Pesky invaders - 2nd September 2024

 Croeso pawb - welcome

One of the very well established "invaders" or invasive species is the Eastern Grey Squirrel from North America, another Victorian mistake, when in 1876 they were released into Henbury park in Cheshire. There is no clear consensus why they were introduced, maybe just to add a touch of exotic to Henbury Park?

Grey Squirrels are ubiquitous across the UK, and are accused of many environmental crimes including out-competing our native Red Squirrel and spreading the killer Squirrel pox.

My concerns lie with their habitat of stripping bark from deciduous trees especially the young of the year, usually before there are other foods such as acorns or hazel nuts about.

Where they strip one side of a branch is bad enough  but at least the vascular system of  the tree can still keep working, however stripping both sides or "ring barking a limb or sometimes the whole trunk is a death sentence.

This year at our Ynysdawela reserve young Oaks have come under attack as well as the Norway Maple at the reserve hub, so annoying to consider the eventual outcome for the Norway Maple as well as the Oaks.

There is research into a contraceptive for the pesky critters which is under going trials

UKSA-APHA_grey_squirrel_fertility_control_research_update_2023.06.pdf (britishredsquirrel.org)

Whilst the Grey is very much part of the landscape, until natural predation through predators such as the Pine Marten and Goshawk is at an equilibrium, they will continue to have an impact on our natural environment.

Migration in full Swing 24th August 2024

 Prynhawn da Pawb - good afternoon.

I have missed a lot of field work this year, bizarrely I have less time to be out and about now that its my job; than I had when I was a volunteer which now seems like years ago.

This morning I managed to catch the 8.5m tide at Old Pembrey Harbour, in quite nice conditions the heavy rain passing over Gower, did you know its wrong to call it "The" Gower.

A good number of birds species were present with, the usual Oystercatchers, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, a few Turnstones, Black-headed, Herring and Greater Black -backed Gull, Sandwich and Common Terns. it was nice that a couple of local birders were able to show some non-birders the range of birds on show and explain about the transient nature of the tern species.

The birds became quite restless and after a few minutes they all took flight, looking up the reason was very apparent an Osprey was circling overhead, what a sight.

The tides are dropping now but it will still be worth calling down to this easy vantage point to see what's hanging around.

Last week I led a beach safari at Pendine beach, at first looks it was pretty poor, but the 37 people that turned up! soon started to find the common stuff. As the session was winding down one of the youngsters said "what's this?" well that turned into a new species for me, she had found an empty Tusk Shell, Antalis vulgaris. 

Wikipedia says....

Antalis vulgaris, commonly known as the common tusk shell, is a species of scaphopods mainly encountered on sandy bottoms from 5 to 1000 meters depth

Antalis vulgaris is a small mollusc of 3 to 6 cm length with a characteristic elephant tusk shape. Its shell is opaque white and displays closely spaced longitudinal striations on the posterior portion. The anterior aperture (thinnest end) is circular and is occluded by a septum with a central pipe bearing a circular orifice.

That's all folks.

Ffynnon Helyg near Pwll

 Bore da pawb,

I thought I would provide a focus on one of our sites, well a site within a site, Ffynnon Helyg, also known as Pwll fishing lake; following a failed attempt at creating a coarse fishery many years ago.

The site, a lake surrounded by Phragmite reedbed, some fen and wet woodland, lies within the Millennium Coast Park just east of the Pwll Pavillion cafe.

The lake is subject to large fluctuations in depth following heavy rain and high tides, when the raft was put in, see later, the 5m long anchor ropes were not long enough due not only to the depth of the water but also the softness of the lake bottom we added another 5m of rope to each anchor point which did the trick, it does mean though that the raft wanders around a bit!

The 9.2ha site shaded pink

Until recently the only work carried out here has been the occasional cutting back of the footpath edges.

Following funding from Welsh Governments Local places for Nature scheme we have been able to invest in improving the habitats and provide some interpretation and  opportunities to view the lake.

In late winter of 23/24 a floating tern raft was installed and a small gravel island created at the end of the peninsula of land jutting out into the mid point of the lake.

Both the raft and island immediately attracted the attention of the local bird life, and although the raft wasn't used this year for nesting the gravel island  as previously mentioned had pairs of Lesser Black backed Gull and Black Headed Gull both raising young.

As reported recently, casual observations by one of the team have discovered some nice quality plants, including Strawberry Clover, Parsley Water Dropwort, not Tubular as first thought and Marsh Mallow.

A search for Water Voles drew a blank for now we'll try again next year,  signs of Otters were found in the usual places.

The brackish nature of the lake, a result of tidal incursions under the railway line means that the aquatic life is varied and includes juvenile Sea Bass, Dicentrarchus labrax,  I'm sure a decent time pond dipping here will reveal a wide range of  species.

A selection of the summer bird species alone makes this a site to visit, Cetti's,* Reed* and  Sedge* Warblers, Stonechat*, Whitethroat* Lesser Whitethroat, Sand Martin, Swallow, Mute Swan*, Tufted Duck*, Gadwall*, Mallard*, Little Grebe* to name a few

* - denotes breeding in 2024.

