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.

World Record at Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre

On Saturday 24th September Dan and I took part in creating a new world record to celebrate 20 years of marine conservation in New Quay, Ceredigion. We (Dan, I and over 300 others) created the world’s largest human superpod in the shape of a dolphin at New Quay Harbour. We were joined by the lovely Iolo Williams and the whole event was orgainsed by Staff and volunteers of the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre which is part of The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales #Superpod

Here are some pics from the memorable day...

Juvenile Herring Gull on New Quay Beach

The shape of the dolphin on the beach #Superpod

Black Headed Gull

Me before the world record on New Quay Beach

Dan and I with the wonderful Iolo Williams

We were all given dolphin masks to wear for the World Record

This is part of the dolphin's tail!

A pic of everyone getting ready with their dolphin masks

Steve Hartley (founder of CBMWC) giving a talk along with the Mayor, Pal the Puffin & Finn the Dolphin

Iolo starts the countdown

Below is a pic and post from the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre facebook page showing the human #Superpod we all created. They wanted around 300 people, but I think it was over 350! I have never been part of  a word record before :)

The whole day was full of fun and interesting displays including what they do when they rescue a dolphin. It's amazing what they do for marine conservation and learnt a lot.

A very interesting and informative dolphin rescue demonstration on the beach

The view of New Quay from the Marine Centre

Another Juvenile Herring Gull

Comma butterfly

Sparrow

Male &  female sparrow

We finished the day with a boat ride around the bay to see if we could spot any dolphins. The boat company was called Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips and you can purchase tickets on the main pier. The ride was a bit choppy and we managed to see quite a few Bottlenose Dolphins and a gannet! Unfortunately I have a really rubbish camera at the moment so I couldn't get any good pics - but seeing them in the wild was magical.

A windy boat trip to look for dolphins

Dan made a new friend on the boat

Bottlenose Dolphin in the sea

The tail of the dolphin

A terrible pic...but it's a Gannet!

When we got of the boat we stayed on the pier for a bit and watched the dolphins from there, a counted at least three jumping out of the water.

New Quay harbour from the Pier

A Bottlenose Dolphin viewed from the Pier

For more information check out the CBMWC website

P.S: So sorry I haven't posted a blog for awhile I have had such a traumatic couple of months concerning the possibility of being made redundant at work I just couldn't find the time or motivation to blog. Also my camera broke so I have had to go back to my old camera and I apologize that some of my pics are a bit on the iffy side. 

30 Days Wild 2016

What a month June was! I had been excited about doing the Wildlife's Trust 30 Days Wild for ages and had a few things already lined up for it. Unfortunately it was only a few days in when I got really bad news regarding my best friend's mum - she had past away unexpectedly from an heart attack.

It was a very sad time and I could relate to the grief my friend was going through (I lost my dad many years ago). Despite it being a very heartbreaking start to June I carried on 30 Days Wild and I found comfort in surrounding myself in nature.

These are some of my favourite photos and experiences from the 30 days (click on the link under the pic to read more)

Goldfinch in Swansea car park

Scarlet lily beetles destroying my lilies

Painted lady Butterfly - the first one of 2016

Common Blue Butterfly on a cycle path

Beautiful Puffins on Skomer Island

Juvenile Starlings in the garden

Monty the Osprey at the Osprey Centre

Lizard closeup on the boardwalks

Lifetime achievement! Spotted Kingfisher

Lazy fox in a local graveyard

Squirrel at he Swansea Vale Nature Reserve

Swans and geese on Fendrod Lake, Swansea

So as you can see I did and saw lots. I also learnt loads too and with the help of the 30DaysWild Facebook group and Twitter account I got lots of answers to my queries and everyone was so helpful and friendly.

On a rainy Day 26 I decided to dig out my paintbrushes and tried to paint a kingfisher that I had seen a few days earlier. I was happy with the result and have now got my creative mojo back - thanks 30DaysWild!

You can read the whole of my #30Days Wild here