Mink sighted, or was it?

 Bore da Pawb

Rwy'n ceisio ysgrifennu rhywfaint o'r blog yn Gymraeg, y rhai ohonoch sy'n gallu darllen Cymraeg, cysylltwch â mi a dywedwch wrthyf pa mor bell i ffwrdd yw fy 

I am attempting to write some of the blog in Welsh, those of you who can read Welsh please get in touch and tell me how far off my translation is.

Rydym wedi derbyn adroddiad o Minc Americanaidd ym Mharc Gwledig Pen-bre, nid y cofnod y byddwn i wedi'i ddymuno, mae'n haeddu ymchwiliad pellach.

We have received a report of an American Mink at Pembrey Country Park, not the record I would have wanted, it does warrant further investigation.

Lets see how the Welsh translation has worked, before I do more!

There have also been, confirmed, reports in the last month of a Polecat, we know we have a healthy population of pure Polecats in the park and on the Pembrey Burrows LNR - did you know their eyes shine blue in torchlight!

Whilst on the subject of the Mustelid family it will soon be time for the annual decimation of the Common Toad population by Otters, how any toads survive at all amazes me when you see the carnage caused by the otters which we have filmed munching away on this amphibian - well that's nature. look out for the front half of the toads, the Otters don't eat the front end where the toxic substances are stored in glands behind the head, Polecats will bite in to the skulls, one way of determining who the murderer is!

Barn Owl !

Bore da pawb,

 A week of head work and meetings, which always hurt, but I have managed to get out and about, Monday was brilliant working alongside the conservation volunteers, there's no denying they certainly graft.

Litter remains an on going issue with a small cohort of volunteers beavering away at the eastern end of Pembrey Burrows - a huge thank you - luckily the sand gods were with me and I managed to drive almost to "the Nose" and collect the bags not something that is possible very often.

Friday was a nice day to check on contractors at the Morfa Berwig LNR, and after cleaning a most bizarre array of litter, (I won't go into the details in case I have any sensitive followers) I met up with Agnieszka and Jim from Wild-Horizons to consider a Willow Tit Survey at Morfa Berwig LNR, the habitat is perfect for them, and already having ringed an individual a few years ago we know they are about.. I'll let you know what happens.

Wild Horizons

Whilst showing the people around I came across a Barn Owl pellet on the top of a fence post, I am delighted to have found this, evidence that Barn Owls are around, worryingly though the fence post and the field I presume they would be hunting are adjacent to the A484. Something to keep an eye on.

Do you know how to tell the difference between ♂ and ♀ Barn Owls? you do need decent lighting conditions but the ♀ has a darker back than the ♂ and if you see them, the ♀ sometimes has spots on the chest but as I said you need good light to be certain.

Exciting plans 2025

 Croeso pawb,

I mentioned that I had some exciting plans for 2025, as ever funding will always be the major influencer, but I have to be confident that funding will be available, after all Wales is in a Nature and Climate emergency and we can't fight it without support.

Bat survey report

A fundamental part of managing any site for conservation is knowing what is there, during 2024 ecologists carried out a total of eight ecological surveys across five of our sites, looking at flora,  invertebrates, birds, dormice, and bats. So 2024 became the year we knew a lot more about biodiversity in Carmarthenshire than we have for a long time. Coupled with this our volunteers continued their usual surveys of butterflies, bees and reptiles all adding to the knowledge base.

One area we know little about, or rather I know little about, is Ffynnon Helyg, just what is this body of water, local experts tell me its a brackish lagoon a rare habitat in Wales , well there's only one way to find out; a survey of the aquatic and marginal environment should give me an answer, consultants will be commissioned to carry out the necessary surveys during spring and summer 2025 so watch this space !

Sand Martin nesting box

 I am hopeful that we will also be able to   mitigate for the loss of Sand Martin nesting   sites on the ash cliffs, due to erosion, at Burry  Port East beach; by providing artificial   nesting sites. I have my fingers crossed that   funds will come through... but where to put   them? any ideas welcome

I've got a few more projects "on the shelf" lets see if the funds appear!

