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

A late afternoon visit to Pembrey Burrows was rewarded with great views of TWO Short-eared Owls,  They had been seen earlier by Colin Dalton, who joined me in the hut to enjoy the birds hunting, displaying and chasing off a Sparrowhawk , one of two seen right outside the hut, one even landed on my water height post! Photographs and videos were nigh on impossible for me this afternoon, I just couldn't get the birds in focus long enough to press the shutter, I'm sure Colin will share some of his photos in the next few days. Colin casually mentioned two things, A MERLIN seen earlier and that he had seen the fence in F3 broken!, I had made a mental note that I hadn't seen the five bullocks on my way in. I tore myself away from the owls to first bump into Ray Woods another photographer, then to discover the fence was in fact damaged with tell tale hoof prints and cow pats on the wrong side of the fence ! WHY WHY! A climb to the top of a sand dune and I spied two of th

Well it's certainly feeling a lot colder, what "cold weather" movements will we see, I hope wildfowl put in an appearance as currently numbers are low to non-existent. A few more Common Snipe would be nice, as would a harrier or two, not fussy about species but they are overdue compared to 2016. Still we have the SHORT-EARED OWLS, now at least three possibly four but they are elusive which makes me think they are commuters between Glamorgan and Carmarthenshire. A few birders and photographers have been out looking for them with varying success, Colin Dalton kindly me sent the following photos with permission to use them in the blog, Thanks Colin. Anyone willing to share their photographs please email them over, can't promise to use every one but it would be nice to use local photographs if I haven't got decent ones myself. (or you could club together to buy me a decent camera!) All photographs are copyright of Colin Dalton Magica

What motivates you to get out and experience the coast and countryside? Do you like the solitude, easy to find on the wide expanse of Cefn Sidan? Do you prefer company and enjoy joining a group or partaking in a guided walk? Why is he asking these questions you may be thinking, well it's planning time for the events for 2018, and whilst 132 people took part in last years events attendance at individual events was a bit sporadic. Maybe it was too focussed on Pembrey LNR? In 2018 we intend to spread the events across as many of the local nature reserves/natural spaces in the county as possible. With a choice of six sites it makes sense to use them if we can. Carmarthenshire Local Nature Reserves West - East   Pembrey, Ashpits, Pwll Lagoon, North Dock, Morfa Berwig and in the NE of the county Ynys Dawela Nature Park There are currently 14 planned events spread over April to September (dates to be confirmed), with two programmes, April, May and June; and th

Not as frosty as recent days, and much less wind than forecast - could have gone ringing! Anyway I visited Morfa Berwig LNR this morning with a view to finding additional ringing rides, I know its a wetland site, but give me a break, too deep too boggy, but I did find a nice area albeit wet, as an additional net ride. In the process I disturbed a new bird for the site in the wonderfully camouflaged form of a WOODCOCK, it clattered through the willows before landing again, a good record. Woodcock Water Rails are well spread through the reserve with at least three calling this morning, a flock of c15 Long tailed Tits, with a mix of Blue, and Great Tits, Goldcrest and Robins, there were at least six Robins along the Afon Goch path. A Raven and a single Lapwing overhead completed my visit.

I have been reading reports on the Carmarthenshire Bird Club sightings pages of a Short-eared Owl being seen on the reserve at Pembrey. This evening I took myself off to see if I could get to grips with this magical owl, sure enough around 15:30 an Owl appeared, my attention being drawn to it by a couple of birders who were out on the marsh! When I wandered over to have a chat I could see that there were TWO Short-eared Owls hunting over the lower marsh I love "shorties". Short-eared Owl, (I wish it was my photograph) There was some interaction between one of the owls and the local male Kestrel, but I don't think they need to fight over food as my feelings are that there is a good supply of Voles. Last year the owls only paid fleeting visits to the reserve, presumably wandering over from "Glamorgan", lets hope they stay longer this year. Probably the best place to see them from is the information hut in the middle of the reserve, or

Many "things" hang in trees, some scarce and unusual, some just disgusting, here are examples of both from our Morfa Berwig LNR, The Lichen, Usnea articulate , the Sausage Beard-lichen declined sharply as a result of airbourne pollution, but is now making a bit of a comeback generally. There is a very small example of it to be found in just one location (so far) at Morfa Berwig. So called because of because of its straggly appearance and the "pinch points" along its "stem" which look like a string of sausages. Sausage Beard-lichen It can occur in three main habitats, Hawthorns in windy location, the leeward side of windy Larch plantations or in the tops of Willows at wetland sites (Morfa Berwig), the degree of windiness is a key factor in its choice of habitat. Other things hang or are put to hang in trees, I can never understand why though, there must be some sort of evolutionary process in place where plastic bags full of

With the perfect weather to stay indoors today it gave an opportunity to "sort and tidy" our workshop. So with Veronica and Neil we set about making some basic racks and sharpening the "edged" tools So satisfying to sort everything out, hopefully ............... "a place for everything and everything on it's place" It looks a bit sparse but lots of the tools are out on the pickup. Some shelves will need to be added, and perhaps a different solution for the bush/bow saws but for now its a safe and tidy work space, and despite the photo's the racks are perfectly level!!! Another one of those jobs that has needed doing for a while, but who wants to be inside unless the weather is really bad, like today.