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

An overcast, milder day with the threat of strong winds and heavy rain so why not get out for an hour or two. I started by checking the sheep, yes sheep, which are grazing in one of the four foredune fields on the seaward side of the country park  at Pembrey. We have a mixed flock of 47 ewes and rams of the Glamorgan or Nelson breed, perhaps better known as the South Wales Mountain Sheep. They are conservation grazers in the same way as the cattle on the nature reserve are, we are hopeful that they will graze the wide mix of plants in these foredunes, whilst their trampling will open up the ground creating bare areas of sand so loved by invertebrates. A last look at home before a holiday by the sea! More detail about the breed can be found here https://southwalesmountainsheep.co.uk/ The field is fenced with sheep netting and barbed wire and the gate is padlocked, there is no public access to the fields, with plenty of signage explaining why the sheep are there. With

I've often commented that you don't have to see a creature to know that it's been around, all animals will leave a clue to their presence, this is no better illustrated than in birds which produce a "pellet" of the indigestible parts of their food. People are often surprised and often misunderstand what is going on when a bird regurgitates one of these pellets, many think that the bird is vomiting, I guess in a way they are, except of course it's essential to their wellbeing that they remove the indigestible parts of the food via their mouths rather than letting the materials pass right through their gut, think of an owl trying to pass a mouse skull, ouch! Barn Owl All sorts of birds produce pellets, here are just a few; Owls, Crows, Gulls, Herons, Kingfishers, Hawks, Falcons and even Penguins (not that we get many of these in Carmarthenshire). Carrion Crow pellets This week I watched a bird produce the bright purple pellets in the photograph,

Are you one of the millions of people who take the time and effort to feed the wildlife, mainly birds for most, in your garden?  Well if you are, and to be honest if you read this blog then you probably do. With the seasons changing albeit erratically at the moment but with a hint of more typical autumn weather due in the next week now may be time to think about making sure that you are prepared for the duties ahead. Lets not take the fun out of feeding the birds, but seriously regular feeding can be the lifeline for our garden birds. Once you start feeding for the winter keep it going, it can be expensive so a little and often will benefit the birds and enhance your pleasure of watching the antics of the regular visitors. Don't forget fresh water will be appreciated for drinking and bathing.   Choice of feed is important, avoid bread, buy the best you can afford, if using fat balls only buy the ones in nets if you are prepared to REMOVE THE NET. There are a numbe

There has been a bird survey carried out across the whole of the UK, called the Wetlands and Estuaries Bird Survey or WeBS commencing in its earliest form some 70 years ago, t he area of beach at Cefn Sidan to Tywyn Point has been counted for the past 30 years. The counts are synchronised across the UK with this years start date being October the 14th for the monthly counts, designed to coincide with a morning high tide. Given the vastness of Cefn Sidan the count is done from a vehicle and the beach split into two sections, so it was that I started todays count. This time of year sees large numbers of birds, waders,(or shorebirds) wildfowl and gulls arriving on Cefn Sidan and the nearby marshes of Kidwelly and Pembrey to spend the winter, Cefn Sidan plays host to nationally important numbers of some species such as Sanderling, a bird which breeds in the high Arctic and winters in milder climes. Sanderling The mud and sands that make up the beach are rich in marine worms, and 

With the evenings drawing in it makes the opportunity to see our shyer wildlife a little easier, so it was I joined a group of 19 wildlife seekers with Outdoor Recreation Service rangers Ollie and Scott, for a late evening/night-time wander around Pembrey Country Park. We were on the look out for those creatures of the night such as Foxes, Badgers and of course Bats; whilst identifying the larger animals such as Badgers is easy those flighty bats need some clever equipment called "bat detectors", which turn the high pitched calls of these high fliers into sounds which we humans can hear. Bat Detector With chillier evenings any bats will be trying to feed hard before making the move to hibernate for the winter, which for them is rapidly approaching. We managed to "see" with the detectors Common Pipistrelle and Soprano Pipistrelle. Pipistrelle Bat We were also listening out for the distinctive calls of Tawny Owls, there are a few pairs in the Park and

This morning I joined in with a beach litter pick, organised by the local Wildlife Litter Pickers group aided by employees of both Carmarthenshire County Council and Natural Resources Wales, on a little visited stretch of Cefn Sidan. I say little visited because we were on the Pembrey Sands Air Weapons Range which is off limits to the public Monday - Friday when it is being used for bombing and gunnery practise. A reminder of where we were! The recent storms seem to have left most of the rubbish covered by sand but there was enough for the 25 strong band of litter pickers to do.  Most of the "litter" was in fact discarded fishing net and rope although hard plastics and plastic bottles filled quite a few of the recycling bags amongst the  bags of landfill. With most of the rubbish moved off the beach,  even this end of session photo shows a lot of fishing net debris There has been a concerted effort around the coast of Wales in the past week to

A late and unexpected opportunity to make an autumn visit to the Greek island of Lesvos was not to be missed. So it was that we arrived, at the HOTEL PELA; late on Saturday 15th to night time temperatures in the mid 20's. The hire car was provided by local company TSALIS with their usual efficiency. Sunday morning, and every subsequent morning dawned clear with rapidly warming temperatures reaching around 30'c on average but with a few hours of 32'c before cooling down to the low 20's. The wind, was at times brisk from the NW which did little to cool the temperature but was still refreshing. Having visited Lesvos at this time of year I was prepared for the challenge of finding birds, which is much harder than in the spring however a respectable 77 species, including some specials, was achieved. The highlights of the trip were DALMATIAN PELICAN, with a max of 14 seen;  GARGANEY, PINTAIL, SLENDER-BILLED GULL, BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER, CURLEW, LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE, C