Pen y Fan in the snow - 24/1/2015

I have climbed Pen y Fan a number of times over the years but never in the winter months. A friend of ours had been up the week before and showed us some amazing pics of the mountain covered in snow - it looked beautiful. Seeing that we hadn't really ventured out in 2015 we though Pen y Fan was the perfect hike to kick off 2015!

The drive from home takes us into the Brecon Beacons National Park and over the Black Mountain, where the sun was beginning to rise - we couldn't resist stopping a few times to get some pics of the fantastic landscape and a kestrel hovering at the side of the road. The Black Mountain pass (A4069) has a number of places you can pull in to park and take in the scenery. It's always hard to drive though without stopping to take photos.

A kestrel hovering near the car. Unfortunately I could only get a silhouette
because the sun was rising behind it

The beautiful warm colours of the sunrise as it hits the mountains

As you drive through this part of the Brecon Beacons you are guaranteed to see Welsh mountain ponies. We managed to stop and take a pic of them grazing in the sunrise. They have been free to roam the uplands of the Brecon Beacons since Roman times and through harsh climate and poor grazing they have developed into one of the strongest and intelligent breeds on the planet. They are now classed as a rare breed and many farms are helping to ensure their survival.

Wild ponies grazing at sunrise

One of the lay-bys you can park in - It was rather icy that morning!

The sun rises in the Brecon Beacons

For us, the drive only takes around 45 minutes and we parked in the National Trust's Pont-ar-Daf car park just off the A470. The first thing you notice when you arrive at the car park is the large amount of felled trees - what was once a conifer plantation is now an empty piece of land with only a handful of trees left. This is due to it being mostly occupied by larch trees which are one of the species that has been hit by the deadly fungus disease Phytophthora Ramorum - the Forestry Commission ordered them to be felled and now they are planting new trees in the area to create a brighter, more open and wildlife-friendly woods.

The felled trees in the woodland by Pont-ar-Daf car park

This was the first time we have climbed Pen y Fan from this starting point, our previous hikes have always been from the Neuadd Reservoir. There was already a few cars parked there and it wasn't yet 9am, but apparently weekends are very busy on this path, hence the nickname 'The Pen y Fan Motorway'.

You begin the trek by walking through a kissing gate and then over a wooden bridge, with the Blaen Taf Fawr running underneath. An extremely pretty start to the walk and we were already getting glimpses of the remaining snow that was on the higher peaks. There are well laid paths from the start which are looked after by the National Trust, who continue to fix and prevent erosion to them.

The kissing gate and information plaques at the start of the trek

The footbridge crosses over the Blaen Taf Fawr - this flows all the way to Cardiff

The paths are well laid and clear to see

We had literally walked only a few metres before we got a glimpse of another kestrel, once again it was hovering over the ground looking for prey - what a delight to see another one of these beautiful birds on the same morning. Near where we saw the kestrel there is a National Trust plaque on the ground which reads "The Brecon Beacons were given to the National Trust by the Eagle Star insurance company in 1965" - Many commons are owned by companies and since 1965 the National Trust have acquired other parts of the Beacons in order to protect it and keep it wild.

A kestrel is silhouetted by the snow encrusted ground

The National Trust plaque 

Up until now everything was going reasonably well...until we reached the ice! It seemed that the whole path just transformed into an ice rink and even though we had hiking boots on we soon realised that we should have worn crampons. So the decision was either turn back or persevere...we noticed a few people walking just off the path, so that's what we decided to do and we continued our climb up the mountain.

Hey, when did the path turn into an ice rink?

Walking made easier on the snow covered banks

The snow was getting deeper the higher we climbed. As a result the icy path was less treacherous but we still had to go off onto the snowy banks every now and again. It was fantastic walking in the snow and it was hard to believe that this amount of snow existed so relatively close to home. We came across an untouched section of snow and the child it me just had to attempt a snow angel (or maybe I just needed an excuse to lay down lol)...it was a pathetic attempt as the snow was a lot harder than I anticipated! :)

The snow got a lot thicker the higher we climbed and you can just see the
top of Corn Du in this photo

A useless attempt at a snow angel!

