We love Wales!

Blog post: What does a Gannet and a Black Guillemot have to do with the State of Nature - Gareth Cunningham explains

Dana Thomas — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:35:00 GMT

What were a Gannet and a Black Guillemot doing in Cardiff on Wednesday morning? Well on Wednesday 22 may we (that’s RSPB Cymru and 25 other wildlife orgsniations) launched the State of Nature Report in Techniquest, down in Cardiff Bay. For a low down on the evening go to this blog. But to give the day a marine feel and to grab some attention, the two of us made our way to the steps of the Sennedd to hand out personal invites to our AMs, dressed as an oversized Gannet and Black Guillemot!

With over 1,300 miles of coastline, Wales is an exceptional place for its marine wildlife! RSPB Grassholm with its 39,000 gannets is the third largest colony on the planet, that’s means one in ten of the world's gannets live there. Ynys Feurig, Cemlyn Bay the Skerries are also internationally important, and are home to Sandwich, common and Arctic terns, 3000 pairs of Arctics make their home on the Skerries - the largest UK colony.

But its not just birds! 40% of the world’s population of Atlantic grey seals can be found in the UK. The largest colonies in the Irish Sea are found around the Welsh coastline, particularly on Skomer and RSPB Ramsey Island. There are believed to be approximately 200 bottlenose dolphins in Cardigan Bay, which is one of only two semi-resident bottlenose dolphin populations in the whole of the UK.

But our marine wildlife is under threat and many species are in decline.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),uses a traffic light system to show at risk species globally. Of the 37 species of seabirds listed by the IUCN, 10 found in Wales are on the red list (most at threat), These include Puffins and arctic terns. Only five species are listed as green (doing ok), that mean a staggering 22 are in amber - a worrying trend of decline.

The impacts on our marine life are many and varied, often suffering from an out of sight – out of mind mentality.

Just this year we’ve seen the devastating impacts of winter storms on Puffins in the North sea, with thousands expected dead. The effects of climate change are increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, its another pressure these birds could do without.

But its not just climate change, marine pollution takes its toll. Already this year we’ve witnessed thousands of deaths linked to multiple at sea releases of polyisobutene or PIBs .You can read more about that here and the work we are doing to prevent further disasters.

Are there any solutions?

We are still campaigning for a complete network of marine protected sites for seabirds. We have a number of sites where our seabirds breed, but very little protection for where they actively feed or undertake other essential activities such as mating rituals.

Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) provide a useful tool to create much needed space to protect both the rare and nationally important species, like bottlenose dolphins, but to also protect the common species – to avoid them becoming rare in the future. Coupled with sensible management of activities at sea we can provide the protection our marine wildlife needs and support truly sustainable activities.

Working in partnership

But we can’t do it alone! The seas are a big place, almost doubling the size of Wales. Only by working in partnership with Government and marine users can we begin to create a sustainable marine environment in Wales. One that ensures recovery of our declining species and creates a real future for all our amazing marine wildlife.

What can you do?

We are committed to driving the changes that needs to happen, but we don’t have all the answers. In his speech at the launch of the State of Nature Report on Wednesday in London, Sir David Attenborough concluded that 'This is a call to arms. The future of Nature lies with you all, and it is a necessity on behalf of the people of this country.'

I couldn’t agree with him more, if you have thoughts on how we can deliver a brighter future for our marine environment we’d love to hear from you. Gareth Cunningham is Marine Policy Officer for RSPB Cymru.

Blog post: It is official: Nature’s in trouble in Wales

Bethan Lloyd RSPB — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:12:00 GMT

Blog written by Sean Christian, Head of Conservation RSPB Cymru

Experts seldom agree on anything. When they do, it’s usually because the facts are beyond doubt. That was certainly the case yesterday, when experts from all the UK’s wildlife organisations spoke with one voice and a simple, clear message: there’s overwhelming evidence that nature’s in trouble.

What's in the report?

For the first time ever, 25 nature organisations have joined forces to compile the State of Nature report - all the latest scientific data on everything that grows, creeps, crawls, flutters and flaps, collected together to give the biggest, clearest picture yet of what is happening to our wildlife. The world is full of unnecessary reports but this one is vital – it’s a world first - a modern Domesday book for Nature.

That‘s the good news... but the findings are bleak. 60% of (3000+) species for which data are available have declined over the last 50 years. In Wales, one in seven plants is threatened. 63% of our butterflies are declining. Once-common birds like the curlew, lapwing and golden plover, have declined by more than three quarters in recent decades. We have lost corn buntings and turtle doves as regularly breeding species. The pressures on the natural world are growing and our response to the biodiversity crisis is not working. The nature that we take for granted now will not be part of our children's lives when they grow up.

This makes very hard reading, but the challenge to governments and environmental bodies, conservationists and nature-lovers is clear. Business as usual is not enough – it hasn’t stopped these huge declines. Wildlife is at crisis point in Wales.

An emotional launch...

Our State of Nature launch was at Techniquest in Cardiff Bay last night. And what a night it was! Iolo Williams, delivered a challenging keynote address, combining anger and poetry in equal measure, and brought tears to many eyes in the audience as he recalled a lifetime of growing-up, living and working in Wales, and the changes to nature during his 50 years. You could hear a pin drop as he spoke with sadness of water voles gone from streams where he fished as a boy and silent valleys where no curlews call. In a voice wavering with emotion he challenged us all to make a positive difference, so that we can look our grandchildren in the eyes and know we did our bit.

Plantlife’s Dr Trevor Dines gave an equally heartfelt address. He brought the report to life with real examples of conservation success and failure from his on-the-ground experience of working to conserve Wales’ wildflowers and fungi. Trevor emphasised the value of the partnership-approach for giving all of nature a voice, and he took the opportunity to acknowledge and say a big ‘Thank you’ to the multitude of volunteers across Wales who collect the data on our wildlife that made the production of State of Nature, and conservation in general, possible.

The Minister responsible for the Environment, Alun Davies AM, spoke too. He reaffirmed his commitment to our natural environment, demonstrated during the 2010 Biodiversity Enquiry, and his desire to take this forward within his Ministerial brief. He welcomed the report, undertook to respond quickly and work closely with the partnership to find creative solutions here in Wales. After all the evidence of decline, Alun’s response gave a much-needed ray of hope for the nature of Wales.

You can read the full report here: www.rspb.org.uk/stateofnature

Blog post: Adroddiad cyntaf o'i fath yn cael ei lawnsio heddiw - Sefyllfa Byd Natur / The first report of its kind is launched today - State of Nature

Dana Thomas — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:12:00 GMT

Blog post: Give and gain Day and Newport Wetlands Visitor Centre - guest blog by Emma Roberts

Dana Thomas — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:02:00 GMT

So the perks of my job mean that I get to spend some days out of the office with some wonderful volunteers. The place in question is Newport Wetlands Visitor Centre and the wonderful volunteers are 20 corporate volunteers from the Office for National Statistics and Wales & West Utilities.

