Fantastic murmuration at Teifi Marshes, Cilgerran - 15/11/14

I had been planning on visiting the Welsh Wildlife Centre in Cilgerran, Cardigan for quite awhile and on Saturday 15th November 2014 we finally made the trip. The weather was pretty good with a little bit of sunshine now and again. We arrived at the centre around 10.30pm and made our way to the impressive visitor centre which contains all the information you need and a lovely eatery called the Glasshouse Cafe.

The centre is run by The Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales and is situated on the Teifi Marshes Nature Reserve, which covers over 250 acres. It is a nature lovers paradise with a wide range of habitats to explore: these include ponds, reed beds, meadows, river and woodlands. There are a few hides scattered around that all offer great views of the reserve and the chance to see otters and other wildlife that reside there.

I keep up to date with The Wildlife Trusts via social media so I was aware that a kingfisher had been sighted recently and that starling murmuration could be seen over the marshes. These were the two main things that I wanted to see and the friendly staff in the visitor centre were more than helpful in telling me where I could see them.

Everything is well sign posted and there are a number of routes you can take: Woodland, Wetland, Explorer and Gorge trails - we decided to start with the Wetland Trail, which is signposted red and is almost 2 miles long. Within the first few minutes of the trail we saw a number of birds in the bushes, including pipits, tits and robins. Our first stop was the kingfisher hide.

Beautiful Pipit (photo by Dan Turner)

All of the hides are in fantastic condition and we sat quietly, hoping we would get a glimpse of the kingfisher. Unfortunately this wasn't meant to be but we did however spot a beautiful small grebe, teal, mallard and a number of moorhen. The view from the hide is beautiful and so peaceful, I could have easily sat there for a few hours. With the days drawing in the light wasn't on our side so we headed to the next hide.

The view from the kingfisher hide

A little grebe (photo by Dan Turner)

On the way to the next hide we spotted a number of fungi and lichen on the trees and it wasn't long before we arrived at the Creek hide, which overlooks a lot of the wetlands. We took our seats and once again waited patiently for Mr Kingfisher to appear, but once again nothing. We did see teal and a number of curlews though. We were also joined by a very curious robin that actually sat on the hide for ages and didn't seem bothered when we were pointing a camera at him.

A bracket fungi

Lots of bushy lichen

A number of teal and curlew on the wetlands

Curlew at the Creek hide (photo by Dan Turner)

The curious robin that sat on the Creek hide

From here we continued to make our way around the wetland trail, passing reed beds and ripe bushes full of berries. After walking through a gate and over a boardwalk we climbed up to the Heron Hide, where you get fantastic views of the reserve and the river. With nothing much to report apart from some chaffinches and wood pigeons we made our way back down to the wooded area. Here we saw plenty of fungi.

Red berries with reed beds in the distance

The fantastic view from the Heron Hide overlooking the reserve.

Some of the fungi we spotted on the wetland trail.

The next hide we found was the Otter Hide - a beautifully mud-clay hut. We sat in here for awhile to see if we could see the otters, but the only activity was a pair of swans and mallard. In the summer they have water buffalo on the reserve and this is a good spot to watch them. It's a lovely hide and quite near the car park if you did the walk in reverse. On the way back to the car park we saw a number of squirrels and I also spotted a goldcrest but unfortunately I couldn't get a pic.

The Otter Hide

A swan near the Otter Hide

A squirrel in the trees

The Wetland Trail ended back at the car park where we were greeted by another robin. From here you can start the Woodland trail but, as it was getting a little chilly, we headed to the cafe for a tea. Once in the cafe we got a table that overlooked the bird feeding stations where there were coal, blue and great tits, chaffinches, bullfinches and robins all enjoying the food that had been put out for them.

Another cheeky robin

The Wildlife Centre

By now the time was getting on and we knew in a few minutes the starlings would make their presence felt. We asked a helpful member of staff where the best place was to see the murmuration and they suggested down in the Creek Hide overlooking the marshes so that's where we headed. Before heading down we took time to admire the giant badger sculpture situated at the visitor centre and watched the birds on the feeder once again.

Blue Tits on the feeders.

Dan and myself with the badger

We got to the Creek Hide around 4pm, almost dusk, and the murmuration had already started - it was absolutely fantastic with thousands of starlings joining up with each other to perform spectacular acrobatic shapes over the marshes. We watched them for about half and hour before they settled in the reed beds. Please check out the video below to see them in their full glory...

Fantastic shape made by the starlings

The murmuration over the marshes

By the time we got back to the car it was very dark and we knew we had to call it a day. Unfortunately there were a few routes we didn't get chance to do like the Woodland and Gorge trails but that was OK, because it's something to look forward to when we return.

The reserve is brilliant and you can easily spend a day there watching birds, discovering nature and exploring all the different trails. We only had a tea in the coffee shop because we brought a packed lunch - next time though we will defiantly try the food in the cafe.

I cant recommend this reserve enough, if you love nature you won't be disappointed - there is so much to see and the landscape is beautiful. I can't wait to return in the Spring, I just wish I lived a bit nearer - I would be there everyday!

The badger sculpture in the sunset

For more information on the centre check out their website here

Here is a list of all the birds we saw:

• Goldcrest
• Jay
• Teal
• Little Grebe
• Starings (murmation)
• Swans
• Mallad
• Blue tit
• Coal tit
• Great tit
• Chaffinch
• Black bird
• Rook
• Raven
• Curlew
• Chaffinch
• Bullfinch
• Robin
• Pipit

Fungi in Penllergaer Forest - 21/9/2014

Today is National Fungi Day (12th October 2014) so I thought I would post a blog of a walk I did a few weeks ago in Penllergaer Forest, Swansea on Sunday 21st September 2014.

