Leaping lizards I can travel further than 5 miles!

Date:  10 July 2020

Location:  Llyn Llech Owain Country Park
Weather:  Overcast with a little bit of sun :)

On 6th July 2020 the Welsh Government announced they have dropped the 5 mile restriction rule so Dan and I decided to take a little ride to Carmarthenshire - the first time I had been the car since March!

The weather was a little overcast with a bit of sun.  It was nice and warm and we wasn't disappointed with the amount of lizards (both juvenile and adult) - here are some pics what we saw...

Robin

Common Lizard

Juvenile Common Lizard

Common Lizard

Common Lizard

Large Skipper moth

New Year walk at the WWT Llanelli

Date:  4 January 2020

Location:  WWT Llanelli
Weather:  Mixed bag of cloud and the odd bit of sun

Happy New Year Everyone! It's been forever since I have updated my blog, so one new year resolution is to get out there, find wonderful wildlife and blog at least once a week. 

Our first outing was to our local WWT nature reserve in Llanelli. We are members, so when we at a loose end we always venture down there to enjoy the wildlife and get some well needed fresh air.

This is what we discovered...

The Birds:

Robin

Blackbird

Chaffinch

Wood Pigeon

Little Egret

Tufted Duck (male)

Grey heron

Fungi:

Need Iding...

Jelly ear fungus

Close up of Jelly Ear Fungus

Need Iding...

Need Iding...

Turkey Tail Fungus

We were only there for a few hours, but it was lovely to be out and about again - nature is truly the best medicine and therapy anyone could want and I hope I can get outdoors as much as I can this year :)

Big Garden Birdwatch 2018

We didn't have a great birdwatch in Dan's yesterday due to the rain so I decided to do another bird count today at my mum's house.

The weather was cloudy and cold. This is what I saw...

Two for joy - Magpies

Robin #1

Robin #2

Female Sparrow

Starling

Starlings

Male Sparrow

Conclusion:

The Big Garden Birdwatch - 30/1/2018 - 10:00am

• Starlings - 7
• House Sparrow - 6
• Jackdaws - 1
• Magpies - 2
• Robin - 2

Grand Total = 18

Looking at last year's stats the number of Starlings (24 in 2017) seem to have gone down significantly. 

I submitted my results to the RSPB and you have until 8th February to submit yours :)

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2017- Day 1

This weekend Dan and I took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. We equipped ourselves with cups of tea, cameras and a notepad, and watched events from our vantage point in the conservatory.

We started our one hour birdwatch at 10.30am. This is what we saw...

One of the bird treats was this cute heart I found...unfortunately it was overlooked and lately ungratefully knocked on the floor uneaten!

Our vantage point for one hour, equipped with pen, paper and more importantly cups of tea ;)

One of our first visitors - Jackdaw

A day out at The National Botanic Gardens of Wales

Date:  28 January 2017
Location:  The National Botanic Gardens of Wales, Middleton Hall, Llanarthne, SA32 8HN

After our bird count on Saturday we decided to venture to The National Botanic Gardens of Wales. The weather was pleasant, a little cloudy, but nice nevertheless. Throughout weekends in January, entry to the gardens was only £3 per person, so brilliant value for money!

The iconic glasshouse of The National Botanic Gardens

Armed with a bag of bird seed (bought at the reception) we went looking for wildlife! Our first stop was the nature reserve and was greeted by several Chaffinches. A inquisitive robin started following us around and almost took seed out of my hand. We also saw some wrens and blackbirds too.

A very friendly robin

Singleton Park in Autumn - 22 October 2016

I woke up to a wonderful sunny autumn morning, I didn't feel like travelling far so Dan and I decided to go fungi hunting in Singleton Park, Swansea which is only a few miles away.

Singleton Park is the largest urban park in the city of Swansea and comprises of 250 acres of land. It has an array of different habitats and some of the park is left wild for native wildlife to thrive. Our main intention was seeking out different fungi and this is what we found...

Fungi 1 - needs IDing

Fungi 2 - needs IDing

Fungi 3 - needs IDing

Closeup of Fungi 3 - needs IDing

One of the beautiful autumnal coloured trees in the park

We were quite happy with our finds, but sad we still hadn't spotted any Fly Algaric this year. We made our way to a part of the park where there are always birds. A number of people go there and feed them, so they are fairly used to humans and sometimes eat out of your hand. Armed with a bag of peanuts and meal worm we went there to see who would visit us.

A very friendly robin on the bin where we put the food.

A blue tit grabs a peanut

A coal tit 

We were so happy when all the birds started appearing, but then the big boys came. We must have been surrounded by at least 5 grey squirrel and 2 cheeky magpies came down to enjoy the feast too.

A magpie and grey squirrel

The other magpie up the tree

A very tame grey squirrel enjoying it's nut

The squirrels come really close and practically take the nuts from your hand

Wood Pigeon in tree

Something I don't see very often is 2 robins together who aren't fighting...perhaps they were a breeding pair? I noticed that someone had positioned a piece of wood on a tree, no doubt to get some good pics, I put down some meal worm and it wasn't long before one of my favourite birds, a nuthatch, appeared (amongst other visitors).

A pair of robins

Nuthatch

Coal Tit

A cheeky squirrel

We must have been in the park for over 3 hours and decided it was time to go. On the way out of the park we saw a lovely tree creeper and a few more robins. It truly is autumn, with the floor covered in reds and oranges, it is so beautiful this time of year.

Treecreeper

Robin

Autumn is here!

Below is a clip of Iolo Williams, who presented a programme on the BBC called 'Iolo's Great Welsh Parks'. This particular;ar episode took place in Singleton Park.