These two groups of volunteers had chosen to donate their volunteering time to RSPB Cymru for Give and Gain Day. Give & Gain Day is the UK’s only national day of employee volunteering and this year it took place today (Friday 17 May). The day encourages thousands of people across the globe to spend a working day volunteering for good causes in their local community.

The day started out with both groups raring to go, in fact both companies had been busy raising funds for some of the equipment needed to complete the projects a few weeks prior to the volunteering day.
What did we get them doing I hear you ask? In the past we have struggled with the timings of Give & Gain day, as May for nature is breeding time – so we do no habitat management and very little estate management. This year our Youth and Education team came up with the perfect creative activity…creating felt mini beasties and creating interpretation slates!

Wales & West Utilities created the felt mini beasties, these will be used in our wildlife garden at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, helping us to explain to children and adults why certain plants and other garden features are good for certain species. The interpretation slates will also be used at the show to describe what each plant is, when to plant and what it is good for. A final ask was for wildlife bunting to add a touch of pizzazz! to our garden.

The Office for National Statistics were given a very large pile of wood and asked to create nest box packs that we could use in our summer workshops with children, which would encourage them to go home and create a space for wildlife in their own garden. Whilst this sounds quite simple it’s a very time consuming task and each box needs to be cut to a specific size – with a certain hole size for the bird drilled through, then pre drilled so that they are easy for children to put together.
Both teams said they’d had a great day and that it really broadened their skill base and built a great team spirit – so all in all the day was a MASSIVE success!! Thank you to everyone who got involved!
Emma Roberts is Volunteer Development Officer for RSPB Cymru, if you have been inspired to do something like this please give Emma a call to discuss it further on 02920 353 000.

Blog post: RSPB Cymru Director speaking at debate in Chapter, Cardiff

Laura — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:37:00 GMT

Katie-jo Luxton, Director of RSPB Cymru, will be speaking at the following Coffee Shop debate organised by the Institute for Welsh Affairs at Chapter next month. Please see below for details about the evening event. If you would like to attend please email emmabrennan@iwa.org.uk or call 029 2066 0820.

Hope to see you there!

IWA Coffee Shop Debate @ Chapter, Market Street, Canton, Cardiff.
6.30-7.30pm on 4th June 2013

Restoring our wildlife – why investing in our natural capital could give Wales the economic edge and true sustainability.
With RSPB Cymru’s Director Katie-jo Luxton.
Wales is well placed to market its incredible natural environment as a unique visitor destination, bringing both economic investment and jobs to rural communities. Despite wildlife and environmental tourism contributing over £9 billion each year to the Welsh economy, the financial benefits of investing in a healthy environment have largely gone unrecognised.
We need to rethink our approach to our natural resources and fully realise their role in underpinning our economy and society. Maximising the value of these assets may be more about their stewardship than their exploitation.
We face challenging times ahead, with much of our charismatic wildlife in serious decline and climate change compounding the growing pressures on our environment we risk losing these assets forever. Katie-jo Luxton questions, how our path to economic recovery can go hand in hand with the resurgence of Welsh wildlife.

Blog post: Cosmeston Lakes

Anthony Walton — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:03:00 GMT

It is often said we forget what is on our doorstep, or that we don’t appreciate it. One such gem that is only half an hour’s drive from my home is Cosmeston Lakes. I used to visit the country park regularly when I was younger, but somehow fell out of the habit. I have mentioned in these blogs before how I had happened to be there when there was a bit of a mini twitch on for a Firecrest, so I knew it was a good Birdwatching area.

Cosmeston Lakes is a country park, situated in Lavernock, which is just North of Barry, with over one hundred hectares of grounds to explore. Some of the areas have been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest thus protecting the wonderful habitats that range from woodland to reedbed. Two flooded quarries form the centre piece of the park. If you are looking for a simple and not too challenging walk with some wonderful wildlife on offer there are few places in South Wales to rival it, which makes it all the odder that I neglect to go there. The park boasts quite an impressive species list. According to BTO Birdtrack data, the past two years have averaged over one hundred species of bird confirmed there, and this year already has a list of eighty one species confirmed (at time of writing this).

I decided to do a simple circuit of the Eastern Lake. The first things you will encounter by the visitor centre are large groups of Mute Swans, Herring Gulls, Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, Canadian Geese and Mallards. All are well accustomed to being fed by visitors. All are very noisy and boisterous. It’s a great place if you want to watch these birds up close, but I tend to head away from here pretty quickly and onto the boardwalk that transects the reed bed at the shoreline. This is a great place for doing one of the things I like to do rather a lot and now do rather well; standing very still and quiet. There are small platforms from which you can lean and just wait to see what is residing in the reeds at this time of year. If you are patient enough, and are lucky enough not to be disturbed then you can get some cracking close up views of Reed Warblers, Cetti Warblers, and if you are really really blessed a Bearded Tit. In a few weeks’ time the boardwalk will be alive with basking damselflies and dragonflies.

At the furthermost end of the boardwalk you enter a small woody glade, which is usually populated with the common garden birds. There is a feeding table from which Chaffinches, Great Tits, Blue Tit s and Blackbirds regularly feed. They are usually competing with cheeky Grey Squirrels. Whilst I was there Chiffchaffs and Robins competed from the uppermost branches of the trees for territories, and every so often a Wren would explode into song from within a scrubby bush.

The East and West Lakes are separated by a long path, which ends with a bridge that crosses. This makes another great place to watch any wildfowl that frequents the lake. There can be an impressive number of species on the lake at times, with the rare Lesser Scaup being a regular returning bird to the waters. During my visit it was fairly quiet, with just a few Canadian Geese who had got bored of an endless diet of bread paddling around beneath me. I then spied a couple of Great Crested Grebes heading towards me. I never get bored of seeing these iconic waterfowl. I thought that they were two males about square off with each other, but I was rather delighted to see that they were a male/ female pair, and they indulged in a little bit of a courtship dance and head flicking right in front of me.

