Garnwen

With temperatures still at 26c it was a waste of time walking anywhere looking for insects. So I tried something different, I waited till 1600hrs which is when the hottest part of the day is over, and to stand by a Blackthorn Tree on the edge of the forestry up Garnwen, to see what would come into feed. This turned out to be the right thing to do. In 1 hour I had 22 species of hoverfly coming and going to the blossom. Highlight was undoubtedly the valley's first Cheilosia chrysocoma, but it was too quick and flighty for me to photograph 😥. Other species that were new for the year included Melanostoma mellinum, Chrysotoxum arcuatum, Episyrphus balteatus, Meliscaeva cinctella, Parasyrphus mallinelus, Parasyrphus punctulatus, Cheilosia variabilis, Sphegina sibirica, Sphegina elegans and Sericomyia silentis. I also took a few specimens to check later in the year and one looks promising for a species of parasyrphus we haven't had yet (annulatus).

Other sightings included 1 male Cuckoo, 3 pairs of Whitethroat 1 pair each of Stonechat and  Reed Bunting and 6 Willow Warbler, one of which had the same idea as me and kept returning to the tree to feed on flies, even getting in my way while trying to photograph some hoverflies. It took the Chrysotoxum arcuatum before I could photograph it. 30 Green-veined White and 3 Orange Tip butterflies made up the rest and I flushed what I thought was a fritillary probably Small-pearl Bordered Fritillary.

 Lone Blackthorn on edge of Garnwen forestry overlooking the moorland.

 Meliscaeva cinctella

 Parasyrphus punctulatus

Sericomyia silentis

Back to reality

Took a trip down the sewage works and river in the 26c heat, and as expected things were quiet. With the insects laying low, at least the birds were singing. A surprising Wood Warbler was singing from the old trees on the opposite bank of the sewage works, otherwise all much of a muchness. Hoverfly numbers were low but did have Eristalis arbustorum and Leucozona lucorum new for the year. Other insects were headed by 2m,5f Orange Tip butterfly and that's about it. New blooms for the year included Copper Beech, Lilac, Sycamore, Wood Speedwell and Germander Speedwell. Hopefully it'll be a bit cooler tomorrow for me to walk the Blaencaerau Area.

 Eristalis arbustorum

 Leucozona lucorum

Green Heron @ Pembrokeshire

Actually managed a trip out of the valley/county today. A rare American Green Heron had been found at Llan-Mill, Pembroke a few days earlier by their MP Simon Hart in his farm garden pond. It showed well from the time we arrived to the time we left and fed mainly on newts and small Rudd. It's only the 7th record for Great Britain and is regarded as a "mega" rarity.

On the journey back we had a few Red Kites between Carmarthen and Kidwelly. We stopped off at Kidwelly, the estuary only had a dozen Whimbrel of note. So we decided to walk the reens and scrub area to see if any migrants were about. This turned out to be a good idea as the sun came out and it was now warming up. All the birds were singing in the sun, so were easy to locate and we recorded 2 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, double figures of both Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat, we also had singles of Cuckoo, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. Other birds seen included 2 Greylag Goose, Little Egret, female Peregrine and 10+ Linnet.

A couple of common hoverfly species were feeding on Dandelion & Meadow Buttercup, with Cheilosia albitarsis of note as first for the year.

 Sedge Warbler

 Cuckoo - distant

Cheilosia albitarsis - with the diagnostic dark 1st and 5th tarsi and pale 2nd, 3rd, 4th tarsi on the front legs

8c to 18c in 2 hours

The Weird weather continues, when I arrived at Lletty Brongu woods it was 8c [1000hrs] with a cold north-westerly wind, but within 2 hours the wind dropped and temperatures rose to 18c in the sunny weather. This meant that the woods sun-traps and glades were full of hoverflies. I recorded a high count of 19 species for the time of year. Epistrophe eligans was the pick as I haven't photographed one before. Other goodies included Platycheirus ambiguus, Dasysyrphus albostriatus, a very early Cheilosia illustrata (feeding on Garlic Mustard), 18 Rhingia campestris, male Neoascia meticulosa, Helophilus pendulus and Chalcosyrphus nemorum.

The sewage beds held a mixed flock of hirundines including 45 Barn Swallow, 40 House Martin and 2 Sand Martin. Other summer visitors were 8 Blackcap and 2 each of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. 5 species of bee were seen with Clarke's Mining Bee being the best. The first Orange Tip butterflies of the year were out (1m,3f) as well as Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies. New blooms for the year included Garlic Mustard, Field Mouse-ear, Bluebell, Cuckoo Flower, Green Field Speedwell and surprisingly Cow Parsley (normally mid May).

