Tag Archives: birds

Llanelli Wetlands – so good we went there twice

by thehistoryinterpreter

There were plans for three out of the four days of our stay, so a decision had to be made about what to do with the spare day. We are aware that there are parts of the country we’ve never been, so places have to be particularly special for us to be thinking of a return visit. With that in mind, we are unlikely to stay in this area again, so I chose a return visit to the wetlands to see the section we didn’t have the energy for last time. Today we are exploring the Millenium Wetlands, totally different from what we have already seen. This section is almost devoid of people and we pop in and out of various hides to see what we can see. I am making full use of the Merlin app, which tells me what I can hear, so I am counting those on my list. Excited to have very nearly but sadly not quite, been quick enough to photograph a chiffchaff, of which, Merlin tells me there are a great many, chiffing and chaffing away. List below for bird fans as usual.

The café was an obligation of course and then a hunting for something even more elusive than a rare bird, the lesser spotted and endangered species that is a bank of a specific variety. We establish the address and ask Sally the sat nav to take us to the nearest car park. Just a shame this car park is no longer operational. We find on-street parking, for one hour only, the bank, says Google maps on my phone, which has very little battery due to all the bird identifying, is a seven minute walk away and we safely locate it. This branch of this bank is due to close in a couple of months due to ‘nobody using it in the afternoons’. It is afternoon. We spend 40 minutes there during which time two harassed staff try to cope with at least two dozen nobodies, all with less than straightforward queries. In the end we give up waiting and rush back to the car just as our allotted hour expires.

The afternoon is spent using the one bar of wifi to try to uncover the story of a bigamist. Yes I know I said this was, unusually, a no family history trip but I fell over this in the process of solving a totally different query that popped into my inbox.

Birds seen: Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Egret, Moorhen, Mallard, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Wood Pigeon, Great Tit, Black-backed Gull, Shelduck, Yellow-billed Duck, Re-breasted Goose, White-winged Wood Duck, Bufflehead, Snow Goose, a Puss Moth caterpillar and a Slow Worm (yes, I know the last two aren’t birds).

Llanelli Wetland Centre

by thehistoryinterpreter

A short drive along the northern shores of the River Lougher and we are at the Llanelli Wetland Centre. We have a lovely wander round, popping in and out of various hides and unlike many of our forays to see wildlife, we do see a wide variety of wildfowl. The list is below if anyone is interested. There is also a distinct and pervading smell of cannabis at one point, although no other people are in view; very strange. Although much cooler than of late, it is a little on the cosy side and we repair to the café – hurray, coffee in sensible shaped mugs again. I was a bit disappointed to realise that we had actually only seen half of what was on offer but it really was too hot to walk another three miles or so round the other paths. The only negative was that they no longer supply paper maps. I do understand the need to save trees but I really can’t be doing with following a map on my phone. If it is big enough to read then I can’t see enough of it to work out where to go next. It would have helped if there were more copies of the map in places around the site. Note to self to print the map in advance if we ever come again to do the other half.

Then it is back to the van for a lazy afternoon. The adjacent Country Park is hosting Armed Forces Day, so we can hear military bands and World War 2 songs in the distance.

In the evening, we stroll towards the Country Park. This was formerly the site of a munitions factory. In 1881, the Explosives Company, based in Stowmarket, Suffolk, dredged the harbour, which allowed ships to bring in necessary construction materials. There were several tragedies, including an explosion in 1882, that killed seven workers, the youngest being thirteen and a fire the following year. There were further fatal explosions in 1917, 1920 and 1922. In 1914, a Glasgow Company set up a TNT factory on the site. At its height, during the First World War, there were over 6000 employees in the two factories, the majority of whom were female. Although munitions production closed in 1935, with a convalescent home utilising the buildings and the land becoming a camp for the children of unemployed miners, as the Second World War dawned, production restarted and more fatalities ensued. The factory finally closed in 1963, with the Park opening in 1980.

Rook, Mallard, Mute Swan, Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Coscoroba Swan, Australian Wood Duck, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon. Shelduck, Crow, Barnacle Goose, Chestnut Teal, Graylag Goose, Canada Goose. Moorhen, Magpie, Red-breasted Goose, Scaup, Snow Goose, Black-necked Swan, Sedge Warbler. The last one was heard only and I’ll fess up I can’t tell a sedge warbler from any other kind of small brown bird and in this case, we only heard it. I’m hopeless at birdsong too but this identification came aid of an app.

