2019 Natural History Group reports

5th December 2019

AGM, Quiz. Llanblethian Church Hall

There was a good turnout ,17 in all for this Indoor Meeting. The business of the day was done first with approval of the Accounts and thanks to Steve the Treasurer, a re-cap of the year's events, followed by the ongoing task of recruiting volunteers to organise events to fill the calendar for 2020. Two new things were launched which provoked some discussion. There is to be a Photographic Competition and also a Natural History Extra Group. (Both as described on the web page). A Dementia Study was mentioned on behalf of CUBRIC as they are looking for normal people over 60 for the study.
We then got stuck into the mince pies and sherry which Steve and Val had provided from the funds, and managed to divide ourselves into groups of 2 or 3 to tackle the Quiz which Dave Webb had compiled and compèred . It was very thought provoking ---we didn't know too many of the answers, but we learned a lot when Dave went over them at the end. The winners , in a low scoring contest , were the Jenkins Girls, who were awarded the prize (wine) , again provided by Steve and Val, and Claire and Ruth now have the honour of running the quiz next year.

Many thanks to Dave for the quiz, and to Steve and Val for sorting the refreshments and prizes.

7th November 2019

Kidwelly Quay.

The gamble of having an extra field trip in November paid off . Ten of us left the rain of Cowbridge behind and went west to find a beautiful Autumn day in Kidwelly.

We felt very fortunate to be so lucky with the weather, and the omens had to be good when a flying spoonbill was spotted from a car before we had reached the reserve. We were met at 10 am ,at low tide , by Gary Harper, the County Bird recorder for Carmarthenshire. After briefly introducing himself he then proceeded to point out the various birds we could see from the quay and led us around the site. It was extremely pleasant with no wind and even some sunshine, but the mild conditions probably contributed to us not seeing all the birds that are sometimes on offer, even so there were more than 30 species. Particularly plentiful were the red shanks, lapwing and curlews. Every now and then flocks of golden plover took to the air and at one point could be seen altogether in the distance standing at the water's edge before eventually taking off in a thousand -strong flock . We searched for birds of prey every time something seemed to have spooked the birds in case one was responsible, and there were plenty of red kites and several buzzards to be seen. There was a brief sighting of a merlin by some, but it's favourite perch on an isolated dead recumbent tree remained unoccupied thereafter so most of us missed it. However, there were other treats, like the kingfisher, and the gold crests and three flying female goosanders, a snipe and a very obliging water rail which came out into the open to feed. We had lunch at the picnic tables and by then the tide was coming in and there was a wind chill factor which prompted us to don extra layers. The hope was that the approaching tide would encourage the birds to come to us and we did have views of a group of green shanks through Gary's telescope but although we tried again before we left , the merlin remained elusive.
We were all very appreciative of Gary's time and effort and he was given a donation for the Carmarthen Bird Club by way of thanks. He invited us to return at any time and gave us lots of tips .
Many thanks to Geoff Jones for organising the day which allowed us to end the field trips for 2019 on a high.

Sighting---Snow bunting . 3rd November 2019. Rest Bay, Porthcawl. ---on the 4th Tee of the golf course( furthest end of the boardwalk)

Sighting---28th October 2019. Grey Seal in Temple Bay ( Southerndown)

3rd October 2019

Steart Marshes WWT Nature Reserve

Seven of us made the journey over the bridge to Somerset on a reasonable early Autumn day. We had our fingers crossed that the dry and only moderately windy weather would hold for our visit before the effects of the pending hurricane Lorenzo spoiled our chances of seeing anything.

This is a new wetland site created since 2014 for the dual purpose of improving flood management for local people and forming special new habitats for wildlife. Having been made from scratch, it provides ideal conditions for research projects, several of which are underway. The initial work on the site basically involved re-arranging the earth which was there. It was dug up in places to make pools and placed around the periphery to make the banks. Apart from seeding the banks with grasses to deter erosion, the plants on the site have appeared by natural succession. These include sea blight, sea aster, marsh samphire, flowering rush and purple loosestrife . Shingle banks have also been put in place and are "topped up" when necessary but largely speaking the area is left to develop naturally . Only the highest tides enter the reserve and the pools do get silted up, with the sediment deposited from the Severn Estuary and the River Parrett. All this was explained to us by Richard, one of the volunteer guides, a knowledgeable and undoubtedly hardy fellow as he was in shorts and not visibly shivering while the rest of us who were of a similar vintage were happy to be wearing winter clothes.

