Paul's Blog - All comments and views are my own,

I just had to sit and write something, its been wet and windy for a few days now so getting out has been pretty pointless. I have managed to create some ringing rides at Pembrey LNR, with little effort, another three to do when it stops raining, at least with it being windy its allowed me to work out the most sheltered sites. The cattle are on site now so I have lost the ponds until the spring, but with the amount of water being held on the marsh there are quite a few pools appearing. Well back to watching the rain......

This morning was a lot breezier than the forecast suggested, but since the car was packed and I was awake I set off to Pembrey Burrows & Saltings LNR. My first encounter was with a HARE which is the first I've seen in my visits, based on its size it looked like a few months old. My aim was to sample my third "subsite" on the reserve, having seen crests and tits in the area on Sunday. It proved to be a good move as on "round 3", of the morning a FIRECREST was in the most sheltered net. Always a great find but one which I felt was sure to be around it just has so many Goldcrests on site in the Gorse and Buckthorn. The biometrics for this individual are as follows: Sex        ♂ Wing     52mm Weight  5.3g Age       BTO code 3 a first year FIRECREST This was the highlight of a very quiet morning, sightings included C1000 STARLINGS and two LITTLE EGRET

A mild start to November with clear skies a little mist over the marsh and birds singing and butterflies flying, what is going on... A perfect morning and despite a late start ( not on site until 8am) I came across a flock of well over 1000 Starlings preening and bathing along the track to the hut, luckily? I didn't have a net set there!! The tides are lower now as the moon wanes but there were still a few waders on the marsh, with REDSHANK and a small flock of OYSTERCATCHERS in flying into the creeks. A STONECHAT and small groups of Tits flew off towards Burry Port. When the Starlings got agitated I could see the female/juvenile MERLIN in the flock but with no success it flew towards the beach a few seconds later a cloud of over 1000 KNOT took to the air coincidence?? I doubt it. SKYLARKS seemed to be on the move this morning but hard to be certain that they weren't just local birds moving off to feed. A COMMA butterfly showed well, as did a singin

One of the last good tides of the cycle saw me at Pembrey Burrows and Saltings just after first light this morning, after a wet night it was dry and breezy. The tide had flooded the saltmarsh and was still pushing in to the edge of the dune grassland. The light was not good for photographs but it looked pretty impressive. Birds present were: Barn Owl, Wigeon 6, Shelduck 2, Shovelor 1, Teal c70, Mallard c50, Redshank 9, Snipe 29, Curlew 26, MERLIN ♀ , Water Rail 2. Skylarks were overhead I cannot decide if they were all resident birds or there was a bit of movement. Redwings passing over and in the Buckthorn along with a few Goldcrests and Robins, as I've mentioned before Robins are present in good numbers.

Today looks like being the best day of the week for ringing so I took myself off to Pembrey Burrows LNR and was on site for 05:15hrs, it was magical as I had forgotten that it was a high tide and a big one at 9.2m I set three nets, but was disappointed to see them blowing in the stronger than expected wind, luckily it calmed down. The first net round was exciting as what I thought was an empty net in fact had a JACK SNIPE a first for the site. I was joined by Veronica who is one of the stalwart band of volunteers on the Millennium Coastal Park. The ringing was pretty slow with 19 birds processed, just 17 new but great quality. Jack Snipe (1), Redwing (5), Reed Bunting (3) Meadow Pipit (3), Goldcrest (1+1 retrap) Wren  (1 retrap) Chaffinch (2) Dunnock (2) Jack Snipe Saltmarsh just after high tide Meadow Pipit

A Blustery morning, with the breeze too strong for ringing, so I decided to have anogther look around the site at Pembrey Burrows LNR. Thanks to directions from one of the locals I found pond number 2, and managed to flush a lone Snipe from the margins of the pond. The primary role of the ponds are to provide water for the herd of cattle which graze the dunes as part of their on going management although currently they are absent. There are still a few flowers on show including Yarrow. On the bird front Raven (2) and Mistle Thrush (3) were the best on offer, although there has been a noticeable increase in Robins on site. Pond 2 Yarrow, still in flower on the dunes, this one is pink not white which is more usual

Today is a relaxing day after a few busy ringing days, it amazes me whenever I go out and find another great wildlife site. Today we went to "Swiss Valley " reservoir, (yep that's what the area is called), unusually for most reservoirs I have experienced apart from the outer dam wall all the internal shore walls are covered with vegetation, albeit mowed to an inch.  There wasn't masses of wildlife but Great Crested Grebes 5 inc 1 juv, Cormorant, Heron, Mallard on the water; with Grey Wagtail, Coal Tit, and Goldcrest in the overflow runoff and surrounding woods. the babbling brook Field Maple Swiss Valley reservoir After a great pot of tea at a nearby garden centre it was back to Sandy Water Park for a stroll around the lake, my first for several weeks, it was high tide so quite a few gulls loafing on the grassland including two Mediterranean gulls, Common Gulls and Black -headed Gulls. There were 15 tufted Duck and only 39 Mute Swan.