Real signs of Spring Thursday 7th March 2019

A walk along the "flower trail" at Pembrey Country Park, was accompanied by the sounds of many birds singing, a sure sign that the year has turned; with Blackbird, Robin, Great and Blue Tits, Dunnock Song and Mistle Thrush all belting out their songs.

There were only a couple of flowering plants out but these were true harbingers of spring, Primrose and Lesser Celandine, another name for Lesser Celandine is Pilewort, as it was used as a cure for piles!, 

Primrose

Lesser Celandine

Non-flowering plants included two species of fern, Harts-tongue and Polypody, both of these have had their uses in times past with Harts-tongue being used to treat "...ailments of the liver and spleen..." while Polypody was used to treat constipation and intestinal worms!

Harts-tongue

Polypody

I don't recommend that anyone tries any of these remedies!

Some of the trees coming into flower now include the Willows, and Blackthorn, with the Hazel which has been in flower for weeks is now coming into leaf.

Willow

Blackthorn

Hazel

WeBS count Sunday 24th February 2019

A monthly count of the birds using the internationally important Cefn Sidan beach has been carried out through the winter months for decades.
As I have mentioned before the beach with its mix of sand and mud is ideal for wading birds and holds high numbers of Sanderling and Oystercatcher.

In perfect spring like conditions with a light SE breeze the following were counted:

Oystercatcher 2965, Sanderling 1093, Knot 2000+, Curlew 116, Dunlin 32, Ringed Plover 12, Cormorant 10, Shelduck 30, Common Gull 388, Herring Gull 195, Great Black-backed Gull 18.

Oystercatchers in the background and some of the 2000+ Knot in the foreground

The sea state was rough, (with nothing to report off shore) as it has been all week coupled with very high tidess there has been a significant amount of erosion from Old Pembrey Harbour to Tywyn Point

Winters end? Tuesday 19th February 2019

Apparently we will see "spring like" temperatures by the end of this week, with mild conditions forecast to last to the end of the month, which is of course also the end of meteorological winter. I wonder if winter is really done yet?

A wander around Pembrey Country Park found a few wildflowers in bloom including Greater Periwinkle, near the beach entrance, Daisy and Dandelion.

Greater Periwinkle

Daisy

One of the less obvious flowers at this time of year is the female flower of the Hazel, we are all familiar with the "lambs tails" catkins which are the male flowers full of pollen which is wind dispersed and needs to land on the minute female flowers.

Hazel catkins, male flowers

Hazel - female flower

On the bird front the lake was quite busy with 10 Greylag, 14 Mallard, and a few Moorhen; whilst the feeders had a good variety with Great and Blue Tit, Long tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Jay, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Woodpigeon all taking advantage of the free food.

I'm still waiting to see my first Bumblebee or butterfly, but the moth traps will be going out later this week, Ill let you know what if anything gets caught.

As you follow the trails around the park look out for information signs relating to various topics such as soil, fungi, bark, and wet woodlands, there's also a QR code which takes you to a website with more information (you'll need a phone signal and a QR scanner app).

Early Spring or....False hope Wednesday 13th February 2019

Before a health & safety training course, I fitted in a walk through the Pembrey Country Park to check on the bird feeders down at the main pond. The walk was pleasant enough and it seems that the birds are getting in the mood, with a chorus of song from the surrounding undergrowth and tree tops.

There were Blackbirds, Robins and a Song Thrush calling and singing, Great tits were investigating a few of the nesting boxes, the Mallard on the pond were mating.

Listen here to a few of the bird songs you can hear in the Country Park

https://www.british-birdsongs.uk/european-robin/

https://www.british-birdsongs.uk/common-blackbird/
https://www.british-birdsongs.uk/song-thrush/

With winter not yet done are they getting ahead of themselves? probably not, as there are a few species already thinking about nesting, the local Ravens and Tawny Owls to name just two.