We met at the Mendip Hide before exploring other hides and the earliest of us were lucky to see a Marsh Harrier. Other highlights were a spoonbill, flocks of black tailed godwit, and very striking because of their brilliant white plumage, many little egrets dotted around the place. The reserve also boasted lots of Cetti's warblers (heard, but not seen, as usual) flocks of starlings on the pylons practising their murmurations, plenty of wading lapwings and several, or one very busy hovering kestrel, and in a field nearby were three roe deer, unperturbed by human presence.

We thanked Richard for his guidance , and having previously made a donation to the Trust (£5 pp is the amount suggested) we had a picnic lunch in the cars and then explored other parts of the reserve as individuals, although some of us were temporarily distracted by the abundant and perfectly ripe wild blackberries.

Looking at the mudflats, we rapidly formed the impression that we had found the home of the shelduck--there were hundreds of them . Other delights were charms of goldfinch and for a few moments, a flock of twenty linnets which perched on a wire fence, lined up endearingly in a tightly packed row. All in all more than 30 species of bird were seen or heard, and the rain held off until the journey home. It was a good day out and it would be well worth another visit at a different time of year, perhaps in the Winter when the migrating flocks of wildfowl and waders have arrived.

Many thanks to John Cook for setting it all up.

Sightings----19/9/19. Seen from a back garden in Cowbridge---an otter and a kingfisher. (John Cook) Photo taken on iPhone.

30/9/19. Ogmore beach at low tide. This tiny octopus was stranded on the sand and was making barely visible, feeble respiratory efforts. Carefully transposed to a nearby pool (photo, with iPhone) where it immediately started to revive and was seen to be making very vigorous muscular contractions, as witnessed by the large bubbles it was producing.

3rd September 2019

Tour of Glyndwr Vineyard

Nearly all of the 10 members who attended had the foresight to walk to the vineyard in Llanblethian where we were welcomed with a glass of sparkling wine made from grapes of the Seyval Blanc variety, fermented in the traditional "methode champenoise" which guaranteed
Richard Norris then gave us a brief history of viticulture in Britain and how he came to establish his vineyard . The Romans brought vines with them and vineyards were common and widespread even as far north as Scotland , typically found in monasteries around the country. This came to an abrupt end with Henry VIII and the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The decision to grow vines sprang from a desire to have a crop which did not need to be planted and lifted every year and in March 1982 , having prepared 7 acres of land with potash , lime and chalk , 6,000 vines were planted. It takes 3 years to establish the vines. In those early years fruiting is prevented by picking out the flowers and thus encouraging a strong root system to grow. The inspiration for the name came when a local TV company staged a re-enactment of a battle fought by Owain Glyndwr and filmed nearby.
After some background we then took a walk around the vineyard, first seeing one of the 3 pet llamas and a small flock of Ouessant sheep which are a short variety which come from Finistere and which graze under the vines. At the end of some of the rows are roses which act as indicators ---if the rose shows signs of mildew it is time to spray the the vines as they will have it 3 weeks later. All the vines are grafted onto an American root system as they have been found to be resistant to phylloxera and the vines themselves need careful pruning, in Winter and four times in the Summer. All by hand of course. What they do not need is insects to pollinate them as they self- pollinate with the help of the wind. The grapes are nearly ready for harvest and the grapes are tested in a refractometer which measures the sugar content. It has to be 60% to be suitable to make wine. If the level is too low then all is not lost, as the grapes can then be used to make brandy instead, but that takes 4 years.
Following our tour we had a splendid lunch with another glass of Glyndwr White (Reichensteiner and Madeleine Angevine varieties). Lunch was very well timed as there was a heavy shower of rain while we were eating and when we had finished Richard was thanked for his very informative and wide ranging talk which was greatly appreciated by all. As we left , Richard pointed out some of the highlights in the garden, and we walked home again. At least one member suggested we make this visit an annual event which is a clear mark of the success of the day.
Many thanks to David Boult for organising it.

4th July 2019

Avalon Marshes, Somerset.

