The value of nature

On Ricky Tomlinson's recommendation I breezed into Farmfoods for a couple of pints of the white stuff and some wine gums. After wolfing down the sweeties I had cause to examine my change only to discovery the familiar profile of God himself Charles Darwin on a two pound coin. 

When presented with something a little different my first port of call is generally Ebay. Is it worth anything and could I flog it? To my surprise some people are forking out up to a fiver for this coin - kerching!  This then got me thinking of other coinage cast with images of our great natural heritage. Pulling out my man-draw full of part used batteries, screws and a ticket stub to a brilliant Dream Theater gig, I located that little plastic bag containing a Pontypool and Abersychan Co-operative Society bread token, assorted Edwardian pennies, a tanner (six-pence) complete with hole for attaching to ladies charm bracelet and to my glee a 1945 farthing with image of  Troglodytes troglodytes. With all this coinage along with a tradition of nice Royal Mail stamps and the back pages of UK passports all depicting images of British wildlife you'd think we'd feel some sense of pride and obligation to protecting it, but not a bit of it.

The ultimate deterrent

Around the a**e end of Llandegfedd Reservoir is a field gate with a novel warning sign. Couldn't see any sign of the snorting monster amongst the herd of milkers, but rest assured one step on the wrong side of the gate and the said beast would no doubt appear as if by magic to toss you around the field like a rag doll.

Like Wayne Rooney's thatch  my loyalty to Llandegfedd Reservoir is wearing thin at the moment. With some nice stuff appearing up and down the county surely something requiring a description to get it past the County Rarities Committee and onto the pages of the annual Gwent Bird Report will appear at this most celebrated of nature venues soon.

Once again I sat in the car for half an hour waiting for the rain to move on before venturing out - thank Britain for its rich creative culture and prog rockists Porcupine Tree's In Absentia album for filling the void. When I eventually got on the move I was joined by an intermittent flow of flyover meadow pipit. At Greenpool there was a hint that wildfowl are starting to gather along tribal lines with tight flocks of up to twenty coot and teal. Several chiffchaff were singing when I caught sight of the soft underbelly of a up ended waterbird bobbing in tune with the wake of a fisherman's boat. On closer inspection it was a dead great crested grebe entangled in fishing line and hooks. The family party of a late brood of grebes now reduced to single parent status. Not much else to report other than another black headed gull with metal ring.

I must be mad

Got to Garnlydan Reservoir at about 7.15 this morning in anticipation of an early show wryneck. Having withstood several heavy showers and pre frost bite symptoms I left at 8.30 with only a cormorant, great crested grebe and a wheatear to my name. Bryn Bach Park, Beaufort Ponds and Dunlop Semtex Pond were just too wet and windy to bother getting out of the car, nothing to report at any of the sites.

A second mid afternoon visit was a must after a quick check of the GOS sightings page reported the bird showing at 10am. Arrived to be greeted by a small group of birders and the news that the bird had last been seen in the 'rusty fence wire' an hour previously. Despite a steady flow of birders with birders wives/girlfriends/children/dogs in tow I left at 6pm without a sniff of the wryneck. Nonetheless, does seem to be a good year for grassland fungi with good numbers of yellow club fungus everywhere.

Bouy it was windy



Choosing Llandegfedd Reservoir over a trip up north meant I missed out on the wryneck, no worries there's always tomorrow. The mornings osprey was no where to be seen as I battled through a gale and heavy rain without a coat. Two ringed plover frequented the Island shoreline and a white colour ringed  black headed gull was spooked before I could attempt to read the number.

A hint of something better

I'm sometimes struck by a sense of boyish excitement when visiting Llandegfedd Reservoir. This maybe due to a long standing association with the reservoir going back to my teenage days through to many enjoyable years bird ringing at the site, or, more likely the onset of the male menopause. Whatever the cause a little bit of that excitability returned when after what seems to be the longest series of site visits without seeing a passage wader was corrected when I clapped eyes on a single ringed plover today. 

On the popular subject of ring spotting there are now two Canada geese with rings in amongst what was less than fifty birds. As mentioned in a previous posting, ring spotting without the ability to read the numbers is next to worthless. The only crumb of interest is in knowing that the ringed bird will have once been cradled, caressed, teased apart and lovingly examined by the hands of a highly skilled bird ringer- usually male. 

Rings, rings, everywhere

A black headed gull on a building close to Tesco's Pontypool carrying a metal ring was an interesting addition to the Town Centre shopping experience. At Llandegfedd Reservoir the ring theme continued with another black headed gull and cormorant with shiny rings and a lesser black backed gull with a large dark colour ring. What does all this mean? Absolutely nothing as I was unable to get close enough to the birds to read any inscriptions!

