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

Having spent the last two days welcoming visitors to the country park it seemed a good idea to start a "wildlife seen" list at the entrance. The catalyst for the idea was a WEASEL running across the road, with great views. The birds are quite "tame" with great views of MISTLE THRUSH, SONG THRUSH, BLACKBIRD, ROBIN, DUNNOCK, BLUE and GREAT TITS, JAY, and MAGPIE; ok not the most exciting birds but the thrushes were in good numbers with the Mistle Thrushes feeding fledged young. The woodland in the park is well worth an explore at any time of year so don't forget the  BioBlitz event on Saturday 9th June with an event evening for BATS and more, and the a packed day of guided events on Sunday 10th starting at 6:30am with a ringing demonstration. BOOKING ESSENTIAL for all events Move the page around to read the poster

I started my new GDB, ( I mean this in the most positive way as the role is so varied) role with the Outdoor Recreation Service on Saturday the weather was not great until Monday when we had a busy bank holiday, four hours of saying " hi, that's £5 please here's your receipt have a great time..." On the plus side whilst out and about in the park I found a HORNET, as well as a few fledged MISTLE THRUSH, a ROBIN feeding young in one of the workshops and SWALLOWS investigating nesting sites. Hornet, Vespa carbo I checked the reserve before and after my shifts, they are looking magnificent with a wide range of flowers on show, the SOUTHERN MARSH ORCHIDS, are just coming into flower. Thanks to Bernie for letting me know of his bird sightings, adding KITTIWAKE and believe it or not SAND MARTIN (I still haven't seen one at Pembrey) to the year list which is now at 100. Get out and about the sun  is here... for now!

Just returned from a "family" holiday on the Spanish Island of Lanzarote. A really interesting location and some good birds and volcanoes The weather was mixed with a constant NE wind (the trade winds) and heavy cloud cover for most if not all of every day - the weather at home was much better as I kept hearing... A respectable bird list of 22 birds with the specialities discovered on a tour with a local Eco guiding company. New birds for me included, HOUBARA BUSTARD, CREAM COLOURED COURSER, LESSER SHORT TOED LARK AND SOUTHERN GREY SHRIKE.   I also had good views  of  BARBARY FALCON, ( an adult and a well grown chick) A selection of "record shots" below. Houbara Bustard Cream Coloured Courser Southern Grey Shrike Barbary Falcon chick The scenery is amazing with over 200 inactive volcano cones, [the whole of the Canary Islands complex is still considered volcanically active] and extensive lava fields as well as an interesting "desert

I have been monitoring the 44 nest boxes at Morfa Berwig since the beginning of April, there have been signs of activity in 49% of the boxes, however todays update perhaps presents a better idea of the breeding season so far. The cold nights in the past week have taken their toll on one box where all seven well grown Great Tit chicks have perished. It seems that a predator, probably a Weasel, has finished off two clutches of eggs. On the brighter side I did manage to ring three great tit chicks, albeit there were originally eight eggs in the clutch. NEST BOX NUMBER ACTIVITY RECORDED Species 3 Female incubating NB not counted Blue Tit 4 Female incubating NB not counted Great Tit 6 Nest deserted, all seven chicks dead Great Tit 9 Nine eggs warm Great Tit 11 Female incubating NB not counted Blue Tit 16

Due to commitments I couldn't make the Wednesday volunteers yesterday, and only managed a few hours out of the house today. In bright sunshine but with a stiff westerly I attempted a short butterfly survey alas the butterflies had other ideas so I consoled myself by looking at some of the spring flowers making a decent show on the dunes at the moment. With Thrift, Wild Pansy, and Horseshoe Vetch, Birds-foot Trefoil,  Meadow Buttercup and of course Green-winged Orchids; there was plenty to look at.  Wild Pansy, Viola tricolor, spp curtisii Thrift

The sun came out as promised by the weather forecasters, and with it so came the crowds. The Pembrey reserve was not too busy, with most people just using the parking areas to head to the beach without paying the entrance fee into the country park. Early morning has been best with Whimbrel on the beach, Wheatear in the dunes, and at last some decent butterflies including the stunning Green Hairstreak. There are good numbers of Green-winged Orchids to be found along with Wild Pansy. a note of caution Wild Parsnip is now growing fast. With the crowds so comes the litter, I cleaned the parking area at CE53 twice in just two hours on Sunday morning!, the safety/RVP sign at CE53, which is a favourite dumping point was typically bad as illustrated in the photographs, I helped clear the mess (three black bags worth) with one of the ORS rangers; sadly its already getting messy again. I helped out in Pembrey Country Park for most of the weekend, as a precursor to st

I was joined by Wednesday gang members, Veronica and Neil for what turned out to be an interesting day. We started by cutting reeds for Pembrey Primary forest school, they have a structure they wish to thatch. (There were no signs of any bird activity in the small area we cut) to be honest we've left it a bit late it has not been possible to get into the reedbed to do any cutting due to the high water levels as such the quality of the reed has deteriorated during the winter, I'm sure the pupils won't mind. Cut reed, ready for thatching! A wander over the dunes looking at the Green-winged Orchids and finding Moonwort on the way took us to the beach where we then did a recce of the eastern end of the beach around "the nose" prior to a planned litter pick on Monday 14th May, today the beach and "the nose" were very litter free but still enough work to keep a few people occupied on the day. Moonwort Unusally litter free (ish) As we w