Volunteers muck in at Llangloffan Fen
An adventurous day was had by Wildlife Trust volunteers and members of the public at Llangloffan Fen on a work event last month. The reserve contains a few ponds which have been neglected for a while and so now are mostly vegetated. Volunteers helped to part restore one of the more heavily vegetated ponds to its original state by jumping straight in and dragging the pondweed and rushes out to the sides of the pool. Only a third of the pond was cleared so as not to create too much disturbance and allow pond creatures to still have a safe haven. The vegetation that was cleared was piled on the sides of the pond to allow any trapped animals to make their way back into the pool over time. Whilst doing the task, many toads and frogs were found including water scorpions and other aquatic minibeasts. Although a few had the luxury of wearing waders, with the heavy rains hitting Pembrokeshire the week before, water levels had risen somewhat more than anticipated so many left the day with slightly damper trousers than they had arrived in! None-the-less, a good day was had by all and the task was completed…until next year. A highlight of the day was seeing a Glossy ibis fly over head and land on the reserve some distance away.
For centuries, ponds were an essential part of people’s lives. Nearly every village and farm in Britain had a pond. The water was used by both humans and animals. As technology advanced and water became available at the turn of a tap, many ponds were neglected. Since most ponds were man-made, when abandoned by man they were taken over by nature; plants at the edges took over where there were no farm animals to trample them down and some ponds ended up as marshy bogs. Fallen leaves choked ponds and the oxygen vital for pond-life, was used up as they decayed. Other ponds have been destroyed by pollution or drained and filled in to make way for buildings and farmlands.
All these problems have meant that most of Britain’s original ponds have disappeared – 50 years ago there were twice as many ponds as there are today. Ponds of our countryside are now an endangered habitat.
WTSWW will be attending the annual Really Wild Food and Countryside Festival in St Davids on Saturday & Sunday September 5th/6th for the second time following the success of last year’s event.
The Really Wild Food and Countryside Festival is utterly unique, giving you the chance to get back in touch with the countryside; eat it, cook it, learn about it, even play with it! TheFestival is a ‘Celebration of Food and Countryside Crafts Originating from the Wild’. Held in sight of the sea and the ancient cathedral of St Davids, it’s the wildest day of culinary delights, rural traditions, music, storytelling and fun in the countryside you can desire.
The overall ethos of the Festival is to encourage people out into the countryside, make them more aware of what is around them, and to help them realise what nature can provide for use in the kitchen, for crafts, or for medicinal purposes. Walking is healthy as we all know, so foraging around in the fresh air for some ingredients for your supper, for instance, is a great way to spend some quality time.
Chefs from around the country will provide demonstrations with fresh Welsh ingredients and there will be over 70 exhibitors selling and showing their food and rural craft products together with environmental organisations. You will have the chance to go foraging and walking along the lanes or on the seashore and outdoor experts will offer advice on bush crafts or try your hand at archery, wellie wanging or ferret racing!
If you haven’t visited the friendliest festival of them all, where have you been?!
Icelandic Invasion
The annual grazing regime has begun in earnest at Dowrog Common Nature Reserve and SSSI near St. Davids. This extensive tract of wet and dry heath with pools and fen, in the upper reaches of the River Alun supports over 350 species of flowering plants, including the Lesser butterfly orchid, Yellow centaury, Pale dog violet and Pilwort, all of which need different habitat requirements to grow.
One method of creating these ideal conditions is through grazing. This also helps maintain the heathland mosaic and prevent succession to scrub. Ideally cattle are the best animal to do this yet graziers are somewhat reluctant to leave them on a site where there are so many boggy areas in the risk of losing individuals. The next best option is to use ponies. Nathan Walton, Wildlife Trust Officer for Pembrokeshire, with the help of the National Trust (from which the site is leased) has been fortunate to get a local grazier to agree to put 14 Icelandic ponies on the reserve. These hardy animals will be on the reserve until the end of October, or, depending how they do and ground conditions, stay over winter.
They are beautiful animals and are welcome sight on this spectacular reserve. There may be the possibility of getting cattle to graze other compartments of the reserve and this is still being discussed with another local grazier. The site also supports a diverse and interesting range of invertebrates including the Marsh Fritillary butterfly, Scarlet Tiger moth, Small red damselfly, and scarce Blue-tailed damselfly. Wintering wildfowl and birds of prey proliferate on the Common with Hen Harriers roosting on site, and Short-eared Owl and Merlin being regular winter visitors. Otters regularly visit the site and Water Shrews have also been recorded.