Each time a SEWBReC Square of the Month is released I promised myself a trip to an under recorded 1km no mans land. This aspiration however always seems out of step with spare time availability so as night follows day the enthusiasm remains unfulfilled - until now perhaps!
Just like the coincidental Valentines Day release of Fifty Shades of Grey those clever marketing bods at SEWBReC unleashed the March square in time for the first flush of a new spring. Half expecting the Gwent 'box' to be another 'out in the Monmouthshire prairie lands' where rye grass meets ruminant meets barbed wire fence I was taken aback to find this hitherto biological recording whiteout to be just a five minute drive from my workplace. So what self respecting naturalist can resist such over whelming temptation? The gauntlet has well and truly been thrown down!
Despite a quick look at the OS map revealing not much more than fields, a sunken lane, a trig point and a place name of Great Beech, a pond and some woodland offered better prospects for pan species listing, I made my way for a lunchtime recording session motivated by a chaffinch in full song.
A pair of highly polished black Marks and Spencer office shoes prevented any straying off into the agricultural wilderness. So for now backstage of this particular show will remain for another day, but there was enough to whet ones recording appetite. Distant mistletoe, badger runs and ancient beech trees are tempting prospects. A pond just off a Public Right of Way may require some creative navigating.
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