The afternoon was turning into early evening now. You may or may not be aware, but as well as a Dawn Chorus there is an Evening Chorus too. It is not quite as spectacular as the start of the day, but there is an increase in bird song towards the end of the day. This was most definitely noticeable as I began to walk back to the visitor centre. I parked myself on a bench in the warm sunshine and was treated to a virtuoso performance by a male Blackbird in a tree next to me. It has recently been suggested that bird song is a wonderful stress buster. I can confirm this, as all my worries seemed to melt away as I listened to that sweet song for ten minutes or so. It was one of those magical moments that only Mother Nature could provide. The Blackbird was joined in a duet with a male Blackcap that hopped out onto a protruding branch. I broke the spell and wandered back to the visitor centre for a cup of coffee. One of the resident Grey Squirrels had popped in for a piece of toast it seemed, which made me smile as it made off with its bounty (not the chocolate bar!). Just before I left for home two Peacock Butterflies suddenly rose up into the air and performed an aerial ballet right in front of me. It was a timely reminder that summer is just around the corner, and the long (hopefully) hot days that the season provides. It also reminded me that Cosmeston is one of the best places in all of Wales to go butterfly spotting in the meadows at the north of park, and that I should not leave it so long before I go back this time!

All Images © Anthony Walton

Blog post: The Early Worm Catches The Birds

Anthony Walton — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:06:00 GMT

Any birder worth his salt will tell you that to do the best bit of birding you have to literally get up with the larks! I haven’t had an early morning at the Newport Wetlands foreshore for a couple of years now, so I decided to put that right last week. I decided to make the most of the sunshine and roll out of bed and into my car. I was there by 8am, and had the whole reserve to myself it seemed. Fortuitously I had timed my visit with a Spring High tide, with the sea right up to the sea wall. There were plenty of Shelducks and Geese swimming by, and two Oystercatchers sat nicely for photographic purposes on a convenient boulder!

The reed beds were alive with short bursts of songs from our returning warblers. Now is a good time to spot some of the more elusive species, as they are all re-fuelling after their incredible migration. It wasn’t long before I had seen my first Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, and a wonderfully displaying Sedge Warbler of 2013. I had then had an unexpected bonus; one of the most distinctive songs that can come from a reed bed is that of the Grasshopper Warbler. Even if you are as rubbish at bird song as I am, the chirring of the Grasshopper Warbler is an easy one to put to a species! One of the best things about visiting Newport Wetlands is patience can be rewarded. Once I located the rough location of the singing bird, it was a matter of just standing very still. Eventually I got my reward when the Grasshopper Warbler flew to another part of the reed bed.

I heard several Bearded Tits.

I saw two Bearded Tits.

I photographed no Bearded Tits!

By now the tide was receding and it was time to see if anything was feeding on the mudflats. The Canadian Geese had flown back onto the lagoons, but a number of Shelduck were feeding away. A small flock of Curlew were using their long beaks to probe for tasty morsels near the surface of the mud. One bird I had been hoping to see this year that has remained off my life list until now was a Whimbrel. It is very similar to the Curlew, but has a more distinct eye stripe and a much shorter bill. Luckily there was a bird club visiting the reserve, and they very kindly pointed out where the Whimbrels were feeding.

More summer migrants were singing from the scrubby edges of the sea wall. Whitethroats are a photographers dream; they love nothing more than singing from a conspicuous spot! One was holding a territory from all comers on a beam of one of the electricity pylons. I watched him fend of several usurpers over a ten minute or so period. Willow Warbler and Chiffchaffs were handily singing to help separate this most difficult of species to identify. The onomatopoeic “chiff-chaff chiff-chaff” is ever so useful whilst watching the little olive green birds dance around tree branches.

I moved to the hide to see what was on the lagoons. They were fairly well populated with a number of wildfowl including Great Crested and Little Grebes, Pochards and Tufted Ducks. I then had a wonderful example of how birders never look up... I sat in the hide compiling my Bird Track list. There wasn't a lot going on outside. I happened to look up as a Peregrine Falcon flew over the hide. It flew over the reeds trying to flush some birds, and then followed the path up the lighthouse. There were a number of people looking out to sea... not one of them saw it as far as I could tell!

It was now time to go home. I headed through the copse behind the hide and stopped to watch a couple of singing Blackcaps that have been resident on that part of the reserve for a couple of weeks now. Another resident bird, the Little Owl, was sat sun bathing on his usual spot as I brought the morning’s fantastic bird watching to a close. I ended up with a record breaking (for me at least) 51 species seen. The next time you wake up early and wonder what you’re going to do rather than lie in bed at silly o’clock waiting for the alarm to sound, why not get up, and head to your local reserve, you never know, you might just be in for a treat.

The Species List - Compiled using the wonderful Bird Track App.

NEWPORT WETLANDS SIGHTINGS FOR Friday, 26 April, 2013

Bearded Tit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti's Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Grasshopper Warbler, Great Crested Grebe, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Jay, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Little Owl, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pochard, Raven, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Robin, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Snipe, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Whinchat, Whimbrel, Whitethroat, Willow Tit, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.

© All Images – Anthony Walton (taken on the day of the visit.)

Blog post: An Evening With Iolo Williams

Anthony Walton — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:02:00 GMT

I was lucky enough to spend a pleasant evening in the company of BBC Wales and Springwatch presenter Iolo Williams last week.

Iolo Williams worked for the RSPB from 1985 until 1998 as the Species Officer for Wales, his main duties monitoring endangered species such as Red Kite, Black Grouse and Chough. He admitted he only left as he was threatened with a desk job, but his appearances on television as an unofficial spokesman on all matter Welsh wildlife brought him to the attention of program producers at the BBC. As he explained during his talk, he initially refused to get involved in television, as he knew how long it takes to make a program. He said he would invariably get distracted by the wildlife going around him, and would rather be looking for nests or what was calling from some nearby tree, than trying to film a piece to camera for the umpteenth time. Fortunately for us, he changed his mind, and he has given us some of the most incredible natural history programs the BBC have produced in the past decade, as well as highlighting our wonderful wildlife on Springwatch in recent years.

Iolo was giving a talk at The Village Hotel in Cardiff on Welsh Wildlife to raise funds for a charity trek up Kilimanjaro he is participating in later this year. It was not the first time I have met Iolo, having bumped into him on a few occasions at Newport Wetlands whilst he has been recording for his Radio Cymru nature series Byd Iolo or Galwad Cynnar, and he joined me on the RSPB stand at the Welsh Ornithological Society Conference of 2012. It has reassuring to learn by chatting with him that he has the same luck in seeing those near mythical birds, Bearded Tits, as I down at Uskmouth. I knew that we would be in for an interesting evening as his enthusiasm for wildlife is infectious and knows no bounds.

