December at Y Byddwn – The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales

Pen y Fan view from Y Byddwn

LOOKING BACK with ALAN SALTER (Voluntary warden)

I took over management of Y Byddwn Nature Reserve in October 2016 and being a small reserve, hardly larger then 4 tennis courts, I immediately set about identifying the flora and fauna, mostly fauna via photography throughout most of 2017.

The photographs were then posted on the local Biodiversity Information Services (BIS) or the national 'irecord' websites for verification by experts such as entomologists. A species list of everything identified can be found on The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales' website.

Botanist John Crellin with a small group identified much of the flora on the reserve whilst I identified, birds, butterflies and some of the fungi. A lichen survey by Barbara Brown is still awaiting confirmation of correct identification.

During the winter of 2017/18 with some help from other volunteers and Conservation Officer Steph Coates we carried out hedge laying, coppicing and small tree felling with an aim to allow more light into the reserve. The idea being to increase the meadow size, encourage woodland edge understorey such as bramble and give the woodland pond a new lease of life in an attempt to restore it to its former glory when pond plants and creatures such as frogs, toads and kingfisher were recorded.

Below are photographs of the pond and Steph next to a felled beech tree as of December 2018.

Y Byddwn Pond

Felled Beech tree at Y Byddwn

All of this work should create more diversity on the reserve by increasing the flora and therefore invertebrates and also bird activity in the form of feeding and nesting. The latter being helped by the placement of 4 nest boxes erected in late spring 2018.

Below are some photographs of the flora and fauna identified on Y Byddwn Nature reserve in 2017/18.