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oded shade somewhat surprisingly a black labrador dog by the name of dylan bounded up to me in excited fashion with tail in full wagging action in the distance its owner who as i approached asked if i was photographing the ants i explained that i was an all round naturalist but that ants were not on my photographic agenda for the day dropping down in to the railway cutting that snakes from waunafon bog to connect to the active part of the blaenavon heritage railway near to garn lakes local nature reserve lnr the creeping willow with its silvery foliage another rare plant in these parts was clearly visible in the distance a lady was walking her dog whilst simultaneously swiping at the growing number of ants i danced around some newly deposited dogs doings before agreeing to submit to the dominance of ants and turned for home posted by valley naturalist at 08 38 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest thursday 6 march 2025 old men coughing gently just an hour or so west is kenfig pool and dunes national nature reserve nnr but it s not a site i ve frequented my last visit was some years ago when i attended an excellent stonewort course on this occasion it was my son who provided the motivation as he was keen to try out his new camera lens on a coastal landscape my recent retirement gave me the opportunity to choose a day of the week that looked favourable in terms of weather and so it proved the sky was largely blue with just a few clouds and the wind was light the ideal conditions for a trek through the dunes towards sker beach we arrived mid morning to be greeted by a group of student like individuals preparing for a days practical volunteering on the reserve they quickly dispersed following a man driving a quad type vehicle so we made our way to the waterside hoping the catch a glimpse of the long staying celebrity american wigeon a conversation with a fellow birder provided some useful information on the birds location on the lake seemed it had struck up a friendship with a coot unfortunately the hide was occupied with the aforementioned students so we agreed to return later from the pool lake we made our way through the dune system towards the coastal destination sker beach this was easier said than done as the previous weeks rainfall had accumulated around the base of the dunes making it difficult to follow the time worn footpaths a number of diversions were necessary before we arrived within sight and sound of the coastal line a group of about 25 fieldfare moved overhead and two skylark sang as we emerged on to the pebble strewn upper shoreline we paused to take in the view of port talbot steelworks that framed the western seascape and its incoming tide elsewhere the expansive sandy beach was sparsely populated only a few lowry type figures could be seen walking dogs in the distance we walked to the waters edge before moving on to the rocky spit that is sker point a cormorant passed overhead here there were more people with dogs and children enjoying the feel of an early spring late winter day two horse riders galloped down the beach into the the haze and beyond once again pausing to take in the coastal vista i found a mermaids purse amongst the peddles and other strandline ephemera before we d realised it was early afternoon so we agreed to make our way back through the dunes towards kenfig pool the hide and hopefully the american wigeon on route a pair of stonechat showed well as did a light aircraft that provided a moment of alarm as it dived twisted and turned overhead before moving eastwards eventually we arrived albeit with growing fatigue at the hide by now my son was complaining of strained muscle and wasn t keen on entering a bird hide full of old men coughing gently as it happened it was only occupied by two other people and only one could be described as old the pool was well populated with wildfowl the american wigeon was distant but good views of gadwall kingfisher and goldeneye were obtained a cetti s warbler sang loudly from the willow scrub behind the hide and at this point we agreed to make our way home with the satisfaction of a very enjoyable day behind us posted by valley naturalist at 06 46 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest sunday 9 february 2025 no raptors a late afternoon jaunt to the margins of waunafon bog on the outskirts of blaenavon was intended as a raptor watching session this large expanse of molina dominated mire habitat sits at the headwaters of the afon lwyd and is strategically important for biodiversity as well as for its flood mitigation potential to date all efforts to encourage the landowner and common land farmers to work in partnership with public bodies to enhance the site for mutual benefit has failed in the meantime the bog continues to march along its successional route with an ever increasing amount of scrub development the bog has become