The Urban Birder

Its refreshing to find an example of public art that actually depicts some of our natural heritage for a change. All too much of the creative effort that adorns the town centres and public parks of Gwent's valleys is based on a variation of cloth capped, ragged trousered miners, a railway carriage named after a local pit or a rugby folk hero. Lest we forget the exploitation of working class communities, the origins of the trade union movement and socialism but how about something a little more contemporary that looks to the future not back with misty eyed nostalgia?

In amongst another extensive homage to the industrial revolution that is the mosaic mural covering the walls of the Riverside underpass (p**spass) in Newport, you can find, if you look hard enough, a couple of great black backed gulls chucked in for good measure. This shock discovery gave me good reason to pull out and flick through the quality glossy pages of Simon Holloway's Poyser book 'The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1875-1900 ' just to see if the GBBG was in fact the gull most likely to be encountered on the dockside in Victorian Newport.

Its always difficult to retro-fit breeding bird populations especially to a time when the only reliable records were determined via the barrel of a gun or through the egg collections of Jardine Society members, but the atlas makes for interesting reading.

It seems GBBG's bred mainly on the coasts and islands around Scotland. Holloways assessment of GBBG's further south is as follows:

'It is likely that human persecution was responsible for the almost total lack of non-coastal breeding records for this species during the last quarter of the 19th century and their withdrawal from many coastal cliffs in S England and Wales'.

I'm sure the designer of the Newport mural will have just used the GBBG for illustrative purposes only without determining if this species was in fact the one most likely to be encountered along the lower reaches of the River Usk during the 19th century. Nonetheless I applaude any public realm artwork that contributes to reversing our 'nature deficit disorder'.

Next time- the Fourteen Locks dragonfly artwork should it really be a lesser emperor?

How to be a naturalist on a budget: the grapnel

Why buy expensive biological recording equipment from ecology suppliers when with a bit of wartime improvisation you can make your own at a fraction of the price.

Here's how to make a grapnel:

1. Purchase egg whisk from Wilkinson's or any other cheap 'n' cheerful High Street shop (cost 99p)

2. Chisel free the wire loops and bend in to hook shapes

3. Attach a length of redundant electrical cable or rope to handle

Note: When fitted with jack plug grapnel doubles up as an effective field aerial on which to pick up your favourite pirate radio station such as Valley Naturalist FM.

Grapnel was field tested by my son at Garn yr erw yesterday and from the image it can clearly be seen to be effective in sampling aquatic macrophytes.

Elsewhere around the watery Blaenavon landscape there were plenty of common hawker, black darter and golden ringed dragonflies on offer, and a large patch of flowering round leaved sundew was a welcome find. 

Ornithologically a grasshopper warbler could just be made out in scrub adjacent to a small pond, a single wheatear and reed bunting, as well as hundreds of meadow pipit and hirundines feeding on a good crop of emerging flying ants. Also good numbers of goldfinch.

A pleasant afternoon outdoors

Yesterday afternoon's summer holiday stroll through this green and pleasant land was very therapeutic. Not too many fisherman just the background hum of neighbouring farmers bringing in the hay with a fleet of assorted Massey Ferguson. There's now a substantial draw down zone at Llandegfedd Reservoir just in time for some passage waders- here's hoping.

Apart from good numbers of willowchaffs there didn't seem to be too much passing through. The Canada goose with the shiny metal ring was still around and masses of great crested grebe could be picked out all over the reservoir. Five tufted duck in Green Pool got me excited just very briefly. The best on offer however was a little egret. Note: Sigma 500mm lens just doesn't perform well fully extended and hand held. Oh yes a kingfisher as well.

A female migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) was a nice find and the Roesel's bush cricket continue to be in fine voice. A silver washed fritillary was again evident near to the inlet hide.

Hieroglyphics

Its always nice to see this little upland specialist. The hieroglyphic ladybird (Coccinella hieroglyphica) is probably widely distributed where heather occurs in vc 35 but is under recorded due to the lack of active recording in the uplands. I've come across this species several times in the Blaenavon area and can be readily found by sweep netting dwarf shrub heath. By the way I note a new UK ladybird distribution atlas has recently been published!

A morning up north

Arrived at Beaufort Ponds car park just in time to view yet more Canada geese along with a single greylag leaving the waterbody for a nearby reservoir.

On to Garnlydan Reservoir hoping for a significant shoreline and some passage waders. For a large reservoir by Gwent terms Garnlydan, for me, has flattered to deceive. Sure enough it can produce some nice birds whooper swan, ruff etc. but often the effort to get to the site hardly seems all the huff 'n puff. Water levels were unseasonably high (always seemed lower in days of British Steel ownership) and apart from a couple of snipe flushed from adjacent mire habitat the only other wetland bird of note was a single great crested grebe loafing about with all the reservoir to its own.