The talk was a journey from the Welsh mountains to under the waves and it highlighted all the flora and fauna we are blessed with in this wonderful Principality of ours. We all associate Iolo with birds generally, but it was good to see that our native plant species were included in the talk. He started our journey with the Snowdon Lilly, a delicate white flowering plant that is found nowhere else in the UK other than on the slopes of Snowdon. We then encountered our first bird, that uplands specialist the Black Grouse. Iolo enthusiastically played out a typical lek, comparing it to a nightclub but with the males doing the strutting to attract a mate, rather than the females. Moving into the ancient woodlands of mid Wales Iolo enthused about another bird that is on my own personal bucket list, the Pied Flycatcher. He also explained how climate change was affecting these birds, with their arrival beginning earlier in spring year on year. This was due to their main prey item, winter moth caterpillars becoming more abundant earlier in the season than ever before. The Pied Flycatchers arrive from their migration and can gorge themselves on the abundant supply of the caterpillars of the Winter Moth, unfortunately by the time they have young in the nest the caterpillars are short in supply. They simply cannot find enough food to feed their young.

The great Welsh iconic bird the Red Kite featured as we headed into the valleys. It was clearly a success story Iolo was quite proud of. I recently saw further evidence of the spread of these magnificent birds when I saw my first one in Gwent flying over the Celtic Manor Golf Course. Another icon, our Welsh daffodil got a special mention, with Iolo imploring local councils to plant our native species rather than the foreign varieties that they seem to favour.

We had now arrived at the lowlands and the coast and we heard of the plight of the Lapwing. This rapidly declining bird has suffered badly from habitat loss. All the best efforts of the conservation groups seem to be struggling to turn around the fortunes of this species. The summer that never was in 2012 has not helped, with these birds being ground nesters and the continual cold and rain washing out scores of nests. They are also acutely vulnerable to predators, and their eggs and chicks are easy prey despite Lapwings distraction broken wing tactic to try and draw attention away from the nest. Hopefully their fortunes can turn around, as I for one love watching their erratic flights and hearing their “pee-wit” call around the pools at Goldcliff.

Iolo concluded his talk by claiming the true iconic bird of Wales shouldn’t be the Red Kite, but must surely be the Manx Shearwater, simply because their breeding colonies off the coast of Wales are of such international importance. He implored people to visit Skomer Island, but not just for Puffins, but for the other wildlife it holds, from basking seals and dolphins to the sea bird colonies and Ravens and Choughs. And so our journey ended under the waves to a round of rapturous applause by those present. It had been a highly entertaining hour and a half journey from the tops of Snowdonia to the sea floor off the coast of Pembrokeshire. I suspect a considerable amount of money had been raised for the trek judging by raffle ticket sales and from the busy merchandise stall.

I would like to wish Iolo all the best on his attempt to trek up Kilimanjaro with all the other participants, there are some other familiar faces going in the shape of Rhod Gilbert; Welsh rugby stars Martyn Williams and Stephen Jones, as well as a whole host of other people.

If you wish to read more about the trek or sponsor Iolo feel free to click the links below.

Iolo Williams - Just Giving Page

Trek Kilimanjaro

© All Images Anthony Walton except Male Pied Flycatcher used by kind permission from John McHale.

Blog post: A – Z of Fun free ways to connect children with nature in the garden

Bethan Lloyd RSPB — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:03:00 GMT

At the Royal Horticultural Show in Cardiff this weekend our Education and Youth Officer gave a talk about how we can reconnect children with nature in our gardens, allotments or local green spaces. We whizzed through an A – Z of fun and free activities you can do with young people that will connect both children and adults with the nature on their doorstep. Here they are for you to enjoy.

A – Acorn People – In autumn get out and gather seeds and nuts just a like squirrel would. With a bit of creativity and PVA glue you can transform nature’s litter into fantastic acorn people, a great way to get children thinking about the different sources of food available during the colder months.

B –Big Garden Birdwatch – Every year January is an important month for the RSPB we ask members and the wider public to spare one hour to survey the birds in their garden. We provide all the resources to help you ID your garden visitors and then use your results to build an important picture of garden bird populations across the UK. You can look out on the RSPB website for the dates of the 2014 bird watch. If you’re keen to get started sooner you could keep your own records throughout the year, there are lots of apps and websites you can use to keep track of the birds you have seen e.g. birdtrack. If you have lots of magpies visiting your garden there is an app and website called magpie mapper, a really simple way for all ages to record birds.

C- Caterpillar Magic – This is a simple but great way to witness a bit of nature’s magic first hand. Start by finding a caterpillar in the garden, carefully put it in a glass container with a lid and provide some plants for the hungry caterpillar (preferably the plant you found it on.) Check your caterpillar every day, keep it fed and take the lid off every now and again to give it some fresh air. Its then just a waiting game until eventually...they turn into a chrysalis and then a beautiful butterfly to be set free in your garden.

D- Dried flowers – Why just enjoy your plants in the spring and summer? Beautiful flowers can be enjoyed all year round. Pick them just before they start to look a bit sorry for themselves and hang them up in a well circulated area, try to separate each flower so they are not touching. Once they have dried you can use them for all sorts of crafts; make a mobile, make soap, map a photo frame or collages, make badges the list is endless.

E – Easy to grow plants – that are good for wildlife . Don’t set yourself up for too big of a challenge when gardening with children, stick to those plants that are easy to grow. I think the sunflower is the best you can grow, it’s simple, grows to giant size and is great for wildlife.

F- Food Glorious Food There’s nothing more satisfying than eating your own grown food and there’s no reason why children couldn’t grow their own food. Think creatively, plant basil and make your own pesto, use your fruit for a easy to bake fruit crumble or whizz up your spring veg into a delicious healthy soup. Even the fussiest eaters couldn’t resist something they had grown themselves!

G- Go bark rubbing – A classic, if you are lucky enough to have trees in your garden go bark rubbing, all it takes is some crayons, paper and energy you can make fantastic patterns, these can then be used for anything, gift wrap for Birthdays or Christmas, book covers for school or just a drawing to stick on the fridge.

H-Homes for nature – There is a wide range of designs available on the internet including bat boxes, nest boxes for birds, hogitats, frogitats and insect hotels. Collect together materials already in your garden, shed or home and upcycle them to create a wildlife friendly garden feature and shelter for your garden visitors.

I – invite birds into your garden – I have found the best way to invite people to my home is by offering them food! Birds are the same, providing a source of food and water is the best way to invite them into your garden. Making bird food can be easy and fun, making bird cake is a great hands on way to help children understand what our garden visitors eat. You can mix many ingredients together to make bird cakes including lard, seeds, nuts, fruit, cheese, digestive biscuits. Alternatively make an apple feeder by chopping an apple in half and pushing in sunflower seeds. If you’re really stuck for ingredients thread some string through a handful of cheerios and hang them up in a tree or on your washing line.

J- Junk re use things – Children are incredibly creative and modern day children have been brought up with the ideas of recycling. Save your tins to plant up seeds, turn your orange juice cartons into bird feeders, use household waste to make your own minibeast hotel!