something of a winter pilgrimage for birders mainly due to the presence of overwintering short eared owls unfortuntely this visit produced nothing but a charm of around 20 goldfinch and a small roost of magpie it was nevertheless nice to talk to a passer by about the value of the bog and short eared owls posted by valley naturalist at 08 48 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest sunday 28 april 2024 spring flora of churchyards llanfoist abergavenny nipped into this churchyard while waiting to pick up my son from his friend not visited this site before so was instantly struck by its different feel when compared to the churchyards in the valleys the vegetation was uncut allowing plants such as cow parsley to thrive there were as with many public sites a good population of spanish bluebell some complete with bluebell rust all in all a very pleasing churchyard that s certainly due another visit posted by valley naturalist at 07 48 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest thursday 4 april 2024 spring flora of churchyards llanfihangel pontymoel having visited this churchyard many times over the years i m reasonable familiar with its flora however i sense a decline in its value that s evident through the felling of a couple of mature trees and an a gradual extension to a more uniform grassland sward as with most churchyards at this time of year there are many native and cultivar primroses a small watercourse that runs through part of the site is flanked by ancient woodland indicator plants such as dogs mercury wood anemone and ramsons the native bluebells that carpet part of the churchyard have yet to come into flower but the increasingly widespread spanish variety is now showing well i ve only found solomen s seal in this churchyard but i ve yet to determine if this specimen is native or a garden hybrid troublingly there s also a patch of japanese knotweed in terms of birds a couple of goldcrest moved between several yew trees a chiffchaff called from just beyond the churchyard with a blackcap in the distance posted by valley naturalist at 18 35 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest monday 1 april 2024 spring flora of churchyards llanfrechfa despite having no affinity to religion churchyards are go to locations for me for a naturalist they are often a refuge for nature squeezed from the surrounding landscape by creeping urbanisation and intensive agriculture spring can be a good time to visit as many churchyards are clad with the colour of early flowering ground flora and early enough to beat the first tidiness cut of busy parishioners these islands of semi naturalness dovetail native plants with naturalised cultivar varieties making biological recording both exciting and challenging this churchyard overlooks the sheep grazed fields of ponthir and the animal sanctuary of all creatures great and small the green space itself wraps around a large imposing church and like many churchyards has an old more species rich burial area that s juxtaposed with intensively managed contemporary burial plots the treescape is dominated by a number of mature beech trees there is the obligatory yew tree along with irish yew cherry laurel and a few conifers on entering wood forget me not and greater celandine has taken hold at the base of the boundary stone wall and the colour of a carpet of lesser celandine and primroses is impressive but weakens as it progresses towards the modern day burial area on closer inspection and as expected within the abundant flowering primroses there are a variety of colour and shapes here too a chiffchaff could be heard singing in the distance with greenfinch closer by to accompany the novelty primroses there are flowering grape hyacinth and spanish bluebell a detailed more forensic examination of the sward revealed several vetch species dog and early dog violets pignut herb robert red dead nettle wood anemone and creeping cinquefoil posted by valley naturalist at 09 46 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest older posts home subscribe to posts atom diary of a welsh naturalist looking for nature in unusual places raising an eyebrow of passers by news observation field reports identification and mis identification commentary opinion culture social history nostalgia humour silly free and critical thinking popular eclectic questioning left field thoughts musings challenging orthodoxy from the coalface and the airing of hobby horses views are my own my own primary motivation for protecting the environment has nothing to do with economics it is deeply rooted in the pleasure i derive from contact with the natural world and the moral conviction that we hold the environment in trust for future generations professor sir john lawton cbe frs 2010 i have the heart of a naturalist the head of a would be scientist and bones of someone who is already wearied by the apathy and destruction wielded against the natural world