A Red Admiral butterfly was reported yesterday, most likely one out of hibernation. The forecasted  mild spell will see a few species of insects on the wing so look out for bumblebees, Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies; don't forget to let us know at the visitor centre if you see anything interesting.

Brimstone

The feeders are quite quiet but are a good place to see Grey Squirrels up close as they decimate the Sunflower heart feeder.....!

It will all grow back-but nicer, Sunday 3rd February 2019

Brrrr, a few cold days with a real feel of winter, the wildlife seems to have gone to ground in the forest, still not an excuse to stop you getting out to follow one of the three marked trails through Pembrey Country Park.

Today I followed the Woodland (green) trail, at 3km long and on level ground it takes you through some nice areas of the forest in the park. A map and notes on all three trails can be found on the Country Park website

http://www.pembreycountrypark.wales/  or by following this link.

http://www.pembreycountrypark.wales/things-to-do/trails/

The numbers on selected marker posts refer to notes in the printable leaflets.

As you walk the route you will see that the rangers have been carrying out some overdue conservation work by opening up the rides and clearing swathes of Bramble from the edges of the paths and along the banks.

It may look a bit brutal at the moment, however in a few weeks the results of the work will be visible. With more daylight reaching the ground, less competition from the Bramble and a much more open feel, wild flowers and invertebrates will be taking advantage of the much improved conditions.

Several south facing areas have been cleared, again opening up the ground for a wide range of butterflies. With no species of Deer seemingly in the forest, the coppicing of a small coupe of Hazel will soon show regrowth again providing open ground for wild flowers and invertebrates.

Birds of prey such as Buzzard and Sparrowhawk are taking advantage of the open rides for hunting.
Please take the opportunity to follow this series of short trails and don't forget to let us know what you see.

The bird feeder saga, Tuesday 29th January 2019

I returned from a week in the sun in high spirits, well as high as my spirits get!, to find that all of the bird feeders at the winter feeding site in the country park had been ……. STOLEN!, No other word for it well there were but I can't put them in the blog.

I mentioned it on my FB page and had a lot of supportive voices and a kind gesture of some replacements, THANK YOU.

The park raised the issue on our social media feed and as expected there were many disgruntled voices offering vocal support, much appreciated, I'm not sure what drives some people, surely they were taken by people who where going to use them?

I continued to feed the birds but just by putting the food on the ground.

A few days ago I was in the office when a visitor came in carrying a large box, I was astounded to see a selection of almost new feeders as a donation; he had seen the message on our social media and brought them in. THANK YOU.

I am not putting them back where they were for fear of having them stolen again, so now there are two in front of bird hide (No2) at the lake on the edge of the park.

Checking them today a few tits and Chaffinches have found them also four Mallard were feeding on the spilt seed. This new location will allow more people to view the birds and still allow some ringing to be carried out.

Lets hope these stay there....

Gran Canaria- a roundup Tuesday 22nd January 2019

It was a big shock to the system getting off the plane at Bristol Airport, where we were reassuringly informed the temperature was 5'c, a stark contrast to the temperature when we left Gran Canaria where it was around 23'c. The rain as we crossed the Severn Bridge only reinforced the knowledge we were home.

As this was a last minute winter break I didn't make any special effort to seek out the local wildlife, but managed to see a new bird species as well as get a close encounter with some Risso's Dolphins and two Green Turtles.

The Canary Islands Chiffchaff is longer billed and has a short primary projection therefore a more rounded wing which works for this species as it is sedentary.

Risso's Dolphins are just one of 29 species of cetaceans recorded in the waters off Gran Canaria, they are a calm species none of the acrobatics that you expect from some species of dolphin, the scars and scratches are caused by the dolphin feeding amongst rocks as this is primarily a squid eater. We found two pods of 3 and 5? respectively the large group had a well grown calf in tow.

The Green Turtles made the three hour boat trip worth it for me despite brief views they were good enough to identify positively, there is a concerted effort to try and make some of the old nesting beaches good enough to encourage the turtles to nest on the island. (photo via library)