 

Winter visitors

 Blwyddyn Newydd Dda, pawb.

I hope you have had  an enjoyable and restful Christmas and New Year.

Just a short blog this week to highlight some of the best sightings of the year so far, just two days!

A properly crisp winters day was a good excuse to get out and do some survey work, a few highlights.

Hen Harrier ♂ (library free to use image)

The clear winner in any highlight competition will be the stunning adult male Hen Harrier that graced the Pembrey Saltmarsh.

Closely followed by a real surprise in the form of a  Water Pipit.

Water Pipit, (BTO)

A single Marsh Harrier, four Jack Snipe, 26 Snipe, and at least 50 Skylarks added to the species list.

Anyone visiting Pembrey country Park should slow down as they approach the entry barriers as most of the day a mixed flock of, Chaffinches, Siskin and Goldfinch feeds on the crushed tree seeds 

Looking forward into 2025, I'm hopeful of a few exciting projects taking place, however as always it will be down to the availability of funds, more details as ideas unfold.

Connecting the Carmarthenshire Coast

 Croeso pawb,

An early and brief post this week, before the Christmas break, we'll see how that goes!

Bumblebee Conservation Trust are leading on a Welsh Government funded project called connecting the Carmarthenshire Coast, I've covered it in previous Blogs.

This past week has seen real boots on the ground at the "Morolwg Mounds", near the Morolwg lake, (just a quick tangent to say the lakes in the Millennium Coast Park will be getting new signs with their names on!)

The turf has been stripped from two south facing and one north facing slopes with one slope having been tiered to hold back the "boss slag" discussed in a previous post.

One of the slopes has already been planted with a range of appropriate natives, once I have the final list I will post in a blog, I know its hard to see the plants but they are there.

All that remains for me to write is 

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd dda

Red Warning - Storm Darragh

 Hi Pawb

Just a quick update this week

And what a week, whilst all our sites are open to the public there are some route closures, as you would expect.

We lost some really impressive Sitka Spruce at Llyn Llech Owain Country Park which is sad to see, but does demonstrate how shallow rooted they are. At Ynysdawela thankfully there was only minor damage with no significant tress being lost.

Nature will heal itself in time.

Better news, an ecological consultancy was engaged to conduct a survey of the bat population at Ynysdawela nature reserve during the summer and autumn of this year.

Nine species of bats were recorded using acoustic sensors deployed for set amounts of time across the reserve.

Unsurprisingly the most frequently recorded bats were Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, with Noctule and Brown Long-eared making appearances.

Most surprisingly were single records of Nathusius Pipistrelle, Greater Horseshoe, Leislers, Serotine and an unidentified Myotis species; these species were thought to have been commuting through the reserve, nonetheless great records.

Find out more here, Leisler's bat - UK Bats - Bat Conservation Trust

Winter projects 2024

 Croeso pawb,

Well today is the first day of metrological winter, so timely to mention, briefly, a couple of exciting projects which will be under way shortly.

Bumblebee Conservation Trust are leading on the Connecting the Carmarthenshire Coast project which will see three areas of poor quality amenity grassland transformed into rich native flower pollinator areas.

The innovative approach revolves around to methods, one using stone and sand mixed to create a nutrient poor bed into which a range of locally sourced native coastal flowers will be planted or seeded. The second involves recycling waste products from the steel making industry to create a, more or less, inert planting medium which will deliver two main benefits, firstly becoming an effective Carbon store, and secondly bringing a splash of coastal colour to an otherwise bland area of species poor grassland.

Another larger scale project will look at using the same steel industry waste product to create around 800sqm of new habitat to improve Carbon capture as well as, again, bringing native wildflowers into an area species poor grassland.

As these projects develop I'll provide more details.

It is likely that I will not be posting the blog weekly during the next few months but do keep checking by opening up the link you use to find the blog.