It was a glorious autumn day with not a cloud in the sky. I wanted to search for fungi and also pick some blackberries that were coming to the end of the season, so seeing as this forest was so near to us it seemed like a perfect place for a Sunday walk.

The forest is situated near the services just off Junction 47 of the M4 and is owned by the Forestry Commission Wales. The paths are well looked after with plenty of wildlife and trees all around with the River Llan running through the forest.

The paths are nice and clear

Even though it was the end of September there were still plenty of blackberries to pick

Blackberries 

The forest is predominantly composed of coniferous woodland and this is ideal territory for fungi. Whilst we were there we saw over twenty different ones and here are photos of some of them. Unfortunately my knowledge of fungi is very basic, so I am unable to identify them all. If anyone can help me - please let me know :) @sandraevans (Twitter).

Panther Cap

Puffball

Fly Agaric

Not only was there an abundance of fungi there were still a lot of insects around, including this beautiful golden ringed dragonfly...

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

The forest is beautiful and at over 190 hectares is really big. There is so much to see and explore, it's a place you can revisit throughout the seasons. When we were there we saw plenty of leaves on the ground and Autumn felt it was truly on it's way.

Autumn leaves on the ground

Snowdon via the Miners' Track - 10/9/2014

This was our second trip to Snowdonia this year and seeing that the weather was nice we decided to camp in the Cwellyn Arms again.

We had originally planned to climb Snowdon on the Tuesday, but when we got to the Pen y Pass car park it was already full - not one space free on a September weekday at 11am! We were disappointed but throughout the day we glanced up at Snowdon and realised that it was for the best - hill fog was lingering on the mountain for most of the day.

The next day, Wednesday 10th September, we conquered Snowdon again. Here are some of my photos from the trek...

We woke up to a glorious sunrise and a clear blue sky

We parked in Pen Y Pass car park. It is always busy because not only does the Miners' track go from here, but also the Pyg track and the popular Crib Goch trail. It costs £10 to park all day and there are toilets and a cafe

Pen y Pass has all the information you need for a safe journey up the mountain, including this weather forecast that we were very happy to see :)

The Miners' Track starts at the left hand side of the car park. Everything is well sign posted so there are no excuses for getting lost

The track starts off nice and smoothly with a little incline and well laid paths

It's not long before we see the famous Snowdon Horseshoe - it is made up of Lliwedd, Snowdon,
Garnedd Ugain and Crib Gogh

A small lake called Llyn Teyrn appears on the left of the path

When we approached the lake we could see the ruins of the old Miner's barracks

The path forks near Llyn Llydaw so we kept to the right

We then crossed the causeway over Llyn Llydaw and followed the path

The path passes the old Britannia Copper Mine

Now the track starts to steeply climb on this well laid windy path

Exhausting, but we were rewarded with spectacular views and beautiful waterfalls

Almost reaching the top of this section...here's Dan with Snowdon looming in front of him

Eventually we arrived at Llyn Glaslyn. The views of Snowdon from here are stunning with it rising 500m above the glacial lake

At this point the climb starts getting very strenuous! Even though the start of the path is clear you soon start to loose sight of it and end up doing a lot of scrambling over rocks and loose scree

Where did the path go? It's time to use every limb to climb to the next section

Even though this section is quite hard, there is so much to see including some of the local wildlife

Beautiful mountain goats just chilling out on a hot September day

Once you get to the top of this section you will see a large standing stone. This is where the Miners' and Pyg tracks intersect

The last section of the walk is a zig zag track with some (thankfully!) well defined stone steps

On the way up you pass an old tree stump full of coins. We put our own penny in and made a wish that the weather would remain clear by the time we reached the summit :)

From here, you start getting clear views of Snowdon and people on the summit

After a bit more climbing you finally reach a big stone and things get a lot easier from here

We passed the famous Snowdon Mountain Railway track...

...followed by some very impressive rock formations

The path continues to climb - is this a stairway to heaven? LOL :)

Not far now, the summit is within reach...along with Hafod Eryri - The Snowdon Summit Visitor Centre

We made it!!! A rare opportunity to get a photo on an empty summit!

The view is something else...here is a panoramic view from the top of Snowdon - just majestic!

A very rare photo of an unoccupied summit...

...but it doesn't stay quiet for long, here it was 10 minutes later!

After our hike up we had a well deserved sit down and the boots came off!

We must have sat there for over an hour taking in the fabulous view

A number of helicopters passed us at eye level...

...and even the birds were perched below us!

After a few hours on the summit, including a pit stop in the visitor centre to stock up on water, it was time to make our way back down. We found the large stone that is a marker for the Pyg and Miners' tracks.

The zigzag path looks never ending from this angle!

Instead of going back down the Miners' track we decided to walk along the Pyg track (both tracks lead to the Pen Y Pass carpark)

A little encouragement from our woolly friend

...still a long way to go

Another one of our woolly friends wishing us well

We pass Llyn Llydaw that looks really impressive from this view point

Finally we reach the Pen Y Pass sign and we take a left

Hooray, see that small white building in the distance? That's where our car is! Yikes!

Sun burnt and tired we still manage a selfie with Snowdon looming in the backgound

The Llanberis Pass can be seen from here. A bit misty in the sunset, but beautiful all the same.

At last my little purple car appears! We did it!

A quick glance back at the majestic Snowdon and a big smile at each other that we had climbed it once again!

Information on The Cwellyn Arms camp site click here 
For all you need to know for climbing The Miners' Track to Snowdon click here