Up the Garden Path 17

by thehistoryinterpreter

We’ve not been up the garden path for a while because it has been winter and I am not a winter gardener. There have been some minor changes. I’ve planted some bulbs in troughs. I was a bit late doing this and they aren’t showing yet, although others in the garden are coming through. I’ve tried yet again with snowdrops and ended up buying some already in flower. The jury is out on whether they will reappear next year. The bulbless troughs looked a bit bare, so I’ve popped some bright primulas in as well. Otherwise it has mostly been a case of syphoning out the ’pond’ (aka old Belfast sink) when it gets overfull and on a couple of occasions, breaking ice on the bird bath.

The birds get fed regularly and I have glimpsed blue tits again a couple of times, after an absence of several months. In the hope of enticing them back, I’ve got a new bird feeder that allows small birds in and keeps the bullies out. Sadly, the garden has its far share of large birds, with magpies, woodpigeons and jackdaws being daily visitors with herring gulls and rooks joining the party. Don’t get me wrong, I like to see any kind of birds but some more smaller ones would be lovely. Sparrows nest in the hedge and there’s been a wren bobbing about, as well as blackbirds, although I am missing the robin who hasn’t been seen for a while. As soon as temperatures reach double figures on a day when it isn’t raining, I will be out tackling the weeds. There are a great many growing in the cracks between the patio paving stones. I don’t want to repoint the gaps as then there’s nowhere for the rain to drain away.

One good thing about this garden is that there is something in flower all the year round. At the moment, it is the Camellias that are the showstoppers, although there are a few other things as a supporting act. The lemon tree has been popped in the shed for the duration as advised. Roll on spring!

Up the Garden Path 2

by thehistoryinterpreter

To be honest, it hasn’t really been the weather for fair-weather gardeners like me, or indeed any sort of gardener but yesterday the sun came out and the temperature was in double figures, so I ventured forth. The previous owner of my garden had left me numerous pots containing plants in various stages of liveliness and an eclectic selection of garden ornaments. I decided to triage these into ‘will keep’, ‘will humanely dispose of’ and ‘not sure yet’. Plant wise, there are more exciting finds as the year moves on; today’s included hellebores and miniature daffodils.

We began to trim back the winter jasmine, which is rapidly taking over the one flower bed. Other tasks for the afternoon were to deal with my many troughs of geranium cuttings which have been keeping warm in the summer house. Obviously not warm enough as about half are dead, or covered in what Mr Google tells me is powdery mildew. Sick plants were removed and what remained were rationalised into fewer troughs.

Next came the task of measuring the garden, in preparation for trying to draw up a plan. I decided to go for feet and inches, rather than anything metric as I still have to ‘translate’ metric measurements in my head. This was a test of my mathematical skills as my trusty assistant kept calling out the measurements in feet and inches, rather than just inches, which us what I wanted. Good job I know my twelve times table. The whole measuring thing was definitely not easy as I can’t actually reach some of my boundaries due to shrubbery and the many sheds. Added to that, the plot isn’t even remotely rectangular. Not only are there some funny angles created by the perimeter fencing but the garage and sheds are also not all set square. I have a load of scribbles and numbers but whether I will stand any chance of making it into a coherent drawing whose edges join up remains to be seen.

For those who are interested, very roughly, the plot is 35 feet wide by 22 feet deep, minus the space taken up by the conservatory and plus the extra space along the side between the bungalow and the house. One pretty much counteracts the other space wise. Note for some of my overseas readers, in the UK, a bungalow is a single story dwelling not a shack. If my maths is right, I have about 70 square yards, not, of course, at all the same as 70 yards squared! For those of you in foreign, about 58 square metres, which, unbelievably because it seems really tiny to me, is classed as a medium sized garden by the RSPB (Royal Society for Protection of Birds) when you submit your results for their great garden bird watch. By UK standards, particularly with a newer built property (mine was built in 2000), small gardens are the norm. On the subject of birds, I was concerned that this would be one thing I’d lack when I moved but I’ve seen eleven different varieties of bird in the garden (or viewed from the garden on neighbouring roofs or trees) so far in February, a similar number to the old garden, although very different regular visitors. Not bad considering the property had been empty for a fair while before I moved in, so, despite the bird table that was left behind, I doubt the birds had been fed here for over a year. The bird bath, another legacy from the previous owner, is very popular and that will definitely be staying.

This is a long-term project. Don’t expect swift progress!