K- Know your snails – Find out if your snails have a homing instinct – put some brightly water based paint on their shells, remove them from where you found them and then keep an eye out- will they return to the area you found them in? or have you discovered a way of keeping the snails off your lettuce?

L- Label it with Eco information Lots of people make labels for their garden, why not get children to do them. Think about adding some other information like the types of species you can expect to find on this plant, give your plant a nickname or write what you like about it.

M- Moth Trapping – Moth trapping is incredible, you need to buy or borrow all the equipment but it is well worth it. You will be amazed by the diversity of Lepidoptera visiting your garden while you sleep! Peak season is July and August when several hundred moths can be found every morning. The trap needs to be put out at dusk and left on overnight, come out at first light to find your catch, Identifying them at first can be daunting as moths are notoriously difficult to identify, however just seeing these fantastic creatures up close is always enough for me.

N-Natural Crowns Autumn leaves can be great for making natural crowns, using card, glue or sticky tape stick your natural litter to your crown and be a wild king or queen for a day.

O-Origami Plant Pots – These can be as complicated or as simple as you like, if you are an origami master start from scratch using one piece of paper, however if you are not an origami type simply cut four slits in a kitchen roll tube and fold them inwards to create a totally free up cycled plant pot.

P-Pebbles – Our cold blooded friends insects need bare open rocks to warm up so why not jazz up some pebbles, paint them with bright colours or even paint insects onto them. Makes your garden look great too.

Q-Quest – If you have a well loved garden visitor why not bring them to life by sending your children letters from their visitor. Letters from Harry the hedgehog can bring to life favourite species and motivate children to transform habitats for them – Harry might ask them to make a leaf pile, or plant wildlife friendly seeds, he might even ask them to leave food out for them. The children can reply to Harry showing him what they have done!

R-Rainbows Colours are all over the place, all year round. You can make your own sticky rainbow by sticking some double sided sticky tape onto card, then set your children on a mission to find every colour of the rainbow in nature.

S-Seed packets/seed swap – When your plants are producing seeds why not collect them and make your own seed packets? You could include all sorts of information like the species they support, how to look after them and where they grow best. Lots of places are now doing seed swaps where you can trade in some of your seeds for a new variety. You could even sell your seeds and donate the money to charity.

T-Trails – sensory/scent trails – Why do trails have to be visual? Set your children a trail using other senses e.g. find a plant that smells like mint, find a plant that feels soft or prickly, find a plant that smells like curry. This kind of trail is really fun and doesn’t require any of map reading skills.

U-Underwater Life – sink a pond and open your eyes. Sinking a pond is one of the best things you can do for wildlife in your garden, not only do species need a source of water to drink but they need water to be able to clean themselves. A pond doesn’t have to be major landscaping work you can simply dig a hole for a washing up bowl plant aquatic plants and let nature it do its stuff. Within weeks you will be finding pond life such as pond skaters, water beetles, pond snails and maybe even frogspawn. Once you discover these underwater species you will realise that you might have been looking at biodiversity in your garden with one eye closed.

V-Video Changes in your garden with a time lapse camera or nest box camera There are lots of video cameras available at the moment that do very smart things. Time lapse cameras can capture plants growing or birds feeding. Nest box cameras can give you a front row seat for spring, watching the eggs hatch and the chicks fledge.

W-Wormery Earthworms are hardworking gardeners, they are slimy, squirmy and kids love them. Why not set up a wormery? You can buy special wormery kits or make your own with a large plastic box. Kids will love feeding their worms with left over’s and then spreading your free compost to help their plants grow.

X- Xylophone make a natural xylophone, use a beater to explore the sounds of nature, is it hollow? Does it make a high pitched sound?

Y-Your Very Own Pet Dandelion A great way to appreciate what lots of people consider as a weed. First your children should find a dandelion then place some crocks at the base of their plant pot. Following this you should half-fill the pot with soil or compost. You will need to help them to dig up a dandelion - they must get most of the long taproot up with it, without which it will quickly die. (The taproot is the straight, tapering root growing vertically downwards and forming the centre from which subsidiary rootlets emerge.)Help your children to plant it in the pot, and firm it in with more soil or compost. Let them water it well, and then put it on a windowsill. Look at it regularly. They should see it grow buds, then the flowers will open, then they will die, and finally the seed clocks will form. Their dandelion should grow quite a few flowers. They can count how many it grows, then see if they can guess how many seeds it has produced - hundreds!

Z- Zzzzz sleep wild in your back garden. Sleeping out in your garden can be one of the best ways to connect children with nature. Listen out to the sounds of the night and try to identify who visits your garden at night, doing this in spring will provide you with the opportunity to wake up to nature’s very special dawn chorus.

To learn more about disconnection with nature and the challenge it poses for conservationists in the future why not read our Every Child Outdoors Wales document by clicking on this link.

Forum post: Re: Camera, Action! Wildlife Explorer Group Visits Skomer

CPAGB20 — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:19:00 GMT

Great shot

Blog post: MCZs - the story continues

Gareth C — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:43:00 GMT

Its been a busy few weeks in regards to MCZs across the UK and in Wales! - so here’s a quick summary to keep you up to speed

The House of commons Science and Technology Committee released a report last week, which in short said UK Marine Conservation Zones are vital. you can read the full report here http://tinyurl.com/dxrvo6a

This was picked up by a number of MPs (given the house of commons focus) and gained quite a bit of media attention:

"MPs warn: UK government is stalling on the creation of a network of zones to protect the UK's seas and wildlife http://tinyurl.com/cmeabbv"

The Daily post covered this story to which we responded to the article - which was printed in Today’s paper. In case you missed it here it is in Full;

Dear Sir, your article in Thursdays paper titled Sea Protection Plans are ‘floundering’ (p5) was based on the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee releasing a report in relation to the role of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in UK waters. The report, whilst focussed on the recent UK consultation on 31 sites around the UK, highlighted that a clear vision is needed for MCZs.

Wales, is currently developing its own proposals, and considering how to take forwards MCZs following the controversial consultation last year on highly protected MCZs.

The process has brought together a wide range of stakeholders, and facilitated healthy discussion about the role of MCZs in Wales. However, the good will and momentum built up needs to be capitalised upon to ensure that the process delivers meaningful sites in Welsh waters, with stakeholder buy-in.

The Welsh Government team tasked with developing the final recommendations are due to give their findings to the Minister Alun Davies in the next few weeks. We hope that the Minister seizes the opportunity presented, and turns these recommendations into action.