Parking at the Pwll Pavillion Cafe, and a chance for great refreshments is convenient or walk from either Sandy Water Park or Burry Port Woodlands car parks.

Tigers and more

 Croeso Pawb,

Another week has flown by, at least the weather has been more summer like, even a noticeable increase in the number of insects to be seen 

I've had a few days out and about doing  site visits with Buglife and looking at a potential project with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Moss Carder

On Tuesday a few of the team met up with Liam Olds from Buglife to search for the Dune Tiger Beetle, Cicindella maritima at Pembrey Burrows.

Square Jawed Sharp Tailed Bee

Despite perfect habitat and weather, we didn't find any tigers but we did find, Moss Carder and Brown Banded Carder bees, as well as, the roll off the tongue, the Squared Jawed Sharp-tailed  bee and a Lesser Stag Beetle.

Second generation Small Blue butterflies were on the wing as well as a good number of Graylings

Wednesday I spent in the company of Bumblebee Conservation and Barry Stewart looking at opportunities to improve or create habitats within the Millennium Coast Park. Lots of ideas to be explored further, as plans progress I'll update the blog.

Lliedi Pollinator project

Where are the insects!

 Bore da pawb,

It seems shockingly obvious to me that there is a lack of insects this summer, I have seen very few bumblebees and butterflies especially.

Llyn Llech Owain weather station

Was it the prolonged wet winter? which seems to have have started in August 23 and is only just ending. Since 1st January 24 our weather stations at Pembrey and Llyn Llech Owain country parks have, respectively, recorded 463.2mm and 1198.4mm of rain so far; that's a lot of rain...

My own theory is that with the ground saturated for so long and over wintering adult or larval invertebrates succumbed, the recent sunny days have seen an increase in butterfly numbers and species but I think we will need a couple of decent winters and springs to get numbers back on track

Continuing the theme of disappointment, the image here shows the pile of dog poo, I stopped counting at 75 bags, and beer bottles that I removed from one of our Local nature Reserves, all piled up waiting for the litter fairies to collect, I'll  not say anymore...

Sea Lavender

In other news, our salt marshes are looking stunning with the annual show of Sea and Rock Sea Lavender, no need to wander onto the heart of the marsh just follow the main path passed the bird hide and you will soon see what I mean

Conservation grazing

 Pawb, hello.

The use of livestock, particularly native livestock, is recognised as probably one of the best methods to manage a wide range of habitats not only in the UK but across the world.

As we longer have any "mega-fauna" species in the UK, the use of domesticated livestock has grown in popularity to manage land. At Llyn Llech Owain we have, over the years used Exmoor Ponies, Welsh Mountain Ponies, and Dexter cattle to graze the section of the park which is part of the Cernydd Carmel Special Area of Conservation.

 This past week the summer cohort of Welsh Mountain Ponies has arrived, later than planned but finding reliable graziers is a bit of a challenge such is the demand for conservation grazing livestock. There is certainly plenty of forage for them to eat, bracken to trample and young saplings to browse. They will stay on the site for a few months before being taken off and resting the site before perhaps bringing in some Dexter cattle for late Autumn grazing- all weather dependent.

This past week also saw the announcement of the Green Flag awards, in recognition of green spaces which are audited by an independent panel and judged on the quality and purpose of the management of the competing green spaces.

Three of our Country Parks have been awarded Green Flags again this year, Pembrey Country Park, Llyn Llech Owain Country Park and Mynydd Mawr Woodland Park, a deserved well done to the teams and volunteers who have helped win this international mark of quality.

It's the truth M'lord!

 Croeso pawb,

I hope everyone has had a good week, summer seems to be avoiding us at the moment, can it only get better?

People I bump into when out and about often say things like, "oh I'd love to do your job", or   "you're so lucky" well yes I am; we have some wonderful countryside sites across Carmarthenshire as well as a stunning coastline, however it doesn't take care of itself. Sometimes its appropriate to leave "nature do its thing" but so much of our countryside is influenced by the activities of humans over centuries, as a result we need to intervene to maintain the status quo or, restore habitats back to functioning ecosystems.

These interventions may be as simple as changing the mowing regime of meadows, clearing scrub, dredging a pond or canal; they may be more drastic such as clear felling blocks of conifers planted on peatbogs before we knew better!

We are lucky to have legislation passed by the Welsh Government such as the Environment (Wales) 2016 act and The Wellbeing of Future Generation 2015 act, which have an eye to ensuring all public bodies in Wales consider the environment in all of its work, specifically section 6 of the 2016 act states that local Authorities "......must maintain and enhance biodiversity....."

The image shows some of the key legislation I refer to on if not a daily basis then certainly several times a week; the need and desire to ensure we do our best does mean referring to these and a raft of other legislation as a guiding principle.

Whilst we are thinking its summer, in the natural world we are getting into autumn with many species of birds thinking of migrating, high tide at Old Pembrey Harbour is a good place to see a few species with Mediterranean Gulls now gathering in flocks of 100+  Sandwich and Common Tern and Whimbrel