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

Wales Nature Week ends today, although there are a few events next week, including a local school visiting Morfa Berwig LNR for a pond dipping session. I went to the reserve this morning to check the dipping platform, as requested, and its ready for use. I then went along to Pembrey Burrows LNR where I had noticed a 16m stretch of fencing blowing in the strong winds we had recently, it was swinging between  about 70 and 45 degrees so couldn't be left just in case the escape committee had spotted it...... No mistaking this fallen fence Three posts, some banging and nine staples and one exhausted body later it was "fixed". oh joy more fence post bashing... On my way back to the maintenance yard I met a "blog follower", can I say again, thanks for the support... Don't forget the Creepy Crawlies and Bug event tomorrow at Pembrey Burrows, with pond dipping, log turning and cattle dung prodding all on offer, oh and the sun may just

I many respects we live in turbulent times , the weather is just one example. Well forecast before the event the rain and wind of Monday 5th was expected, and whilst it's still blowing today its currently dry. The Pembrey reserve will have benefited from the rainfall, although many of the breeding species will have struggled yesterday. The weather station recorded 29.4mm of rain in the 24hrs from 09:00 Monday, (unfortunately currently the chart shows a cumulative figure so does not reflect the true picture)  and wind gusts of over 30mph. Pressure chart, hence the strong winds as recorded below The wind chart is in metres per hour, to convert to miles per hour divide by 0.0006214 Wind speed recorded at the information point at Pembrey in metres per hour the Green line shows the gusts.

This morning I ran a ringing demo' for Carmarthenshire County Council biodiversity, at the Morfa Berwig LNR; as an event for Wales Nature Week, despite the rain we caught enough birds to show the two people who attended, I just don't understand why there is such a lack of interest in our local environment. Thanks to Heather Coats, and Valerie Wilson of the Gower Ringing Group and to Veronica, a stalwart volunteer at the reserve for the help this morning. There was some good news, with two "controlled" birds, (birds ringed elsewhere and re captured at Morfa Berwig) in the shape of a CETTIS WARBLER and a Wren. We know they were originally ringed at the nearby WWT Llanelli. The Wren was originally ringed as a 3J ( a young bird of the year) on 25th August 2016, whilst the Cettis was ringed as a 3J on 23rd July 2015. Wren Cettis Warbler After an early start and back home by 10am I thought I would have a lie down, NOPE not a chance, a phone call from

With what seemed a reasonable early morning forecast I carried out a full survey of the reptile refugia at Pembrey LNR. It was exciting to discover that this morning seven of the, now, 12 survey sites had reptiles with a total count of 12 Slow Worms, 6 Common Lizards, and a single NEW Grass Snake. I say new as this individual was about a mile away from the records of last week!, the usual home range of an individual is between 0.18 - 9.41ha, although the average is around 3.56ha, todays individual was well outside the "usual" range. Whilst checking the refugia I found another Bee Orchid plant and confirmed the mystery leaves from yesterday as Sea Bindweed. an unusual "top down" view of a Bee Orchid flower Bee Orchid

Despite the damp and drizzly conditions I carried on with surveying for the Strandline Beetle on Cefn Sidan, this time between CE52 and CE51, I found another two individuals, brining the total so far to at least 12 individuals at fourteen grid references. On the walk back though the dunes at CE51 I stopped to photograph some leaves which may or may not belong to the rare Round-leaved Wintergreen, or Sea Bindweed (awaiting confirmation) as I took photographs I spotted two familiar orchid spikes of the- BEE ORCHID Ophrys apifera, Bee Orchid spike, note the twist in the stem Although not in flower yet they are easy to identify, interestingly they are on ground which was "disturbed" by the winter Sea Buckthorn clearance. I'll post more photos if they make it to flowering.....

A few hours checking around the reserve at Morfa Berwig was well spent, the orchids are looking great, mostly Southern Marsh but possibly Early Marsh also, checking it out There is a wealth of flowers on show at the moment with Ragged Robin and Ox-eye Daisy standing out. Ox-eye Daisy Southern Marsh Orchid Ragged Robin A few Common Blue damselflies were on the wing, but the only big "dragonfly" was a Four-spot Chaser ♂, near a fast disappearing ephemeral pool. Four spot Chaser (cropped image) The rogue horses seem to have disappeared and there's no obvious mess left behind.

Whitsun bank holiday Monday, great weather, overcast breezy with drizzle !! With a high tide around 09:00 it seemed a good idea to make more of an effort to survey for Strandline Beetle, It was well worth the effort with EIGHT found today, under a mixture of natural debris, drift wood, pallet and planks and a couple under old tyres and plastic lids, and yes, a beetle was under one of the new refugia.. Strandline Beetle A learning I think is that generally if the object cannot be moved with one hand because its buried in the sand then its unlikely there will be Strandline Beetles there either. With the high tide the birds were concentrated with c2500 Oystercatchers, c300 Sanderling, many in summer plumage, and c10 Dunlin, all in summer plumage; at the eastern end of the beach. Sanderling I also found another DUNE TIGER BEETLE,  and a PAINTED LADY butterfly, as well as the spider, Arctosa perita a cute little thing complete with egg sac in a burrow under a p