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

I've said the following so often, "in what looked like perfect conditions..." well this morning was no exception, but no one told the birds! Which is typical when you have a visitor, sorry Julie. Still Morfa Berwig looked great at 06:00 this morning as I sloshed my way through flooded ringing rides carrying all the kit laden like a donkey... no comments or thoughts please. A very modest session but always worth it especially when one of the two Redwings was a monster of a bird, well it was certainly different, I knew that because my helper originally identified it as a Blackbird - sorry couldn't resist. Based on the comments from Mr Svensson the Redwing with its much buffier face, and breast/ sides and darker mantle and wing of 124mm placed it as a likely candidate for the Icelandic race corbuni , it only weighed in at 61.6gms and no fat. The second Redwing was much more the "norm"  iliacus , a paler bird with whiter, face, breast and sides wit

Wednesday, volunteer day, Morfa Berwig. As usual a few odd jobs, including a Japanese Knotweed survey, we recorded carefully the known patches of this troublesome plant, its not a huge problem but needs nipping in the bud. A litter pick, as usual it was the A484 roundabout that needed attention, at least the fly tipping I reported last week has gone. Linseed oil on some of the on-site "furniture" and the last of the nest-boxes were put up plus one donated by Veronica It was during the Knotweed survey that whilst wandering around F3 that I was startled, by a small mouse jumping across my path, on size alone it was a Harvest Mouse but then I noticed a ball of woven grasses in the rushes, a Harvest Mouse nest. Harvest Mouse nest Harvest Mouse (Wikipedia library) A great record, which has been submitted to WWBIC. Returning to the same area later I was surprised to see a Wood Mouse jump out of the back of the nest which had now been "ragge

Monday morning, the first sub zero morning of the autumn with ice on the puddles and the need to really scrape the ice off the van. Today the Wales Wildlife Walks Litter Pickers made Pembrey the focus of their attention, and badly needed it is. After the stormy weather in October, followed by calm spring tides a huge amount of marine bourn litter has been dropped on Cefn Sidan. With 12 eager volunteers, plus the regular MENCAP gang and assistance from KWT and CCC, it was a case of divide and conquer, three hours later and a great deal had been picked but really barely scratching the surface of what is a huge problem, not only on Cefn Sidan but any beach in any part of the UK. only a small pile of the total amount picked today Still smiling!!!! A huge thank you to everyone who gave their time and effort today.

I visited Morfa Berwig LNR, this afternoon, wow we must have had a fair drop of rain last night so much water about today. I noticed Redwings were flying in from the east in small flocks, with about 35 seen plus a couple of Mistle Thrushes but no Fieldfares. Quite often luck plays a big role in finding wildlife, today was no exception, above the noise of a passing HGV I heard a bird calling, the call was the sort that made me think "I know that" but "what is it", looking up I saw three brutish looking birds fly towards, then over and past me heading SE, immediately they could only be one species, the broad white bar on the underwing, heavy front end and short squarish tail, and that call! all said HAWFINCH. Hawfinch (photo courtesy of Wikipedia) Although there is a decent breeding population in the UK there has been an influx of Hawfinch into the country from the continent, tied in I think with the stormy weather experience in October, which

The first properly chilly day of the autumn with a NNW breeze at 18mph, clearing skies and huge vistas of Carmarthen Bay. With the "hunters" moon of the last few days, the tides have been impressive, thankfully without an accompanying storm, the dune face has taken a bit of a battering this autumn. The strandline was covered with weed, including some Kelp, the associated plastic and  Portuguese Man o'War, although mostly just the "sail" and no tentacles. There was a recently dead Guillemot washed up, it was an adult which had clearly struggled to feed as the breast bone or keel, was prominent which indicates muscle wastage, there were no rings on the legs, its good to check no matter how decomposed the corpse may be check every dead bird for rings, which are usually easily removable especially when there is good decomposition. Sadly many ringing recoveries come from dead birds but the information gained is invaluable to the study of the movement, heal

SEE BELOW FOR A WALK AT THE MORFA BERWIG LOCAL NATURE RESERVE BOOKING ESSENTIAL TAITH GERDDED - GWLYPTIROEDD YR HYDREF AUTUMNAL WETLANDS WALK Croeso i bawb / All welcome Ymunwch â ni am dro hydrefol o gwmpas Gwarchodfa Natur Leol Morfa Berwig a darganfod rhai o hud a lledrith y cynefin gwlyptir hwn. Darganfyddir y llygoden ddŵr prin ac byddai’r system gwlyptir hwn ar un adeg yn cael ei gweld yn y tir isel o Bynie i Llanelli. Mae’n addas ar gyfer pob oedran. Ffoniwch 07919 592 683 am fanylion pellach ac i archebu lle ar y daith gerdded. Join us for an autumnal walk around Morfa Berwig Local Nature Reserve and discover some of the magic of this wetland habitat. The reserve is home to the rare water vole and this wetland system would once have been widely found in the low lying land from Bynea to Llanelli. Suitable for all ages. Please call 07919 592 683 for further details and to book on to the walk. Gwarchodfa Natur Leol Morfa Berwig Dydd Iau 16 eg Mis Tachwedd 1

With the last day of settled weather forecast I headed to Morfa Berwig LNR and set just 140' of net, two with sound playing, and one without. As hoped for there was a smattering of Redwing in the first round with a couple of Song Thrush. It was clear that there were good number Redwings flying over, but not as many as the huge flock of Starlings I saw flying in the far distant, an estimate would put the flock size in the high thousands. A  couple of steady rounds and  then a hectic one saw a total of 49 birds processed, 43 new and 6 re-encounters, including a bird ringed by another ringer. The reason for the hectic round was a small influx of Goldcrests and the interception of what appeared to be a  mixed roving flock . Male Bullfinch, aged as a 3 as it still had a few retained greater coverts I am grateful for the assistance of Veronica who "scribed" for the session, taking the pressure off processing and writing. Scribing is one of the most impor