Elsewhere 4 Red Kites were seen at different places and there was a male Redstart near Llangynwyd Farm. Also 25 Violet Oil-beetle were making their way cross the fields towards Cwm Nant Gwyn Woods. The only downside for today was that there were no Pied Flycatcher at any of their usual haunts.

 Epistrophe eligans

 Chalcosyrphus nemorum

 Cheilosia illustrata -later seen feeding on Garlic Mustard

 Helophilus pendulus

 Eristalis nemorum

 Violet Oil-beetle

This photo shows the flat groove at the back of the thorax, a feature which Black Oil-beetle lacks.

Caerau Park moorland

A quick walk here after the Rugby and before dark was somewhat rewarding with 1pr Whinchat, 2pr Stonechat, male Willow Warbler, 6pr Meadow Pipit, 1pr Tree Pipit and 2pr Linnet. There was also a mix of silent pipits that prove difficult to ID (see below). No hoverflies and just one Buff-tailed Bumblebee as there was a chill in the air.

Whinchat and Stonechat males together.

With Tree and Meadow Pipit displaying alongside each other, there was also a small flock of mixed pipits feeding, I think the flock contained both species. The one above has a strong supercillium (continuing behind the eye) with a dark eye-stripe and the sub-moustachial stripe that is quite wide and the flank streaking is fine and the bill is also thicker and stubbier. Whereas the one below which is a Meadow Pipit is more heavily streaked on the breast and flanks, the bill is thinner and longer, it also has a weak supercillium (stops above the eye) with  no dark stripe through the eye and a thin sub-moustachial stripe.

This catchment bog area stays wet all year as the area is shaped like a bowl, and is the beginning of the stream that runs past the Park Estate  down to the River Llynfi. I have recorded Jack Snipe, Common Snipe and Dunlin here in the past, but now it looks like ideal habitat for the rare hoverfly Anasimyia lunulata so I'll be visiting it regularly in May and June.

Looking from Foel Fawr over the moorland Bog, with Foel-y-Dyffryn in the background. My house is less than 500mts from this area.

Hoverfly round up [2016-2018]

The Hoverfly Recording scheme has uploaded the records for 2017 to its mapping program. It can only narrow down the search to a two year period for some reason I can't work out yet. But the good news is that between 2016-2017 the northern Llynfi Valley 10km square [SS89] has had the highest number of recorded species in that time period - 113 for the UK. Then follows two Peterborough squares at 112 & 105 and then the southern Llynfi Valley square [SS88] at 98. Overall life species of 115 sees SS89 moving up to 6th from 12th overall in Wales and 2nd in Glamorgan, the top square being 130 in Angelsey and the top Glamorgan square being 123 in the Gower [Portenyon/Oxwich area].

So if I'm going to match that this year I'm going to have to pull my finger out as I've only recorded 12 species so far this year and no sign yet of the two spring species missing from our list - Melangyna quadrimaculata and Cheilosia nebulosa, but not for the want of trying.

Spring at last and summer visitors start arrivng

With clear skies and no wind I had a full t-shirt day in the 22c temperatures. I visited Darren Woods, Lletty Woods and Top Llangynwyd clear-fell.

Darren Woods held a male Wood Warbler, 2 Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap. Lletty Woods had 3 Willow Warbler and Blackcap, while the Clear-fell had a mini-fall of 15 Willow Warblers. Also present was a singing male Lesser Redpoll.

The first butterflies of the year were also recorded with totals being 5 Brimstone, 2 Comma, Peacock and 2 Green-veined White. Also recorded another Adela Cuprella moth.

7 species of hoverfly were seen including first for the year of Melanostoma scalare, Meliscaeva auricollis, Eristalis tenax and Helophilus pendulus. Other sightings included Gwynne's-mining Bee, Honey Bee, Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Common Carder Bee, Large Bee-fly (7), Grey Squirrel and 14-spot Ladybird.

New blooms for the year include Wood-sorrel, Blackthorn, Barren Strawberry, Ground Ivy and Ramsons.

 Peacock

 Comma

 Melanostoma scalare

 14-spot Ladybird

 Willow Warbler

Lesser Redpoll

Sewage works

Still no summer visitors (birds) singing or hirundines over the sewage works. But new flower blossoms in Early Dog Violet and Ivy-leaved Speedwell. Hoverfly numbers remain low in 25 Platycheirus albimanus, 15 Eristalis pertinax and a male Cheilosia pagana. First bees of the year in 5 each of Honey Bee and Clarke's Mining Bee plus a Buff-tailed Bumblebee. Only other insect family present was a single moth in what looks like an early Cauchus rufimitrella but I'm open to suggestions as" Adela's "are the only longhorn moths in April generally.