It's an hour and a half's drive to the Avalon Marshes which 10 of us made in glorious sunshine. We met Kevin Anderson the Visitor Experience Officer who gave us a conducted tour of Shapwick Heath. At this time of year, the birds tend to be quiet and less in evidence, but there were plenty of butterflies. The main one to see is the White Admiral, which we succeeded in doing but we didn't mange to find the Purple Hairstreak which flies around the top of oak trees, but commoner species such as the large white, silver -washed fritillary, peacock and large skipper were seen. There were also plenty of blue-tailed damsel flies and brown hawkers and other dragon flies but the latter were not tempting enough to bring out any hobbies which classically feed on them.
Diverting along the Sweet Track Trail , named after the man who discovered an ancient track of logs, which have been dated to > 3000 years ago.Along this trail we managed to avoid stepping on froglets which were 2-3cm long.
We stayed a while in a hide in the hope of seeing the purple heron which had been seen by a few of the group in the carpark before we had all arrived. It failed to show itself, but we had excellent views of two marsh harriers, one juvenile and a female adult. The juvenile was calling to be fed, sounding not unlike a lapwing. Amongst the water lilies which largely covered the water were many great crested grebes and coots both with young, not to mention the mute swans and cygnets ,gadwall ,cormorants and little egrets, great egret and grey heron.
There are three species of egret here and some of us saw the third, the cattle egret later on in the afternoon.
We walked back to the car park and cafe and thanked Kevin for showing us around and then ate lunch and dispersed. Some went home and others moved on to other nearby places and a few of us stayed to explore some more. That is when the flying bittern was spotted on the walk to Ham Wall, a buzzard and more marsh harriers and in the clear water seen from a bridge roach, perch and a predatory pike were pointed out by another observer.
A brisk walk back to the centre was called for, despite the heat, as the cafe was to close at 5pm, and it was good to get there just in time for a refreshing bowl of ice-cream or cup of tea having clocked up 7.5 miles of walking for the day before the rather longer drive home via the dreaded Brynglas tunnels.
It had been a very successful day in the sunshine, and it would be well worth a return trip at a different time of year.
Many thanks to Ruth Jenkins for organising it all.

Tuesday, 2 July 2019, Meeting in conjunction with Porthcawl Natural History Group

How to identify wild flowers: A walk/talk by Greg Nuttgens.

On a glorious sunny afternoon, I met up with the friendly Porthcawl Group at Newton Beach Car Park. After a short walk, heading east into Newton Burrows, we were given handouts by Greg to help us identify plants commonly found on sand dunes and also a ‘key’ to help us determine what we were looking at, even though it may not be in flower, by keying out, i.e. if it isn’t this, go to the next step, etc. Our first attempt at using the ‘key’ helped us determine that we were looking at charlock. We also found burdock, sea rocket, groundsel, ragwort, birdsfoot-trefoil a.k.a. eggs and bacon, crow garlic, sea spurge, restharrow, cat’s ear, sand cat’s tail, wild thyme, agrimony, pyramidal orchid, beaked hawk’s beard, wild mignonette, sea radish, eyebright, verbascum, dewberry, false oat-grass, yellow rattle, lady’s bedstraw, common centaury, tufted vetch, common vetch, and last but not least because it was so numerous and colourful was viper’s bugloss. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable and profitable (knowledge-wise) afternoon.

