Notable Recent Sightings

05/03 Firecrest 1, Lake Vyrnwy
05/03 Short-eared Owl 1, Lake Vyrnwy
14/01 Pink-footed Goose 1, Dolydd Hafren
03/01 Waxwing 20, Meifod; also 5 Welshpool by canal on 01/01. Last: 6 Bwlch-y-Garreg 17/03
23/12 Waxwing Newtown College, first arrivals 04/12, 47 on 23/12, 67 on 01/01, 30 on 04/02
09/12 Cattle Egret 1 roosting with 8 Great Egrets and some Little Egrets, Llyn Coed-y-Dinas
02/12 Waxwing 21 Guilsfield, 12 Montgomery, 1 Welshpool, and 1 on 01/12 Llanfyllin
16/11 Dotterel 3, just west of Dyfnant Forest on RSPB land
16/11 Great Grey Shrike 1, on edge of Dyfnant Forest on RSPB land, last reported 19/01
15/11 Waxwing 25 or 30, just west of Lake Vyrnwy along the Dinas Mawddwy road
08/11 Great Northern Diver A juvenile was found near Anchor, rescued and released
30/10 Black Redstart 1 in garden at Hendomen, near Montgomery
06/10 Hawfinch 5 in treetops at Powis Castle, by main car-park
04/10 Cattle Egret Dolydd Hafren, a flock of c.30
29/09 Red-flanked Bluetail Dyfnant Forest: a county first
23/09 Manx Shearwater 1st year bird grounded in Llanfyllin; released at coast
03/09 Cattle Egret 10 at Cors Dyfi, rising to 32 on 05/09
01/06 Turnstone 1 at Caersws with Little Ringed Plovers
03/05 Wood Sandpiper 1 at Dolydd Hafren
18/04 BLACK-WINGED KITE 1 video-ed at Glan Mule, near Kerry: a likely FIRST for UK
07/04 Black Redstart Female on Carno roof
07/04 Little Ringed Plover Llandinam Gravels
25/03 Osprey Female 5F 'Seren' arrived back at Llyn Clywedog
25/03 Pied Flycatcher An early migrant near Llanfechain
22/03 Hen Harrier Female in flight near Berriew
15/03 Sand Martin 5, Dolydd Hafren
15/03 Golden Plover c.50, Heldre Hill, Long Mountain, nr Welshpool
05/03 Whooper Swan 1, between Caerhowel (Montgomery) and The Gaer, with Mute Swans
05/03 Pink-footed Goose 1, Caersws, with Canada Goose flock
05/03 Jack Snipe 2, Caersws
05/03 Hawfinch 24, Powis Castle, feeding behind orchard
28/02 Pink-footed Goose c.25, flying north over Welshpool
26/02 Merlin 1 male, chasing Meadow Pipit, Long Mountain near Welshpool
26/02 Pintail 3, Llyn Coed-y-Dinas, 1 since 14 Feb
14/02 Hawfinch 1, Powis Castle car-park, very vocal
23/01 Jack Snipe 1, Moel-y-Garth near Guilsfield
17/01 Brambling 80, in beeches at Pen-y-Waen near Cefn Coch with Chaffinches
07/01 Hawfinch 2, bathing in puddle, Cwm Lane, Castle Caereinion
   
See Sightings Archive for older records

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Pwll Penarth - Reserve Management

There was some debate over the weekend on this blog re the work that had been carried out at Pwll Penarth - the work party was there again today and I had the opportunity of discussing this at some length with Rob Haigh from MWT.

Clearly any habitat such as this needs management and it is this work the Trust and volunteer work party have been carrying out.  In the short term it may look as though habitats have been destroyed but this is not the case and without this work the reserve would not be in a suitable condition for wildlife through the next 12 months.  The particular issues around this reserve centre on the invasive reeds and willow - essentially these are 'early colonisers' whose sole intention is to populate open water, without proper management the open water would disappear and we'd be left with a swamp.  Having seen the guys wading around the pool I'm surprised how shallow much of it is and it would therefore take little time for the open water to disappear.

