I pass it everyday but never really spent any quality time exploring its contents. Pen - y -lan woodland between Aberyschan and Cwmavon is a steep sided beech and sessile oak ancient woodland that has a former railway line now cycleway and Local Nature Reserve cut through its middle. Due to its steepness I was surprised to find a number of well used desire lines that thankfully aided my journey through this woodland.
It became evident there were only a few mature trees amongst the many younger specimens. Of those that remained they were principally of beech scattered around extensive earth works that must be a legacy of the nearly railway construction. Bird activity was extensive with a number of pairs of nuthatch, calling great spotted woodpecker and coal tit. In the darker and more humid parts of the wood grew many harts-tongue fern and few carried the distinctive leaf mines of the fly Chromatomyia scolopendri. But beware, although easy to find the fact this fly has a limited distribution in Britain any attempt to have your record accepted by the national recorder will be rejected without a supporting photo.
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