Away from the reservoir was a tad more interesting. Dozens of grayling butterflies and hundreds of black darter were punctuated by the odd golden ringed and migrant hawker dragonfly. Around four wheatear were moving between fence posts and a single sulking sedge warbler was flushed from juncus on the edge of a small pond.

Roesel's at last!

Within the giddy heights of Gwent orthoptera recording Roesel's bush cricket (Metrioptera roeselii ) was the most eagerly awaited new kid on the block. Known as a rapid coloniser it was expected to have spread quickly after the first county record from Dingestow Court about four years ago. But following false alerts from Solutia in Newport last year it wasn't until this year that the second record from a road verge in Cwmbran was confirmed by Roo Perkins.

Despite having 'prog rock' induced damaged hearing the very distinctive 'crackling' stridulation of this cricket was picked up from tall herbage close to the inlet at Llandegfedd Reservoir yesterday. After a protracted search one was found and obliged for some photography- there were at least three present.

When birds are a bit conspicuous by their absence inverts can full the gap and for me Llandegfedd Reservoir is now as important for bugs as it is for birds. A silver washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia ) flying strongly near to the North end park was a also new site record for me. Also plentiful was the distinctive kidney-spot ladybird (Chilocorus reinpustulatus) from sallows around Green Pool. The fast running ground beetle Bembidion dentellum was also easy to locate under stones in the draw down zone.

On the bird front - well not a lot. There was some indication of passerine movement with both chiffchaff and willow warbler in abridged autumn sub song. In my days of active bird ringing I remember LR being reasonably productive at this time of year for both species. A party of well over 100 Canada goose including the single Barnacle were close in the north end and amongst them was at least one with a shiny metal ring, maybe the product of the recent Llangorse Lake round up. Otherwise, there were 100's of great crested grebe and a single great black backed gull. 

How the mighty have fallen

Yes it could be a reference to Jan Molby's pending appearance in the Oily Rag, Pontypool - hope it gets a lick of paint and a new damp course beforehand! But no its the ornithologically challenged Llandegfedd Reservoir once again, and all I could muster was a male tufted duck and two teal. There was some saving grace in more Essex skippers an emperor dragonfly and the fleabane tortoise beetle (Cassida murraea). Desperate I turned to kicking about the shoreline and was taken by the frequency of dis- articulated crinoid fragments on show - now thats stumped you!

Stemmed fossilised crinoids and often abundant in rocks from the Silurian periods, hence their presence at Llandegfedd. Although they still occur today in the depths of our oceans they are not as plentiful as they were all those millions of year ago. In some parts of the world these fragmented stems are collected and made into necklaces and wrist bands- now there's idea maybe I could make a few flog 'um on Ebay to offset Welsh Water's wicked £8 birders access ransom.

Food for free

'No tea for me tonight luv I'm going foraging, I'll return full and satisfied without being a burden on the family budget'. 'Yeah right' was the reply. Historically hoards of locals harvested natures billberry bounty  on the hillsides around Blaenavon. A local budding capitalist even patented a 'billberry picking tool' to make the sustainable pillaging of the uplands that little bit easier. Today billberry foragers are few and far between.

The billberries on Mynydd y garn fawr were plump, juicy and tasty and true to my legendary greediness I took advantage. Two handfuls later and after a close shave with a rouge crowberry I moved on.

A small quarry with a combination of wet and dry heath provided a suitable distraction. A black streak of an unidentified bryophyte remains just that - although I'm sure SB will know what it is. Otherwise the hillside was quite, a pair of stonechat were still noisy however, a female wheatear moved from stone to stone while a distant reed bunting was still in song. Grayling butterflies are now on the wing and a few small heath were still evident.

Blast furnace slag a substrate of some interest

There's a south facing bank around the back of the Gilchrist Thomas Industrial Estate in Blaeanvon that's entirely made up of blast furnace slag.  Although this bank is sparsely vegetation the plants that occur are worthy of mention. Field madder, carline thistle, wall pepper, and various cranesbill etc. etc. all jostle to for the nutrients required for growth in this hostile environment.

 Trying to keep my footing amongst the unstable slag I kicked up no end of micro moths many of which weren't worth pursuing due to there size and my unwillingness to fiddle with their genitalia in order to get an identification down to species level. All was not lost however as a couple were vaguely familiar enough to photograph and identify, namely Pyraustra despicata and Pyraustra purpuralis both widespread in the vice county.

Away from the blast furnace slag and on to a nearby road verge I came across this attractive moth called Marasmarcha lunaedactyla, flying around its food plant is restharrow. A fly past black darter dragonfly and several marbled white rounded off the evening.