The work on the islands has simply removed the scrub that's built up over the last year and, with one small but significant difference, is the same as work in previous years.  The difference this year is that patches of cover have been intentionally left - building on the discussions with the Trust over a similar approach at LCyD.  This year of course has been universally wet and hence the vegetation has grown more than normal - in particular willow scrub clear-felled in February has fully regenerated and needs to be cleared again, a pretty repetitive and thankless task.

In the post below I did question whether it would be possible to turn a couple of the islands into gravel banks for Little Ringed Plover - Rob confirmed that this was done 3 years ago by the Environment Agency who removed all the vegetation, laid a membrane and covered this with gravel.  Given that this has now disappeared under vegetation again this is perhaps an approach that won't work so I'm happy to stand corrected!

Finally we discussed the reeds/rushes in front of the first hide - this is now well established (though it is only 2 years since it was fully cleared) and given that the Water Rail clearly love this environment, providing us all with opportunities to see these secretive birds, it seems sensible to me to leave this for the time being.

I hope this helps but if you have any further constructive comments I'm sure Tammy and/or Rob <UPDATE - officer responsible is Clive Faulkner> at the Trust would be happy to discuss these with you in detail.

7 comments:

  1. Thank you, Mark. Just to add that any queries regarding Pwll Penarth should be directed to Clive Faulkner, the member of staff responsible for this MWT nature reserve.

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  2. Oops my bad - will amend the post!

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  3. I also understand that the scrub needs to cut back it just seems that the reserve has more to offer in the winter months as far as birds are concerned, After reading this post can I ask if the islands intended for the Little Ringed Plover can be sprayed with some kind of weed killer? I do agree with Mark that if we knew what the trust was trying to achieve we would be better informed as less likely to have these gripes. I have spent many hours this year at Pwll Penarth and the water board have caused a massive loss of habitat on the left hand side as you walk to the first hide, Here I had seen Shrews, Bank Voles and Sloworms and is also a favorite site for Ringlets and Green Vein Whites. Also the big bank by the Weir was home to Grass Snakes, Frogs and Toads and the main area where these were observed has been levelled. It seems they don't work with the Trust!

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    1. Phil - not sure I agree with some of what you say here

      1) If scrub clearance is not to be done in the winter months when are you suggesting? Surely that would have more impact on wildlife wouldn't it

      2) I don't think introducing weedkiller into PP or any other reserve is a good idea - in particular at PP when the islands are nothing more than boulders and hence it would directly and immediately leach into the pool. Little enough lives in the pool anyway so surely we should be looking for water quality improvement not further degradation?

      3) Have a deal of sympathy with the Trust here in that they have to manage 20 reserves and only one man (Rob) to do it with his volunteer workforce - clearly scheduling such work is a major headache and am sure he'd be delighted for any help you could offer

      4) The Trust as I understand it have no responsibility for the work by the Weir (assume that's the Environment Agency's bailiwick - as for the newly cleared area by the first hide, have no idea what that's all about.

      Rather than continuing this debate on the blog suggest would be best for you to follow the approach we took at LCyD and arrange a meeting with the Trust to discuss your concerns in detail. We found at LCyD they were having to operate within parameters we knew nothing about and I'm sure the same is true for Pwll Penarth, a reserve they lease. The Trust staff would I'm sure be delighted to discuss the issues with you

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  4. I agree about the weed killer Mark was wondering if there is some kind of weed killer substitute should have been more clear maybe.

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  5. The Himalayan Balsam to the right of Hide 1 was left to seed again this year.

    Any Mink been trapped?

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  6. Nigel - I can make no comment on either of these as I neither work for nor represent the Trust but Rob was yesterday talking about the Balsam and I'm sure he'd be grateful for additional help to make sure this is cleared regularly. For that and the Mink question it would be best to contact the Trust at their office in Welshpool - helpfully their website also contains email contacts for every staff member

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