Claire Jenkins

4th June 2019

Sand Dune Wildlife . Greg Nuttgens. YMCA Porthcawl

The plan had been to collaborate with the Porthcawl NH group and join them exploring the dunes at Newton, and learn about the flowers. The weather was against us , the rain was so heavy it was out of the question. Fortunately Greg had also prepared a presentation which he delivered.He explained how the dunes came to be there with particular reference to Merthyr Mawr and Kenfig, and the claim that we have the second highest sand dunes in Europe at Merthyr Mawr is somewhat fanciful, as he demonstrated that the height is due to an underlying cliff rather than sand. Diagrams showed how a dune migrates and the succession from embryo ->fore->yellow->grey-> dune slack ->mature dune. There are dune slacks at Kenfig because of the underlying clay is able to hold the standing water, whereas at Merthyr Mawr the underlying substrate is shingle and shale which allows the water to drain away. The hostile environment exposed to drying, salt-laden wind ,lack of nutrients and constant disturbance , means that only specialist plants survive, xerophytes and halophytes such as marram grass, sea rocket and sea beet. In the more stable environment of the fixed dunes different plant species can thrive, such as dewberry, burnet rose, dune pansy, wild thyme etc and butterflies, bees and bush crickets, and the occasional lizard.
Sea buckthorn was introduced deliberately to stabilise the dunes but has become a pest as it has spread excessively ,and it is now being removed manually and animals are being brought in to graze to help in the management--sheep, Highland cattle and even roe deer as the diminishing number of resident rabbits aren't sufficient .
Greg was thanked for an excellent presentation. Everyone will cross their fingers for better weather in a month when hopefully the intended field trip will take place.

9th May 2019

Ynys Hir and the Dyfi Osprey Project

It is a long and glorious drive up to Machynlleth and well worth the effort, especially if you stay the night in the charming hotel researched by Jeff and Angie, Plas Dolguog. The few of us that made the trip set off after a hearty breakfast going first to see the Ospreys. Telyn, the female was sitting on the nest quietly and Monty, the male was keeping guard on a perch nearby. They were clearly seen on the live cameras. We went along the boardwalk to the recently constructed observation tower for a closer view, by which time, Monty had disappeared, presumably to go fishing. As the eggs had not hatched, there was a low level of activity in the adults. On returning , we popped into several bird hides and heard plenty of reed warblers . There was even a glimpse of an otter crossing the boardwalk, about 100m in front of us!
At Ynys Hir we concentrated on the Salt Marsh walk at first. There were many Canada geese, busy with goslings and very noisy, but also a vagrant red breasted goose, plenty of lapwings, spoonbill, snipe and blackcaps and warblers on the shrubs and trees. In the Oakland walk, we just missed a family of treecreepers, but one piedflycatcher was seen, and by the end of the afternoon we had a list of 41 species seen or heard. We warmed up in the visitor centre with a hot drink and a cake by the fire after a most enjoyable time in a lovely tranquil setting. It would be well worth a re-visit, especially if additional visits in the area were included. For future reference--there is no cafe as such at Ynys Hir---bring your own sandwiches.
TJ

List of species

3rd May 2019
Dawn Chorus Walk. Cowbridge and Llanblethian

The promise of bacon butties as a reward at the end was sufficient to tempt seven members to rise early from their beds and meet in Cowbridge by the bridge at the bottom of Three Fields at 5am. It was cold, 3 degrees C , but dry, and it was striking to hear the difference between the silent darker areas and the clear songs of the blackbirds filling the air pre-dawn at the meeting place lit up by street lights .
Passing through the kissing gate into Three Fields , where the cows were still asleep on the warmer, higher bank , we listened attentively and tried to pick out the various birdsongs which with the increasing daylight over not many minutes were becoming more and more difficult to disentangle. No-one had any difficulty with the wood pigeon, the pheasant, cockerel , herring gulls and the crow and Canada goose . The song birds required more concentration but sometimes with a team effort we identified many including the black cap and the high pitched gold crest. We slowly progressed towards Piccadilly , stopping a while at the park before taking the lane into the woods from where a cormorant was seen flying past and a rather squawky heron. A common whitethroat, nuthatch and willow warbler were heard and sometimes seen. We were very surprised also to her a tawny owl several times. We wound our way up to Mount Ida and explored a little without adding more species until we descended to have a very welcome breakfast at about 7am. A glorious male bullfinch was one of two new species seen on a bird feeder from the kitchen and a greater spotted woodpecker and even a swift were noted on the way home afterwards, which brought the tally up to 32 species.*

List of species

Thanks to John Cook for his expertise with the bird calls , and Huw for his expertise cooking the best breakfast ever.
Maybe this should be an annual event?

4th April 2019.
"Are there Wild Beasts in Llanblethian?"