dara mcanulty 2020 followers my patch gwent feedjit live blog stats creative commons valley naturalist by steve williams is licensed under a creative commons attribution noncommercial noderivs 3 0 unported license based on a work at www valleynaturalist blogspot com my blog list vc41 dragonflies and damselflies parc penallta 22 04 2026 hi everyone the new season as started a nice sunny day but a bit windy i managed to get out and about initially looking for 3 weeks ago mountain birder ravens nesting in our wood i ve noticed over the last few weeks that the raven s have been hanging around near my home area often sitting on a telegraph post near the house and c 3 weeks ago ring watching at antrim marina bhg blue 2fhv back home in iceland black headed gull 2fhv back in iceland around supper time on monday 13th april 2026 i received an email from iceland the email was fro 4 weeks ago richard louv blog please join me for the launch on june 23 of my new book noticing intimate encounters with the natural world please join me for the official launch of my new book noticing intimate encounters with the natural world june 23 2026 7 30 pm at warwick s bookst 5 weeks ago tallaght gulls rings swan nesting notes cygnets already 10 05 2026 fr collins park hatched sean walsh stadium hatched 7 6 surviving grand canal dock hatched grangecastle hatched 6 5 weeks ago the lyons den kill switch i have just got back from a well needed mini break something i always do to mark the change between the winter id and write up period and the start of m 5 weeks ago ornito addiction bibliografia de avifauna canaria ultimas publicaciones estamos en un momento excepcional pasan años sin que tengamos novedades en publicaciones sobres aves en canarias y casualmente en este final del 2025 y 2 months ago cardiff naturalists society back in the mists of time back in the mists of time we had an idea to help the national museum of wales by cleaning conserving scanning and digitising the morrey salmon glass 6 months ago south wales bryophytes twin tips earlier this week i carried out a bryophyte survey of the twin tips two prominent colliery spoil heaps at dare valley country park for buglife s ongoin 6 months ago ruffled feathers they re back over the last week madalina and i had been heading out on to the hills in mid wales to check if any woodcock had made their way back some of our ringing 6 months ago monmouthshire moth and butterfly group still plenty of butterflies about 7 months ago 3 valleys birding rhaslas 22 07 2025 slowly slipping away and no one gives a fuck bit of a surprise this morning a passing osprey didn t hang about also usual pa 9 months ago gwent birding white tailed eagle at goldcliff as cat e birds go white tailed eagle isn t too shoddy maybe not as good as a nice escaped duck but beats crane great bustard or white stork any day 1 year ago gulls to the horizon article published suspended and delayed primary moult in breeding european herring gulls in the dutch colony of ijmuiden forteiland caluta october 2024 i m happy to see my first ever article published in caluta october 2024 about suspended and delayed primary moult in adult dutch herring gulls this jou 1 year ago lundy birds we re migrated to a new website this blogspot is no longer active and will continue to be hosted online as an archive but never fear all of your favourite island news and more and can n 2 years ago iab blog bryophyte flora of thailand initiatives the flora of thailand project has been documenting the diversity of vascular plants in thailand since 1963 and is producing a large volume of 5 years ago my life outside dale and port eynon kayaking we were planning to do a whole lot more kayaking this year than last but as with most things in 2020 those plans had to take a backseat thankfully lockdo 5 years ago bag a wild one a bit of perfecting the new trail camera after looking at the first batch of photos from my new camera trap i decided to do a bit of a re jig i have altered the angle to catch more of the foregro 6 years ago bto bird migration blog mid february to mid march for me the period from mid february to mid march has always felt a bit of a damp squib the renewed vigour of new year has started to wane but spring 6 years ago glamorgan moth recording group moth dissection course i am running a dissection course at the sewbrec office at the end of the february and we have two spaces left if you are interested please contact me d 6 years ago gulldk glaucous gull larus hyperboreus 3cy 18 01 2020 grenå harbour together with a 1cy caspian gull larus cachinnans 6 years ago wader world com buff b s at davidstow september 2019 buff breasted sandpiper adult davidstow airfield cornwall september 2019 during september 2019 news came through of an adult buff b at davidstow air 6 years ago gower wildlife castell du water pipit at castell du late afternoon kingfisher and green sandpiper also 6 years ago northamptonshire dragonf...