Alltdingat, Llandovery (?= 044007)	SN7633
CARM	SN453213	Allt Bryn-Myrddin, White Mill	SN4521
CARM	SN726311	Cwmcowddu, opposite Llanwrda	SN7231
CARM	SN44.36.	New Inn, Pencader (appeared mid 1990s)	SN4436
CARD	SN508432	Moor Wood, Highmead, Rhuddlan	SN5043
CARM	SN567499	Falcondale, near Lampeter	SN5649
CARM	SN420384	Allt Pen-pistyl, near Talgoed, Llandysul	SN4238

Wrecks, Saturday 1st February 2020

Today I took a short break from the office to patrol the beach with Ranger-Scott, as usual Cefn Sidan was just magical with big skies, a receeding tide and rough sea it was a pleasure to be out, there were a few hardy souls on the beach but with 8 miles of open space we could have been just anywhere.

With the Air Weapons Range closed for the weekend we managed to get to Tywyn Point and a look at perhaps the best known wreck on the beach, the SV PAUL although I doubt many day visitors make it that far!

SV Paul (Wikipedia)

"In 1925 the PAUL crossed the Atlantic from Cadiz to St. John, Newfoundland and loaded 2,000 tons of timber at Halifax for Dublin. On 30 October she ran into severe gales, losing many sails and her anchors; eventually grounding on the Cefn Sidan sands as without any auxiliary motive power she was unable to make an escape. On this occasion she had a crew of twelve, with a cook, the master and a teenage stewardess  Another reference cites her grounding as being on November 5, 1925. 

Several tugs came up from Cardiff and failed in an attempt to refloat her. A salvage company took on 26 local men and salvaged the timber cargo.

Significant quantities of the PAUL's cargo are said to have ended up in the hands of locals. Long prior to the PAUL's loss, locals had become known as the hatchet men; because in local legend they were accused of displaying lights to confuse and then attract shipping onto the sands and looting the stricken vessels and presumably taking no prisoners!!" 

notes adapted from Wikipedia

The Wreck today of The SV Paul, looking towards Llansteffan

Of course the SV PAUL is just one of several wrecks on the "silky ridge"  that is Cefn Sidan

Another documented wreck was "La Jeune Emma" bound from the West Indies to France and blown badly off course in 1828. 13 of the 19 on board drowned, including Adeline Coquelin, the 12-year-old niece of Napoleon Bonaparte's divorced wife Josephine de Beauharnais. Adeline is buried at St. Illtyds Church, Pembrey, the headstone is still readable today.

To find out more about the wrecks on Cefn Sidan there is a useful information board on the approach to the main beach access point, just near the anchors, If you are off to explore for yourself just make sure you check the tide times, I use this useful website myself 

https://tides4fishing.com/uk/wales/burry-port

Keep a look out for details about............

NATURE & CRAFT FAYRE SUN' 14TH JUNE 10am-4pm

And REPEAT, Friday 24th January 2020

The second cohort of learners from a local primary arrived promptly for their Life on the Beach session at Pembrey Country Park.

They were very excited having been spurned on by tales of yesterdays adventures from their school friends.. a hard act to follow then!

After the usual briefing of; don't go in the sea, don't throw sand around, and don't pick up glass or metal, we set off, in colder and gloomy conditions than yesterday

Yesterday we headed West along the beach, today we headed East.

Very similar finds to yesterday with the added bonus of a football sized clump of Common Whelk eggs, all unhatched, a lot more Edible Crab shells, Sea Potato casts and large pieces of Furbelows Seaweed, a really odd looking seaweed so odd in fact I didn't take a photo...

Furbelows Seaweed, copyright Science photo library

The freshly dead and headless body of a Great Northern Diver was an interesting if a little sad find; it did however give an opportunity to discuss anatomy as divers have legs set well back on their bodies, great for swimming next to useless for walking.

Great Northern Diver, note how far back on the body the legs are

The amazing thing about youngsters is their eyesight and ability to discover the smallest of creatures as they did with a crab the carapace was barely 10mm wide, I had to resort to the useful  Field Studies Council Aidgap guide to British Crabs, it appears to be a Long-clawed Porcelain Crab a common enough species but not officially recorded from Cefn Sidan. ( the record needs verification)

Long-clawed Porcelain Crab (needs verification)

The usual Whale art was quite competitive with the year 4 out-performing year 6....

Well done year 4

School visit Life on the Beach, Cefn Sidan Thursday 23rd January

Before Christmas, a local primary school had booked school visits to Pembrey Country Park for today and tomorrow- a beach visit in the middle of January, the prevailing weather I had no idea what the day would bring; well despite being overcast the day was dry, mild and no breeze.

So it was 55 learners, the head of school with teachers and teaching assistants arrived for a morning on the beach.

With a falling tide there was much to explore and it wasn't long before everyone started turning up some great finds, the recent bad weather across the Atlantic was reflected with the wide range of seaweeds including some kelp types which we rarely see on Cefn Sidan.

Good numbers of "mermaids purses" which many of the youngsters knew were Shark and Ray egg cases with Small Spotted Cat Shark, Blond Ray and Nurse-hound in quantity.

Other great finds included the first living Prickly Cockles and Acetone(a marine snail), inside an empty Otter Shell was an Anenome, possibly a Beadlet but it never made it back to the classroom for identification, two different "starfish" one Common the other a Sand Star.