Were looking forward to working with the new Minister - and will keep you posted on developments as they happen

Gareth Cunningham

RSPB Cymru Marine Policy Officer

Blog post: High Tide

Anthony Walton — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:39:00 GMT

There seems to be a natural world spectacular for each season. Autumn is all about the Starling Murmurations, winter brings in Waxwings and huge skeins of geese, summer heralds long hot days (we hope!) and dragonflies hawking insects at the edges of our ponds. Spring brings in some of the highest tides of the year, so now is a good time to head down to a wetland near you. I did just that last week.

What makes high tide worth the effort to get up early and see? The answer is quite logical really. Waders like to feed on the water’s edge or a retreating tide to try and feast on anything that gets trapped on the surface. As the tide pushes towards the shore you can get some really good views of them doing this, and get to watch them in their natural environment much closer than you normally would. If you choose your location well and the reserve has a lagoon or lake you can be in for a real treat. Eventually they run out of room on the shore to all fit and have no choice but to find somewhere to roost and wait for the tide to recede. You may be lucky enough to witness thousands of wading birds flying from shore to lagoon and all jostling for position.

I did my spot of high tide watching at Freiston Shore at half past seven in the morning. The same scene gets played out all along the Welsh coast at this time of year. You will need to check the local tidal times, which can be done by a quick search online.

So what did I see?

By the time I arrived the Oystercatchers had already made it on to the lagoon. There were easily five hundred plus huddled together. The next to fly over the sea wall was a small flock of Dunlin, numbering a couple of hundred. They had no time to settle, as the local Peregrine Falcon which nests on the Boston Stump flew into the middle of them trying to get a meal. A very short skirmish developed with the birds desperately cartwheeling around to avoid capture. A small group of a dozen Avocets were the next to arrive. These iconic birds are fantastic to watch in flight, their black and white under wings really dazzled the eye as the caught the early morning sunlight. There were a surprisingly small number of Redshank and Curlew around, but there is another lagoon at Freiston and maybe they chose that area to roost. Suddenly I spotted a movement on the banking of one the scrapes on the lagoon. Almost perfectly camouflaged against the mud were a couple of Ringed Plover. This was quite an exciting spot for me, as I had only ever seen its smaller cousin the Little Ringed Plover before. The quickest way to tell the two apart, other than the slight size difference, is to look at their eyes. The Little Ring Plover has a distinct eye ring; whereas the Ringed Plover does not. Proving it always worth checking what flies in with the more common waders, a single male Ruff had joined the noisy throng. It seemed to be moulting into its summer plumage, which would have made it much easier to identify, as the male looks, well slightly ridiculous to be honest. If any of you can remember Lord Percy from Blackadder II you will get the idea!

A final wander around the sea wall before I went home for a hot mug of tea and some breakfast yielded another nice year tick for me in the shape of a Water Pipit. An archetypical “little brown job” is identified from the more common Meadow Pipit by its more distinct eye stripe. It may well have been stocking up from the bounty the high tide provided before heading back to central Europe for the summer.

I can heartily recommend you make the effort for an early start over the coming weeks and visit your local wetlands and see what the tide drags in. Both Newport Wetlands and RSPB Conwy have good numbers of waders at this time of year, Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Black Tailed Godwits, Dunlin and Knot always gather in large numbers at the estuaries of both these reserves and are displaced by the tides. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve of Llanelli Wetlands can be another excellent place to watch the tide come in. Check with the reserves at what time the high Spring Tides occur and remember the more exceptionally high the tide, the more the dramatic effect it will have on those waders using the shoreline.

Best of luck and good bird watching!

All Images © Anthony Walton

Blog post: Guest blog from Robyn, our work experience student / Blog gwadd - Robyn, ein myfyrwraig profiad gwaith

Dana Thomas — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:48:00 GMT

Helo, Robyn ydw i! Dwi'n 15 mlwydd oed ac yn mynd i Ysgol Gyfun St. Julian's yng Nghasnewydd. Dwi'n hoffi darllen a gwrando ar gerddoriaeth yn fy amser hamdden. Yn amlwg dwi'n caru anifeiliaid! Fy hoff aderyn yw’r robin goch!

Roeddwn i ar brofiad gwaith ym mis Chwefror, dau ddiwrnod yn Gwlypdiroedd Casnewydd a tri diwrnod yn swyddfa RSPB Cymru yng Nghaerdydd. Roedd yr wythnos yna yn brofiad da iawn, roeddwn i wedi ymarfer llawer o sgiliau gwaith a hefyd dysgu llawer. Dw'i wir wedi joio fy wythnos gyda'r RSPB!

Ar fy niwrnod cyntaf roeddwn i'n mynd ar y we i edrych am blanhigion i fynd yn ardd bywyd gwyllt RSPB Cymru yn y Sioe Frenhinol ym mis Gorffennaf. Yn gwneud hyn, roeddwn i wedi dysgu llawer am greu gardd bywyd gwyllt.

Gadewch i mi roi rhestr o gwpl o blanhigion a bydd yn dda yng ngardd bywyd gwyllt a pham. Afalau Surion (Crab Apples) - bydd coeden afal surion yn dda iawn i'ch gardd bywyd gwyllt. Mae llawer o adar yn hoffi bwyta'r afalau, yn enwedig robin goch, drudwy, aderyn yr eira a llinos werdd. Yn y gwanwyn mae'r gwenyn yn cael ei denu i'r blodau ar y goeden. Mae'n gallu fod yn gartref i dros 90 fath o bryfed!

Llygad y Dydd, Dant y Llew a Ygall (Daisies, Dandelions and Thistles) – mae rhain yn denu gwenyn, pili-pala, pryfed hofran, gwyfynod a mwy. Mae hyd yn oed llinosod yn dod i hôl yr hadau.

Ceiros Cornelian (Cornelian Cherry) - mae'r ceirios yn denu'r adar yn dda ac yn dod o teulu’r Dogwood. Mae'r ffrwyth coch yn boblogaidd gyda'r adar yn yr haf.

Rhosyn (Rose)- mae'r adar yn hoff iawn o'r ffrwythau a llawer o bryfed yn cael eu denu i'r blodyn fel y pili-pala a gwenyn.

Os ydych chi am wybod mwy ewch i www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/wildlifegarden/ Bydd y gwefan yn medru rhoi mwy o gyngor i chi o bethau rydych chi'n gallu rhoi yn eich gardd i ddenu bywyd gwyllt!

Diolch am ddarllen! Robyn

Blog post: Traffic Lights

Anthony Walton — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:59:00 GMT

I have been writing these blogs here for fifteen months now, and in that time I have indebted to various members of staff at RSPB Cymru HQ, Sutherland House, for their help from time to time in filling in the blanks. Every so often you get a piece of information that makes you stop and think. Something you think so common place is actually under threat. A bird you thought was above all the pressures that are put on it by our activity, something that’s not even a farmland bird, the usual species to be held as examples of population declines, something as simple and commonplace as the humble Mallard.

