The wildlife on Neath Canal

Date:  25 January 2017
Location:  Neath Canal (Neath to Briton Ferry)

I had an appointment in Neath and seeing the weather had been forecast to be nice I decided to walk home along Neath Canal. Luckily I had my camera with me and managed to discover quite a bit of wildlife on the way (incuding two new birds for me #My200BirdYear - A Mistle Thrush and Greenfinch).

The sun shining through the trees onto the canal

A friendly robin

A nice surprise to see a Mistle Thrush in one of the opposite fields

Penllergare Valley Woods, Swansea - 5 March 2016

Penllergare Valley Woods is a hidden gem just 15 minutes away from Swansea City Centre. Situated off the A48 it is easily accessible and open 24/7 to the public. There is a car park with a coffee shop, but seeing as we were there before 8am we parked in the layby next to the Lezzet Cafe and entered the woods through that entrance.

Notice board with map and information about the woods.

We headed right towards the upper lake - the reason being there has been a kingfisher spotted on this lake over the last few weeks and we are desperate to spot one this year :).

The view of the lake from the bridge.

The upper lake (fish pond).

It was not even 8am and there were already lots of birds around: mallard on the pond, robins, blackbirds and great tits flying in and out of trees and bushes.

We walked slowly along the river, desperately trying to spot the kingfisher that has been sighted numerous times recently. After half an hour we gave up and decided it was time to explore the rest of the woods...maybe we would get to see him on the way back?

Male Blackbird.

Great Tit.

Female Mallard (there were males on the pond too). (pic by Dan Turner)

At the other end of the pond you can clearly hear running water and, after one last look back to see any flashes of blue and orange, we decided to check out the cascade.

It looked beautiful today and it wasn't long before a dipper made an appearance. I love watching dippers bobbing up and down and splashing in and out of the water. They are lovely little birds and every time we visit Penllergare we always see them. Another regular visitor showed up too: the grey wagtail, infact there were two of them flying around the waterfall.

The upper pond from the other side.

The cascades.

Dipper. (photo by Dan Turner)

Grey Wagtail (there were a pair). (Photo by Dan Turner)

We continued walking along the river and near the Llewelyn Bridge we saw a blackbird and song thrush having a dispute. When we crossed the bridge we were greeted by lots of birds: great tits, long tailed tits and a rook in a tree on the hillside.

The scenic river.

The Llewelyn stone bridge - a new bridge which was built in 2013.

Song thrush.

Long tailed tits (Pic by Dan Turner).

Great tit.

After seeing the rook in the trees in the upper part of the woods, we made our way up the incline. The views from here are fantastic and you appreciate how big Penllergare is. There were lots of daffodils flowering up here and a flock of great tits were in a nearby tree.

The path up to the higher section of the woods.

Great panoramic of the woods and ponds.

Daffodils.

Walking along the path we saw a Dunnock and as well as daffodils there were a few snowdrops flowering...spring is definitely on it's way.

Dunnock.

Snowdrops

From here we started making our way back down the valley, lots of birds like robins and wrens were in and out of the bushes and we noticed one of the paths was closed off. Unfortunately a small section of the woodland has been infected by a fungal disease and hopefully they will be able to keep it under control and fix it.

The path into the valley.

Robin.

The path off limits due to fungal disease.

We eventually reached the river again and we crossed one of the narrow bridges, we followed the path around and arrived at the big old oak tree. Who knows what lives in this tree that must be a good few years old.

The narrow bridge crosses over the river.

The old oak tree.

From here we continue on the path and eventually reach the other lake in the woods, this one is called the lower lake and we could see some mallard and coots. A few weeks prior we had seen cormorants and heron on the lake, check out the video below...

Lower lake

A coot.

Mallard flying about the lake.

After a nice break and waiting to see if any other birds arrived we decided to leave the lake and make our way back on the path. On the way we heard a carrion crow making a racket in a nearby tree and plenty of great tits flying around. We headed down the Cadle Mill side of the woods to see if there were any tadpoles in one of the ponds.

Carrion Crow

The path leading to Cadle Mill

Great Tit.

There was plenty of life down this side of the woods, Marsh Marigolds were flowering on the bogs and we spotted plenty of frogspawn and tadpoles in one of the ponds. We also saw newts, but we couldn't get a photo or tell which type they were.

Bogs full of life.

Marsh Marigold.

One of the ponds full of tadpoles...

...and frogspawn.

From here we made our way back on the path and up to the higher point of this part of the woods. Many times I have seen buzzards in this section, but unfortunately there were none today but we did see a greater spotted woodpecker.

On our way up the mountain.

Greater spotted woodpecker.

The views up here are amazing, you can see so much of Swansea. It's so peaceful its hard to think you are in a busy city. We had a little sit down watching the woodpecker fly from one tree to the other. From here we made our way back down, passing a few old trees where we have seen woodpeckers in the past and spotted a treecreeper looking for grubs in a mossy tree.

The view of Swansea.

Dan enjoying the view and watching the woodpecker fly in and out of the trees.

Making our way back down...

Treecreeper.

We took one of the earthy paths back down to the main section of the woods and when we got to the bottom we were confronted by huge redwood (sequoia?) trees. Along the river we looked out for dippers again, but they weren't around - what was around was a lovely little wren singing it's heart out.

On the way down to the main part of the woods.

Passing huge redwoods (nb Dan is 6ft 4, so you can see the size of them).

Walking back along the river

Wren.

We passed the cascades again and walked slowly along the upper lake, hoping the kingfisher would show itself and make our day even better. Unfortunately it wasn't to be today and our quest to see a kingfisher goes on...

The cascades.

The upper lake...still no sign of Mr Kingfisher!

Cute sticker on the dog poo bins and was photobombed by this doggy :)

Penllergare Valley Woods is indeed one was Swansea's hidden gems, I can travel over 50 miles looking for wildlife and see nothing - But every time I venture here (only 15 minutes away) I always see something new. It's my go to place when I need to be with nature. I have to give credit to the all the people who are restoring it, they are doing an awesome job making it a beautiful place to visit all year round.

Check them out on facebook and their website.