Edible, Shore, Spider and Masked Crab, kept the interest going. A Coconut of unknown origin got a conversation going about tides, and with so much marine litter such as discarded fishing tackle on the beach there was no getting away from the fact that much of the litter could have come from anywhere in the world....

Each beach session ends with some art and no matter how bad my drawing the youngsters manage to create something great, today it was Whales, with two lovely pieces of art created, one to view here.

Tomorrow I get to do it all again, intense and great engagement for me, and enormous fun for the learners and teaching staff.

With another spell of rough weather due early next week get down to the beach and explore for yourselves...

Saturday 4th January 2020

At last a "nice day", cool with light breeze.

A bird count on Cefn Sidan at not the best  state of tide but still decent numbers of waders with the following between C56, the beach entrance at the Country Park, and the AWR tower. 

Knot c1500, Sanderling c1000, Bar Tailed Godwit 2, Scoter c1000 offshore and a Red Throated Diver, (not as I mistakenly posted as a Black Throated Diver on Carmarthenshire Birds)

Red-Throated Diver ©solopursiuts

Sanderling ©
(C Dalton)

I ventured to look for the reported Great Northern Diver(s) off Old Pembrey Harbour but not seen.

The team have spent a few hours over the past few days removing large quantities of plastic which appeared on yesterdays tide from Cefn Sidan, and it was nice to see families doing their bit today picking up some of the smaller pieces of plastic, THANKS

In the park itself the best to report was a pair of Gadwall on the main pond, although the feeding station had a good range of woodland species in attendance.

A search for flowering plants only revealed, Daisy, Dandelion, Gorse and Hazel, I was expecting more and had I ventured onto the dunes I may have found a few more, I'll have to look next week.

Any followers who carry out either the BTO Breeding Birds or Heronies Surveys, or would like one of the unallocated squares please get in touch via the comments box.

The year is not out yet, Saturday 21st December 2019

The winter equinox will occur at something like 04:19hrs on the morning of Sunday 22nd December, and astronomical winter will begin, ending on 20th March 2020; now that's the way I remember winter being none of this winter starting on 1st December, which is just to make the statistics work!

Maybe now that winter is "official" we will get some winter weather.....

The wintering flocks have arrived in force with well over 3000 Knot on the beach and at the least the same figure of Golden Plover high over Kidwelly Marsh, four Bar-tailed Godwits were in amongst the Knot flock, there were good numbers of Sanderling and Oystercatcher with very good numbers of Common Scoter flying East offshore

Knot (photo Colin Dalton)

Sanderling (photo Colin Dalton)

I had hoped for some raptors on the beach or even some nice passerines, in fact both were absent. Also absent today were the "white buckets" that have been washing up along the coast as a result of being lost from a vessel lost during a recent storm.

The feeding station set up in the park has become quite a draw for the birds, mostly Great and Blue Tits but also two male Blackcaps who are keen on the fat balls.

Blackcap male

More and more Blackcaps are wintering in the UK especially along the southern coasts, I found another just near the park entrance a few days ago; if you are lucky enough to see a Blackcap or Chiffchaff during the winter don't forget to report on your local bird sightings.

With our Christmas events running to a natural closure the next big event will be the annual WALRUS DIP at Pembrey Country Park & Beach on Boxing day morning arrive for 10:45 latest.

2019, round up

Its been a while!

With 19 day still to run of 2019 I hope its not too early to post a round up of how the year has been for me.

There have been personal highlights, a few wildlife highlights as well as the humdrum that is daily life.

The death this week of the larger than life Dr David Bellamy has made me reflect on where my passion for the natural world started to blossom into life. I remember many of his TV shows and perhaps more importantly his passion for botany. I also remember the ITV? children's programme "Magpie" from the 70's which spurned me on to join the Young Ornithologists Club, even forming a local group based at the Afan Argoed Country Park, I was only 15 at the time.

There is no doubt that the influence of both my parents and their love of the countryside played in big part in my learning, I remember my bedroom decorated not with "pop star" posters but with collages of leaves and twigs from the local forest, things in jars, and dissecting Sprats bought from Maesteg Market. a great hands on childhood.

Well back to this year, much has been covered in the few blogs I have posted, but holidays to the Canary islands and Madeira have added nicely to the list of birds and marine creatures, the real gems were Houbara Bustards and Cream Coloured Coursers on Lanzarote; Bulwers Petrel off Madeira with Humpback Whales pick out a few of the best

Having enjoyed early semi-retirement for a few years I have been rewarded with a job that I absolutely love with the passion of an 18 year old, unfortunately my 58 year old body takes a differing view to my desire to get up and go!

Coordinator for volunteers and education, WOW what an opportunity to make the job my own, working with a great team to encourage volunteering across the Country Parks we manage and facilitating elements of the Welsh Schools Curriculum has brought me into contact with some wonderful people.

By the end of the year we will be just shy of 2000 volunteer hours since I took up my post in June, there has been a lot of litter picking but also plant surveys, path maintenance, hide painting, bird box making, sand moving, (always popular when you are a stones throw from the beach!) Christmas crafting and of course decorating "Sion Corn's" cabin.

I found myself a wonderful tutor for my Welsh Lessons- Stuart, I will learn one day!

There have been some odd visitors to the office.....

And lots of fun...... mostly at my expense

NADOLIG LLAWEN