I have a lot time for ducks … ducks are where I began my interest in birding, I had ducks at my wedding, quite a lot of them in fact in various guises, so the fact that Mallard is now an amber listed bird came as a bit of a shock to me.

Most of you will have heard of the traffic light system which tells us the level of threat to various population numbers of species. Birds that are listed as having green status are fairly self-explanatory, and are of least conservation concern, and have healthy and robust breeding numbers. But what does amber listed actually mean? An in depth explanation can be found on the RSPB website here, but to summarise the Mallard is now an amber listed bird due to the fall in breeding numbers at their traditional breeding sites, the exact reasons for this are still unclear. The RSPB put breeding pairs at somewhere in the region of 50,000 to 127,000 birds, when you see that the decline has to be in the region of 25-49% you begin to understand the numbers involved. We all associate Mallard ducklings with Easter so stop and think about the sobering reality when you see them this spring that these birds are in decline.

Another seemingly ubiquitous bird that is declining in great numbers is the Starling. This species is in the top bracket of conservation concern and are red listed. There has been a global decline of this bird of over fifty per cent in recent years. “You don’t see as many Starlings…” has become one of the most heard phrases for me personally in recent times. Even in the five years I have been visiting The Wash I have noticed that Freiston Shores' Starling population has diminished to a small groups of birds, from decent sized murmurations.The decline in Starling numbers quite rightly gets a lot of press coverage, but another seemingly common bird has recently become red listed. It might surprise you that the Herring Gull is now on that list. Herring Gulls probably don’t get as much press as they are considered noisy and messy birds by most people, indeed culls of city dwelling gulls have been mooted in the past. Their fondness for pecking open rubbish bags and feeding from the contents or thrown away takeaways is not the most endearing behaviour it must be said, but they are natural scavengers, and they are only taking advantage of our behaviour. Modern cities must look like ideal nesting habitats to Herring Gulls, so it is no wonder they have chosen to move in. Over half of UK population now breed at approximately ten sites in the UK, which makes those sites critically important for the continuation of species in healthy numbers. This, along with significant declines in population numbers is why it is now on the red list of conservation concern.

Why not have a look at the Birds Of Conservation Concern download that is available, which has a comprehensive list of the 158 birds currently on the amber and red lists, you will be surprised at some of the entries on there. This all illustrates quite starkly why conservation groups and especially the RSPB need our support more than ever at this point of our planets ecological life.

Blog post: They’re back! Ospreys return to celebrate their 10th anniversary

Bethan Lloyd RSPB — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:34:00 GMT

Glaslyn Valley was filled with excitement on Sunday morning as the Osprey pair returned to their usual nest site near Pont Croesor, Porthmadog, for the 10^th year! Arriving few days later than recent years, the female Osprey was spotted on the nest at 8am and her partner for the last 10 years appeared a couple of hours later, with a fish in his claws.

Geraint Williams, Osprey Project Officer said: “We’re delighted to see them back, looking so well and healthy. Our Ospreys are usually the first back in the UK, so when an osprey was spotted on the nest last Tuesday, our hopes were raised. We soon realised that it wasn’t one of ours. We started to worry, but thankfully, they are now back, safe and sound."

Ospreys are spectacular fish-eating birds of prey with a wingspan of nearly five feet. Their lives are full of risks. They spend every winter in West Africa and travel thousands of miles to return to Glaslyn every year to breed and raise their chicks.

Geraint added “These two pairs are known to break the record for the earliest date ever for Ospreys to lay eggs in the UK and the earliest date ever to hatch a chick. Who knows, they might break a record again this year!”

The pair settling back to their nest after a long journey from West Africa:

You can follow the Ospreys’ progress from the visitor viewing site. It’s free of charge and open from 10am and last entry 4:30pm every day, except Mondays and Fridays, although the site will be opened every bank holiday, until end of August. Telescopes and a live video link to the nest are already in place.

Details can also be found on the RSPB website at www.rspb.org.uk/datewithnature and there will be regular updates about the birds on the Glaslyn osprey blog at http://blogs.rspb.org.uk/glaslynospreys as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

Blog post: Red Letter Day

Anthony Walton — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:10:00 GMT

A red letter day and that letter was most certainly the letter K.

A few weeks back I had the pleasure of visiting the Red Kite feeding station at Llanddeusant at the western edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. I had been hoping to visit since I had discovered there was a feeding station there when I attended the Welsh Ornithological Societies annual conference at nearby Myddfai. I had always thought that our nearest feeding station was Gigrin Farm, Rhayader.

I had been patiently waiting for a sunny day to make it worth taking the camera. I had spoken to enough people to know that the kites can shift a bit when coming in for food, so I wanted to get some high shutter speeds to try and capture this.

Red Kites are one of Wales’s iconic birds. It was the last stronghold of just a few breeding pairs in mid Wales after they were ruthlessly persecuted throughout the country. A recent scientific study by Nottingham University ascertained that the entire UK population in 1977 had emanated from one single female Red Kite. Thankfully, due to reintroductions and the hard work of the RSPB and other conservation groups this beautiful bird of prey is on the comeback now. Numbers have steadily increased, and although not a common sight in our skies yet, population levels are heading in the right direction. I quite frequently see one here in my hometown of Tonyrefail. It’s only when you witness it being mobbed by a buzzard that the size difference between the two species is so evident. If you don’t have a handily placed Buzzard to help you ID a Red Kite, then the other diagnostic feature is the tail. The Buzzard has a fan shaped tail; the Red Kite a distinct V shaped set of tail feathers.

So it was with eager anticipation I headed over the mountains and into deepest rural West Wales to try and get some promised close up views of these magnificent creatures. We hadn’t got much further than the Nant Ddu reservoir just the other side of Merthyr Tydfil when we saw our first Red Kite of the day, it cruised alongside the car for a couple of hundred metres before soaring on an unseen thermal. It only helped to raise expectations.

Our Satnav took us directly to the Red Kite Café, which serves as a visitor centre for the feeding station. This was alas not open on the day of our visit, and it is worth checking before you leave as it has seasonal opening hours. The hide for the feeding station is situated just down the lane that heads back to Myddfai. Feeding times are 2pm during GMT hours and 3pm during BST. You are asked to be in the hide a good five minutes before the feeding commences. The hide is quite large, so there is no need to worry about there not being room. There is an entry fee of just three pounds, which can be left in an honesty box if no one is around to collect it.