Essex skipper

Second visit to Llandegfedd Reservoir within a week - I'm really making my access tax work! The meadows around the north end are probably more interesting than the watery environment at the moment, and a stroll around this grassland habitat revealed a good number of marbled white, ringlet and gatekeeper, supplemented by both large and small skipper butterflies. 

The best find in amongst the myriad of lepidoptera was this little beauty, the Essex skipper. Widespread in southern and eastern England its been expanding its range into Wales with the first record from Gwent 2000.

Not an easy species to separate from its close relative the small skipper apart from the very distinctive black tips to its antennae.

Day flying moths were also evident including the silver y and the butterfly like shaded broad bar. Also photographed was the mint moth Pyrausta aurata.

The draw down zone is always good value for ground beetles, although a high water level restricts available search areas. Plentiful at the moment is the four spotted ground beetle (Bembidion quadrimaculata).

Bird wise, forget it, just one common sandpiper and a few sand martin. It's a measure of how birdwatchers have abandoned Llandegfedd when an elderly man who has paid his annual access tax of £8 only to walk around a nice environment, mentioned that I was the first birder he had come across this year!

A:D's back!

This is A:D the colour ringed lesser black backed gull who frequents the Mendalglef Retail Park in Newport, relocated mid week on a family outing to Next. This bird along with many others is happy to spend its time loafing about on the tops of buildings and lamp posts but will swoop mercilessly in pursuit of a discarded Wotsit. Ringed as a nestling on the rooftops of Bristol on 20 June 2003.

Vintage JCB unearthed from wartime opencasting

The effort some people go to to fly tip is mind boggling. This kids plastic JCB was dumped along with assorted other stuff well off the beaten track at Canada Tips, Blaenavon and could only have been accessed by someone with a four wheel drive.

Late Sunday afternoon was a touch overcast which suppressed bird and invert activity. The odd mottled grasshopper and scarce blue tailed damselfly were noted and another patch of fir clubmoss. A patch of about 20 adders tongue fern found a couple of weeks ago proved difficult to relocate. The only significant bird was a very vocal peregrine that alighted several times on one of the many spoil tips.

Tax paid

I reluctantly paid my 'take advantage of birders tax' for access to some Welsh Water sites. This years payment represents a modest 33% increase on last years cost thereby trumping (Donald) percentage rises in the Retail Price Index, petrol, council tax and even energy bills - I look forward to next years hike! As a case study in excluding/restricting/managing access to a fair chuck of prime habitat look no further than this as an example -so much for the well-being agenda! Its not hard to see how things would have panned out had the Government allowed the sell-off of Forestry Commission land in England - barred access and charges!

Rant over for the time being - although I will no-doubt revisit in due course- a female mute swan close into the dam wall was something of an unusual sight en-route to the north end. The meadows on the Island and towards the Bert Hamar hide are rich in invertebrates at the moment. Upwards of 30 marbled white with the odd red admiral, small copper and small skipper mingle with meadow brown.

Bird wise all the usual jokers were showing well, 150+ Canada goose, with the odd barnacle thrown in to keep us naturalists on our toes, good numbers of great crested grebe and cormorant. Reed warbler were vocal and a party of five bulky finches calling loudly as they took flight from the mature oak on the island are accredited as being hawfinch. Otherwise a single common sandpiper and a couple of 'hush hush don't mention' birds was the ornithological tally. 

Cauliflower capers

My wife's usual forensic examination of all fresh vegetables for creepy crawlies turned up this little sap beetle that goes by the name of Gilschrochilus hortensis. Widespread in eastern England I assume it was transported with the cauliflower.

Worn to ward off harm

According to my Observers Book of British Folklore there's a superstition that a dried frog worn in a bag round the neck of a child as a charm, will ward off harm. I'll be asking my son to wear this to school tomorrow - don't think he's going to co-operate some how!

Goatsucker

A whole year or more has past since picking up the first unmistakable tones of a forestry clearing nightjar close to Blaenavon. With the breeding season starting to tail off I couldn't wait any longer to sample that dead giveaway 'purring' (see recent GOS web entry) or the opportunity would be lost for another year.

A 9.30 pm arrival was still just light enough to photograph a male whinchat and watch a bat disappear over the horizon. Sitting in car in a lay-by on a mountain road is a lonely existence and does illicit some looks from passing motorists - I was offered drugs and a sprig of lucky heather -  but by 10.15 pm with no sight or sound of nightjar and  the pull of a post mortem of Andy Murray's exit from Wimbledon on Radio Five Live I decided to wrap it up head home. But not before one final attempt at picking out the calling of this bird from the background hum of my tinnitus. Then at 10.18 pm there it was one bird, but not from the confines of the FC clearing but from the moorland edge. I left happy.