"LlanblethianWatch "was the last of the indoor meetings for a while and was a team effort.Including the speakers there were 18 members present. The purpose was to demonstrate to the group what can be found using trail cameras in the locality. Although it is not difficult to photograph and video the wildlife , it proved surprisingly difficult to transpose said videos into a form that could be presented on the U3A equipment. A great deal of technical assistance was required from JA. Dave W started proceedings with some videos of foxes and hedgehogs taken with the group camera, in his garden. He then demonstrated the camera to the group while TJ set up her presentation. These were videos from her own cameras and from one there was The Story of Fantastic Mrs Fox and her family, starting from following tracks in the snow to work out where the den might be, showing the vixen going to and fro in the night, carrying mysterious bundles away from the den, (cubs? dead or alive?) seeing off an intruder and keeping guard, bringing back a kill to the den, and eventually being rewarded with glimpses of bouncy little cubs. There were four cubs which over the weeks they were observed , were seen to get ever larger, stronger and more robust until they were play -fighting with gusto.

Meanwhile, not far away, there were other goings-on outside an entrance to a badger sett. This camera was positioned very close to the hole and was not infrequently used by the emerging badgers as a scratching post which resulted in some very close-up shots, and sounds , not to mention a very muddy camera. The badgers were sometimes seen in pairs, and frequently scent- marked and were also seen gathering fresh bedding. The animals needed to be within a few metres of the camera to come into range, and considering how dangerous the jaws of a badger can be, it was very surprising to see how many of them ventured perilously close to the sett--a fox, squirrel, mouse, shrew, rat , domestic cat, rabbits and a further mystery guest. The rabbits must have been particularly vulnerable, but even a litter of tiny kits were seen , at one time five of them fighting to feed from the doe. The mystery visitor did not conveniently pose for the camera. It was a little smaller than the badgers and a lot quicker with a different shaped tail and on one very brief view there seemed to be white face markings. It wasn't unanimous but it was thought to be a pole cat.

The results from a fourth camera were presented by DW to finish off, and there was no doubt what they showed---a family of otters! The perfectly placed camera even captured them up close marking their territory. There was spraint galore.
The scheduled video show was over but at the end , RJ produced a series of even more remarkable shots from his camera where he had photographed a grass snake catching a frog by a hind leg and with each successive shot the poor frog gradually disappeared until all that could be seen of it was a big bulge within its captor.

In conclusion, the answer to the original question has to be a resounding YES, there are wild beasts in Llanblethian.

14 March 2019
African Wildlife

The speaker at the March 2019 meeting of the Cowbridge U3A Natural Group was globe-trotting Group Leader Teresa Jenkins. She and her husband had taken advantage of an invitation to a niece’s wedding at Victoria Falls in 2018 to extend their stay in Africa along with other family members to see the fabulous wildlife.
First on the itinerary, before the wedding, was Chobe National Park in Botswana, famous for its elephants. They weren’t disappointed, seeing a large herd of these pachyderms on the river bank, as well as a younger bull elephant swimming across the river. Crocodiles and hippos also made an appearance, but the best sighting was of a leopard, resting in the shade under a tree after making a kill – rarely do tourists get such a good view of this big cat, which usually hides on a tree branch in the foliage.
Next, they visited the Okavango delta, where a pack of 8 wild dogs was encountered, feasting on a reedbuck they had recently killed and dismembered. A smallish pool of water contained at least 27 hippos, not pleased at being disturbed. In their camp, which was unfenced, a single bull elephant was photographed roaring and flapping his ears, angry at something. No wonder that, after dark, guests had to be accompanied back to their lodges by an armed warden.
A short pause in the wildlife safari followed when they flew to Victoria Falls for the wedding, but there was still time for sightseeing at the magnificent waterfalls.
The final part of the trip was a visit to Rwanda to see the famous mountain gorillas, staying in a lodge at an elevation of 2,300m (over 7,500 feet) – hot in the day, but very cold at night (when log fires and hot water bottles were provided).
To see the gorillas required an early start, in a small group of only 7 tourists, led by an experienced guide. After an hour of hacking through the forest with machetes, the party suddenly met a large male silverback gorilla. Fortunately, the guide, who had worked with Dian Fossey, the American primatologist, conservationist and writer of ‘Gorilla in the Mist’, could speak ‘gorilla’ and was able to reassure the gorilla that all was well.
Tourists are supposed to stay at least 7m away from any gorilla, but a short video taken by Teresa’s brother showed one American woman getting too close for comfort and an annoyed gorilla suddenly appearing right in the foreground, expressing his displeasure.
Although the gorillas are used to people, the rule is for tourists to spend no more than an hour with them.
Teresa concluded her talk with photographs of some of the colourful birds seen on the trip, such as saddle-billed stork, African skimmer (reminiscent of a tern, but with a much larger bill and a lower mandible much longer than the upper), the kori bustard (the national bird of Botswana), violet-backed starling, and several types of colourful rollers.
The audience of thirteen then showed their appreciation for Teresa's excellent illustrated talk.
SPM