At the duly allotted time the man with a bucket of meat and offal appeared and spread food over the field outside the hide. We had watched a small build-up of birds in the surrounding trees as they clearly knew the feeding routine. The steady nasal cawing of Ravens a soundtrack to the day’s events. From seemingly nowhere the Red Kites began to arrive. Ten quickly became twenty, and twenty suddenly became about fifty birds. All were circling above the field, seemingly checking the coast was clear before they made a low flying pass to pick up a piece of carcass. They do not land and feed, they prefer to snatch at the food and fly off to a feeding post nearby or even eating on the wing. It was breath taking to watch all this activity from no more than twenty odd feet away. The sound of the whoosh of air as they swooped over the hide to snatch at another piece of meat was something that will live with you for a while too.

Carrion Crows and Ravens were the next to arrive. They had to battle it out with a lone Buzzard to try and get the smaller pieces of meat the Red Kites had not picked up, all the time ducking under the swooping kites that were still collecting more food. It was quite a feeding frenzy at this point.

Slowly, as the food run out, the kites began to disperse again, some returning to the trees adjacent the field, others back to their territories, and the whole spectacle was over for another day. It will be played out every day of the year, even Christmas Day.

I came away a very happy bird watcher and with a memory card full of images. I can’t recommend it highly enough if you haven’t been to a feeding station before. I am patiently waiting for another “blue sky day” to make another visit.

The Red Kite Feeding Station at Llanddeusant website can be found here.

The Gigrin Farm Feeding Station Website can be found here.

More photographs from the day can be found here in my Flickr set.

I put a short video of the Buzzard being harassed up on YouTube that can be found here.

PS. I got that Buzzard shot I mentioned in my blog a couple of weeks back! ;o)

Forum post: Re: Starling numbers startling!

sue thomas — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 17:29:00 GMT

i have just uploaded a picture of the starlings we have here in our village of bronllys in breconshire roughly about at least 100 swooping around and landing in the trees and fields behind our garden we had loads in the garden feeding of f the porige oats we put down to

Forum post: Ramsey Island on YouTube

Gareth C — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:59:00 GMT

Great news - We are pleased to announce that the RSPB Ramsey Island reserve has gone multi-media!

Armed with a digital camcorder - our Wardens Greg and Lisa are going to bring you snippets of island life and its amazing wildlife, plus some of the surround ing area like Grassholm.

We've already uploaded some videos, here's some examples;

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Some fantastic footage of common Dolphins swimming along side the boat. These are reported to be the fastest dolhpins found in Welsh waters, reaching speeds of up to 27mph! Large congregations can be seen in Welsh waters from May to November off the Pembrokeshire coast.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

A stunning view of the Gannets of Grassholm, the Western most point of Wales, and home to around an amazing 39,000 pairs of northern Gannet. making it the 3rd biggest colony in the Uk after St.Kilda and Bass Rock.

Theres more videos on the channel - so why not subscribe and keep up to date with whats going on. My favourite so far, was uploaded yesterday (20th March) and goes to show that when your on an Island your at the mercy of the elements!

(Please visit the site to view this video)

For more information on Ramsey reserve: http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/r/ramseyisland/about.aspx

Blog post: Did you know its National Science and Engineering Week - here is some trivia to celebrate

Dana Thomas — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:33:00 GMT

Did you know? Ever wondered why icebergs fizz? Or how a worm's heart works? To celebrate National Science and Engineering Week from 15-24 March we will share some interesting bits of trivia with you, so today’s is.....the mute swan is not mute, to find it what it sounds like go to our info pages http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/m/muteswan/index.aspx

For more information about how you can join in with National Science and Engineering Week click on this link

Blog post: Pine marten project launched by the Vincent Wildlife Trust - guest blog from David Bavin

Dana Thomas — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:22:00 GMT

The Vincent Wildlife Trust has recently launched its latest project, ‘People and Pine Marten in Wales’, funded by the Co-Operative.

Firstly, I would like to thank the Co-operative and its members, without which the project would not have been conceived. The broad aim of the project is to raise awareness of the plight of the pine marten here in Wales, to take practical measures to locate the animals, to advocate marten friendly habitat enhancement, and to engage the public opinion on pine martens with a public survey.

Pine marten are out there, but are just extremely rare. This fact, coupled with their extremely illusive behaviour, nocturnal habits, and preference for dense cover and woodland, mean we have our work cut out locating them. Still, we who work with carnivores love a challenge!

January and February have been very busy indeed, which has a touch of irony, as this is the quietest time of year for pine martens! As the winter reaches its deepest point, pine marten activity is restricted to perhaps just a few hours in the dead of night. The aim for the animals is to conserve energy and see out the cold weather, awaiting the arrival of spring and the resulting surge in productivity.

The main focus for the monitoring aspect of the project is Cwm Rheidol, a beautiful valley with a mining history, where a marten scat (faeces) was found in 2007. Predominantly oak wood, there are chunks of conifer plantation, patches of gorse heathland on the upper fringes, and a steep, complex system of gorges near Devils Bridge. Traditionally, scat surveys and hair tubes (a simple way to snag hair, from which DNA can be procured) have proved effective at detecting pine marten where they are known to exist. It seems however, that martens In Wales are so rare, that we either cannot locate their scats, or that at such low densities their territorial behaviour has broken down (they mark territory boundaries with their scats).

Recent findings from a colleague in Ireland have also revealed that martens need to ‘learn’ to use hair tubes – we thought previously that they were so inquisitive, they would naturally investigate them. This provides us with a problem – we have a very rare animal that doesn’t know what to do with our hair tubes! We are looking into novel methods to combine with the old to try and detect them. We have acquired camera traps, which have been used to great effect for a number of carnivore species, including pine marten, and have been trialling various types of lure, simply applied to a rough stake.

In other countries, this method has proved sufficient to achieve hairs from animals that are attracted to the stakes, and then rub themselves up against the rough timber. So far, valerian & a commercial lure have been effective at attracting and sustaining the interest of otters, fox & badger, whilst the fish oil I have also used has been disappointing. Numerous wood mice, a fleeting glimpse of a polecat, and some lovely woodcock footage have also been achieved. The next stage I would like to try is to use audio lures, such as a blackbird distress call, which has the advantage of carrying much further than localised scents.

In other exciting news, there have been some very interesting results coming out of Ireland recently from PhD student Emma Sheehy, based at NUI Galway. Although in the early stages and not yet conclusive, her work indicates that recovering pine marten populations are helping to control grey squirrels, which is actually benefitting red squirrels. This is one to keep an eye on, as grey squirrel control in Wales could also lead to the recovery of native red squirrel populations!

For more information about he project and to have a look at our website got o http://www.vwt.org.uk/our-work/projects/people-pine-martens-in-wales and if you spot a pine marten please call 01531 636441.

Credit image to Bill Cuthbert