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.

Now Spring is here, Wednesday 10th April 2019

Pembrey Burrows Local Nature Reserve is one of the best places to see Green-Winged Orchids, I was out and about this morning and they are starting to appear in drifts across the grazing fields; for me they are a real sign that Spring has arrived. It will be a week or so before they are at thier best so don't rush to see them yet, if you want directions to the showiest areas then contact me.

Monday 9th April 2019

Another pleasant morning, and the last of the winter bird food distributed, there were plenty of birds in full song this morning with the usual Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens and Dunnock blasting out, this morning they were joined by the Blackcap, a summer visitor to the Country Park, and a real songster.

The large pond in the SW corner of the park provided a few highlights this morning with a displaying pair of Shelduck, vocal Greylag Geese and squabbling Greater-spotted Woodpeckers.

In the pond itself it was great to see a swarm of Toad tadpoles hugging the shore, to be honest after the massacre of adults by the Otter a few weeks ago I didn't expect to see any toadpoles....

A couple of new flowers included a small clump of cowslips and a few early Dog Violets

Spring is no fool 1st April 2019

With the weather taking a step back (3rd April), it was good, on Monday, to see a range of flowers blooming or just thinking about it, including the first Green-winged Orchid just breaking bud.

The early birds were busy and I saw my first Song Thrush and Blackbird carrying food, its amazing to see the birds scurrying over the ground stopping and listening before diving into the earth and pulling out a worm or grub.

Chiffchaffs are singing everywhere in the Pembrey Country Park and there were several along the track to the information hide on the reserve.

A pair of Gadwall were on one of the grazing field ponds for the second spring in a row, they probably won't attempt to breed ae there is little cover to hide a nest.

An Orange Tip was the first butterfly I have seen for a few weeks after that brief February warm spell.

There are still birds coming to the feeders, mainly Great and Blue Tits, but not enough to explain how they are emptying so fast, so I put the trail camera out over the weekend.....

Bird ringing, Pembrey Country Park Monday 18th March 2019

At last a chance to go ringing when the weather is right.

I have not had the right opportunity to run a ringing session since early January, the feeders being stolen didn't help, however today the elements and free time fell in place and I manged to set a net at the new feeding site. It wasn't particularly busy but seven species was good.

Two male Great-Spotted Woodpeckers were too busy chasing each other to notice the net and went in together along with a Song Thrush, other birds were Robin, Dunnock, Chaffinch as well as Blue and Great Tits.

The Woodpeckers were and adult male and an immature male, subtle differences in the moult of the wings led me to that conclusion, and of course they were males as they had red napes which the females don't have.

Red nape = male

The Dunnocks and Robins showed signs of being in breeding condition with enlarged cloacal protuberances (the man bits). One of the Great Tits had quite distressed plumage and looked to be carrying a burden of feather lice.

Notice the primary coverts are very faded, in fact this is lice damage

An unexpected spell of light rain ended a short but useful session.

The local Wildlife Watch Litter Pickers has a session on the beach this morning so I went along to help, most of the litter had been covered over by sand so there was little to pick, however I did find a well preserved Greater Pipefish.

You just never know what you will find!

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