7 February 2019
Wildlife of the Scottish Isles

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There was an audience of thirteen, which included one new group member, for John Andrew’s illustrated talk on the cruise Anna and he had made from Oban to Aberdeen, via Muckle Flugga and a number of other islands.
The first stop for the 60-passenger ship was Mingulay, where the swell prevented a landing. Birds seen were gannet, white-tailed eagle, shags, guillemot, razorbills, fulmars and the kleptoparasitic great skua.
Next stop in the Outer Hebrides was Vatersay, where John showed some stunning views from the hilltop. Northern wheatear, great northern diver, skylark, lapwing and pied wagtail were photographed here.
Onwards to St Kilda (actually 3 islands), which has had no permanent population since 1930, although National Trust staff are there in the summer months. Wild sheep roam the landscape with its derelict houses and stone storage structures called cleits. The sea stacks were covered in gannets; about 30% of our national breeding population nest here.
In 1878, St Kilda was the only place in the UK where fulmars could be found.
Sula Sgeir is one of the most remote islands in the British Isles, but 10 men spend two weeks there every year collecting 2,000 young gannets, which are then sold for up to £16 each. The hunt is licensed, but it has been criticised by animal welfare groups.
Another remote island was North Rona, uninhabited since 1885, but still used for grazing sheep in summer.
The ship sailed on to Foula, in the Shetlands’ archipelago, which has a permanent population of 30 – and an airstrip. Black guillemot, easily recognised by their red bills and legs, were seen here. The island also has a large colony of great skuas, a bird whose numbers are rising (unlike, for example, kittiwakes).
Muckle Flugga is a small rocky island in the Shetland Islands and is often described as the northernmost point of the British Isles, but the smaller islet of Out Stack is actually farther north. It used to be the northernmost inhabited island, but forfeited that accolade when the lighthouse was automated in 1995 and the last residents moved out.
The name comes from the Old Norse, Mikla Flugey, meaning; "large, steep-sided island".
Birds photographed near Unst, another northerly island, were black headed gull, turnstone, sanderling, eider duck, redshank and the not-so-common common gull.
Fitlar, known as the garden of the Shetlands, was where red-necked phalarope were spotted, the rarest bird seen on the voyage. It is the male of this starling-sized bird who incubates the eggs. The population was down to 25 males in 2014, but numbers have increased since the RSPB started managing breeding sites.
Lerwick (population nearly 7,000) was the location of another unusual sighting, a juvenile bearded seal; these are normally associated with the Arctic Ocean. By contrast, John also photographed a mute swan here, which is about as far north as they range.
Mousa is a small island, uninhabited since the nineteenth century, and known for the Broch, an Iron Age round tower. This is designated as a Special Protection Area for storm petrel breeding colonies. John admitted that the photograph of storm petrels shown wasn’t his; the birds are only active at night on land.
Fair Isle, three miles long by one and a half miles wide and home to just sixty people, is world
famous for traditional crafts, stunning scenery and birdlife. The island has a hostel for birdwatchers.
Snipe, golden plover, whooper swans, arctic skuas and lots of camera-friendly puffins featured in the photographs taken here.
There were also some unpleasant shots of puffins being attacked by fulmars, presumably to steal food in the well-known manner of skuas.
The last island to feature in the talk was Westray (population 90) in the Orkneys. As well as birds like lapwing, common tern, sanderling, redshank and twite, there were also photos of the Knap of Howar, a prehistoric farmstead dating from 3,700BC, which makes it older than the better known Skara Brae settlement.
Finally, to end the cruise, it was on to Aberdeen, where a visit to Crathes Castle yielded a photo of nesting house martins.

Our thanks go to John for an excellent talk, accompanied by his own wildlife photographs (apart from one!).
SPM