Not only was the snow getting deeper, but the hill fog was appearing thick and fast and Corn Du was disappearing in front of us. We knew at this point that the views up there wouldn't be great - but today we were here for the snow!

The snowy path with Corn Du getting closer with every step

We finally made it to Bwlch Duwynt (which means 'windy pass' in Welsh) - and boy was it windy (check out the video below).

To the left of us was the slope of Corn Du, which looked treacherous covered in ice. We saw so many people slipping and falling down that we decided to head straight over to Pen y Fan. We saw a number of ravens at this point and even they were struggling to keep their balance in the windy conditions.

A very icy Corn Du

Corn Du with Pen y Fan behind and Cribyn in the distance

A raven battles against the elements on Bwlch Duwynt

The walk over to Pen y Fan was somewhat hazardous. It started snowing again and the snow was so thick in parts you couldn't really see the path. As you approach the saddle between Corn Du and Pen y Fan the views of the Neuadd Valley are beautiful.

The snowy path on the ridge to Pen y Fan 

The view of the snow covered Neuadd Valley

Brecon Beacons ninjas pose for a selfie!

The final climb up to Pen y Fan was very tricky with lots of ice on the ground and limited visibility owing to the hill fog. Eventually we made it to the top where we got the obligatory photo at the summit. The cairn on the summit is a Bronze Age burial chamber. In 1997 it was excavated and a bronze brooch and spearhead was found inside the chamber. On a good day the views are amazing, you can see the summit of Cadair Idris and even the Bristol Channel at Porthcawl. However the view on the day was somewhat limited!

The final climb up to Pen y Fan was extremely slippery and visibility was getting worse

The frozen summit of the highest mountain in Southern Britain

The obligatory photo opportunity (thanks to the kind chap who took it)

This was a good time to have a sit down and enjoy something to eat. The view was non-existent but it was so comforting to have a nice warm tea and a frozen Mars Bar. A quick glance to the summit and the queue for a photograph was building - it's testament to the lure of Pen y Fan that it is so popular even in such adverse conditions.

It was so cold on the summit that even my Mars bar was frozen! (other confectionery available)

Even though it was freezing up there the queue to the summit was as busy as ever!

We stayed on the summit for about fifteen minutes before deciding it was time to descend. The path down from Pen y Fan seemed to have frozen over even more and the hill fog was thickening by the minute. It was difficult in places to see where the ridge ended and the clouds began but, holding onto each other, we made our way down and could just about see which path to take when we got to the saddle in between Corn Du and Pen y Fan.

The treacherous snowy ridge

The saddle between Corn Du and Pen y Fan: at least we could see what path to take

We had lots of fun on the way down and even had a competition to see who would fall down the most - the final count was Dan twice and myself three times. We also built a snowman, made friends with numerous dogs and watched a man paragliding off the side of the mountain. There was a relaxed and party atmosphere on the path, many people were laughing and joking due to them slipping and sliding all over the place!

The beautiful descent from Bwlch Duwynt

Our own Brecon Beacons snowman (eyes & smile added in Photoshop lol)

Lots of dogs on the hike and this one looks right at home

A paraglider taking full advantage of the windy Beacons

When we got to the bottom we were surprised by the amount of people making their way up and the car park was choc-a-block. This route is without doubt the busiest one we have ever walked and I feel it is probably the easiest way up Pen y Fan.

I was so pleased that we decided to venture up Pen y Fan in the snow - it was a wonderful experience and the scenery was so beautiful. No doubt we will return to this neck of the woods soon whilst the snow remains.

A quick glance back up the path and they are still loads of people attempting the hike.

Back to the car and the whole car park was full

The return journey over the Black Mountain pass was once again not without stops as I just had to get a photo of a beautiful white pony.

Wild pony on the Black Mountain

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