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

By its very nature the coastline of the UK is in a constant state of change, no more so on the Welsh coast here at Pembrey Burrows. Dune systems play a number of important roles in the protection of the hinterland, and therefore are at their best when allowed to be dynamic in nature, with the Burry Inlet facing the full force of most Atlantic weather systems it doesn't take much to impact the resilience of the dune system. The fore-dunes at the eastern end of the reserve, with an eroded face with displaced Sea Buckthorn on the beach It can be quite awe inspiring to see the erosive effects on the  seaward face of the dunes with many metres being lost during a single storm. Of course all this sand has to go somewhere and currently accretion is taking place in two main areas, one being "the Nose" on the eastern boundary of the reserve, the other is at one main point half way down the beach on the reserve's southern boundary. All of this is perfe

There are several Local Nature Reserves in the county, although my effort is mainly at Pembrey Burrrows. The newest designation, as I've mentioned before is at Morfa Berwig, an interesting reclaimed industrial/brownfield site to the east of Llanelli, and near the WWT centre. The entrance sign waiting for a coat of Linseed oil I spent this morning there, and saw only one other person, it was overcast and quite cool with a steady breeze, there wasn't much to see but a handful of Teal, a Buzzard, Grey Heron, Little Egret and one Common Snipe. Pond a year old, already well used I hadn't bothered with wellies so didn't venture into the fields where I'm certain there would have been more Snipe, in hindsight it may have been interesting to see what sort of numbers there were. Afon Goch, with great Cetti's Warbler habitat on the far bank There are a mixture of habitats on the reserve, with dry/damp Gorse scrub, wet rushy meadows, reed beds,

There is currently tree thinning taking place in Pembrey Country Park, so it was interesting to go along and see the work taking place. The trees being felled are Corsican Pine, planted many years ago, some are a good size, with one in three being cut to open up the forest and allowing the under storey to develop. These days it's down to machinery, rather than a team with chainsaws, to do the job and with 33 trees being felled, snedded and corded in an hour it's a pretty impressive machine. Whilst we were in the park we went and put the Barn Owl box, which had been taken over by Honey bees in the autumn, back into use. There was another stunning sunset after a day of clear blue skies. Thanks to Veronica for today's photographs

It pays to pop out at odd times, this evening I wanted to set the camera trap which meant I had to leave deployment until as late as possible to avoid the wrong type of prying eyes. There were a surprising number of people about, even as the sun had set, however there were nowhere near as many people as there were Jackdaws in the pre roost gathering. How many Jackdaws and Carrion Crows? I estimate there were 700+ birds if anyone wants to count then feel free to let me know the answer, use the comments section. Close up? An update on the camera trap, tomorrow??  

It's such a shame that not all of the visitors to the Pembrey reserve and the eight mile long Cefn Sidan beach, appreciate the site for it's sheer simple beauty. This morning I pulled into one of the car parks, and immediately noticed a van plus an empty trailer parked up, oh and then tyre marks across the sandy path to the beach. I followed the trail and saw that it then veered off across the dunes QUAD BIKES! tell tale signs Sure enough two quad bikes appeared with dad + one and mum + one, totally oblivious to the issue, so what is the issue? The dunes are a LNR, SSSI, and parts are a SAC, the beach is a SSSI, both areas are owned and managed by the local authority, supported by Natural Resources Wales. Forgetting any damage that may be caused, there's the good old Health & Safety concerns, even at 9am there were quite a few walkers, dogs and horse riders on the beach! They went on their way with a clear message ........, ironically it emer

I was beginning to think that all the good birds had deserted me, but with a bit of persistence, or a case of right place right time, I had cracking views of a MARSH HARRIER. Marsh Harrier Marsh Harriers can be highly variable and my first thought was that the bird was a ♂, now I'm undecided, if it's not a ♂ then it must be an adult ♀, I welcome any thoughts. Marsh Harrier The Marsh Harrier was the highlight of a long day spent on the reserve, in glorious but quite nippy conditions. It's worth noting the bird went to roost in the reed-bed at around dusk. A bit of ropey video.....

OUR NEXT EVENTS AT PEMBREY BURROWS LOCAL NATURE RESERVE -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guided Events Sunday 12th February 07:15am Bird   sea-watch * a chance to observe birds using the Burry Inlet Sunday 19th March 10:00am Beach walk and early signs of Spring meet at the entrance to the nature reserve near CE53 call 07984788218 for more details. * we will observe the sea   from the top of the dunes.