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

A few hours checking Morfa Berwig LNR, including clearing a nice bag full of litter from the roundabout entrance, this morning was well worth it. Plenty of butterflies on the wing including, Small Blue, Common Blue, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown and PAINTED LADY. Painted Lady Meadow Brown Bumblebees were well represented by Common Carder and Red-tailed, but dragonflies were scarce, given the lack of water with all the ponds empty of useable water I'm not sure where they have gone, an opportunity for a better look on tomorrows BIRD CLUB WALK. On the bird front plenty of juvenile Goldfinches feeding on the heads of Creeping Thistle, a few warblers skulking around to, a juvenile Grey Heron in a ditch with two well grown juvenile Mallard. The Teasel plants are coming into flower and will provide another source of seed for the birds in the autumn Teasel Come along on tomorrows walk and explore this interesting reserve, see the Carmarthenshire Bird Club website fo

At four o'clock this morning it was raining and blowing so the ground had a little soak, but nowhere near enough to mitigate the effects of the on-going dry spell. After attending a meeting in the country park I ambled over to the burrows for a mooch about. As ever though there always seem to be something that rattles my cage and today was no exception with a pile of used dog poo bags left at the entrance of the reserve. WHY? Despite the dry spell and the dry and dusty conditions there was quite a variety of wildlife to be seen, with many butterflies on the wing, a nice selection of wildflowers and good numbers of birds. The Grayling stole the show on the butterfly front with many along the track to the hut, second or maybe third generation Small Blues along with Common Blue and Meadow Brown. A good showing of the Dark Bush-cricket, with several in the park office, was something I've not noticed before. Flowers included Purple Loosestrife growing in the "

There can be no doubt that working outdoors, no matter what the weather, is a most rewarding occupation. People often comment to me "what a great job you have", "you're so lucky" "what a great office", "driving around all day that's nice"; let me explain the reality When you see me, or any of the Outdoor Recreation Team, rangers, park staff, maintenance ,and the managers driving around you can bet that we are not on a "jolly". Granted when I'm on the reserves I can really enjoy the wildlife, spend an hour pottering around, making notes watching the wildlife yes its great; but it's not all roses so here is my (our) day today. After checking the reserve and pottering around I went into Pembrey Country Park and met up with the duty manager. We caught up with jobs that didn't get done on Saturday such as some bins (they fill up magically overnight!), patrolled the beach cleaning up more litter from last night,

Some events in the nest few weeks:- Carmarthenshire Local Nature Reserves July 14th, The flora of Mynydd Mawr woodland park, a former coal site,  10am - 1pm. August 11th a Saltmarsh tramp, Pembrey Burrows LNR 10am - 1pm Environment and Biodiversity team  Gwlyptiroedd Gwych Taith gerdded i ymweld Pyllau Cochion a Mynydd Bach gael gwybod mwy am gynefinoedd cors arbennig hyn Gorffennhaf 26fed 16:30 Wonderful Wetlands! A walk to visit Pyllau Cochion and Mynydd Bach Commons to find out more about these special bog habitats July 26th 16:30 • Byddwch yn ymweld â dwy gors allweddol ger Brechfa -sef tiroedd comin Pyllau Cochion a Mynydd Bach -yng nghwmni aelodau Prosiect Corsydd Sir Gaerfyrddin. • Bydd cyfle i ddysgu pam y mae'r corsydd hyn yn helpu i gadw ein traed yn sych, ac i ryfeddu at eu bywyd gwyllt. • Man ymgynnull -Pyllau Cochion SN498 268 • I gael rhagor o fanylion, cysylltwch â'r Swyddog Bioamrywiaeth: 01558 825390; Bioamrywiaeth@sirga

I spent a few early hours on the Pembrey Burrows LNR on Saturday and Sunday, and was pleased to see so many butterflies on the wing, especially along the track to the information hut. Species included, SMALL SKIPPER, LARGE WHITE, MEADOW BROWN, GATEKEEPER, MARBLED WHITE, COMMON BLUE and GRAYLING, in fact at least 30 Grayling were along the track which is a huge improvement on last years poor showing. Grayling Again good numbers of SAND MARTIN were present across the marsh which is much earlier than usual, perhaps a sign of a good breeding season? Despite being in the grip of a heatwave, autumn in the natural world is already underway and soon we should be getting sightings of Hirundines flocking to the reedbeds, sandpipers on the mud around Old Pembrey Harbour along with increasing numbers of Med' Gulls and Sandwich Terns, get out there and look..

An overcast morning was in sharp contrast to the last few weeks, slightly cooler and much more bearable. Wednesday's are usually volunteer day, but with holidays and a lack of jobs there seemed little point in dragging the team out. We have had two lads on work experience in the country park so I was asked to give them a tour of the Pembrey Burrows LNR, the plan was a reptile survey and then a Strandline Beetle survey. The reptile survey was disappointing, even at 09:30 I think it was too warm and most reptiles had warmed up and were already on the move, we did however find a GRASS SNAKE about 40cm long, and a WOOD MOUSE. The survey for the Strandline Beetle was even more unproductive with none seen, this is the second unproductive survey this season. We did however find a genuine "message in a bottle", with a bit of trouble including a finger well and truly stuck we managed to retrieve and read the rather sad message, a little too sad to publish on the blog.

Well what a run of dry sunny weather, reminds me of 1976, yes I am old enough to remember!!! The butterflies on all the reserves seem to be having a good season, maybe the cold winter played a part in this? It's worth getting out early to enjoy the cooler hours but stay long enough for the butterflies to get going. Of course one downside to the hot weather is of course that much of the vegetation is "going over" sooner than perhaps it would during a "normal" summer, however the Common Sea Lavender is in bloom as is our speciality Rock Sea Lavender. The warm weather has brought out the crowds, who in the main, have been well behaved, however no matter how well behaved people are mistakes, and, avoidable accidents do happen, and so it was on Sunday, when despite the small amount of rain, a small fire started in Pembrey Forest just outside the Country Park.   It appears that an illegal campfire had been lit but despite the efforts of the person(s) resp