 Early Dog Violet

 Wood Anemone

 Cauchas rufimitrella ??? [female "Adela cuprella" per Glamorgan moth recorder]

Eristalis pertinax

And we're off and weekly roundup

No wind today and temperatures pushing a balmy 14c, with clear skies. So a visit to Lletty Brongu sewage works woods produced quite a few spring flowers blooming including Lesser Celandine, Wood Anemone, Marsh Marigold, Groundsel, Primrose, Dandelion, Meadow Buttercup and Wood Spurge. Sallow is also now starting to blossom (18 days later than last year). All these flowers meant there was enough food base for hoverflies to start feeding, I recorded five species in 5 Platycheirus albimanus, 12 Eristalis pertinax and singles of Melangyna lasiophthalma (m), Eristalis intricaria (f) and Cheilosia pagana (f) and even managed a few photos.

Round up of birds over the last week included 4 Greylag Goose flying north over My Ty-Talwyn, 4 Sand Martin over Maesteg Rugby Ground, Goshawk and Red Kite almost daily now. 2 male Mallard at the sewage works. 2 Rookery have been built - the usual one at the Ranch, Garth (5 nests) and a new one found by Sid near the Railway Inn, Llangynwyd (6 nests). None of the woodland summer visitors like Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap have arrived yet, but Mynydd Ty-Talwyn had 8 Linnet and 2 Goldfinch returning. With all the wintering species having moved on.

I went to a family funeral in London the weekend and East Morden Crematorium, near Epsom, Surrey surprisingly held 25+ Rose-ringed Parakeet and on the journey back I had 20+ Red Kite between Windsor (J6) and Hungerford (J14) along the M4 motorway.

 Eristalis pertinax

 Melangyna lasiophthalma

Red Kite

Hoverfly season

The new hoverfly season is upon us, but due to the cold weather it is having a rather late start. Last year I recorded my first hoverfly on 15th March, but this year I've yet to see one.

I've uploaded a couple of maps below, showing the Hoverfly Recording Scheme 2016 records which have been uploaded to its data base. The larger the red circle, the higher the number of species recorded and verified. These map are quite different from the NBN Gateway as these are verified unlike the NBN Gateway which has all manor of spurious records from inexperienced observers.

You can also see that the two 10km squares for the valley are the highest recorded in Wales for 2016. The records for 2017 will probably be uploaded  midway though this year. So here's to a successful 2018 and hopefully some new species for the valley as there are plenty left for us to get.

Garnwen

I took a walk to the top of Garnwen and onto Foel Trawsnant, mainly to see if anything had survived after our coldest spell for many a year (La Nina effect [see earlier post]???). It was pretty bleak and the wind still had a cold chill in the air. Up on the top green fields there were 2 pairs of hardy Mistle Thrush, 2 Blackbirds and 4 Skylark and not much else. Foel Trawsnant was even bleaker with a Jack Snipe flushed from underfoot being the only bird. In three weeks time these moors will be full of migrating Golden Plover, Snipe and about 20 pairs of breeding Skylark and 100+  Meadow Pipits and a little later Wheatear, Stonechat, Whinchat, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail and Reed Bunting. I'll now when to go up next when I see birds of prey circling/ hunting the area from my back window. Surprisingly I had my first flowering plant of the year in "Coltsfoot", blooming between 2 small snow drifts. With little else about my mind wandered to other things, see below.

The triangulation pillar at the green fields on Garnwen, with wind turbines in the background (I counted 86 turbines on the surrounding mountains)

Triangulation (pillars) is a mathematical process that makes accurate map making possible and is accurate to within 20mts. They are no longer in use and have been replaced by GNSS receivers [Global Navigation Satellite System] and this is accurate to within a few centimetres.

On the pillar is a Flush Bracket with an identification code [zoom in]. The code for this pillar is "S2047" I found out that the official name is Foel Trawsnant Triangulation Pillar and is one of 6,500 across Britain. The first being built in 1936 at Cold Ashby, Northamptonshire. Like an Iceberg there is more of the pillar below the surface than above it and are built from local stone encased in an outer concrete shell.

I checked the history of the pillar and it proved to be mildly interesting. It was built in 1939, but was then destroyed (no date or reason) and subsequently rebuilt in 1956 and the last maintenance was done on it in 1984.

There are many Trig Pillars on our mountains, so when I'm out walking I'll take a photo of a flush bracket to see what the trig points history is. I also found out that originally there were trig points at Nantyfyllon Primary School Vane and at Coegnant colliery bath rooms but these were destroyed when the colliery closed and was knocked down and the school was upgraded through building maintenance.

2 "Tornados GR4" flying overhead, one of three type of fighter aircraft deployed by the RAF. The other two being the Typhoon (Eurofighter) and the F35 (modern fighter aircraft made in USA)

weekly round out

With the weather alternating between dry cold spells with a little snow and wet warm spells, I felt I was becoming a bit of a couch potato, So I managed to get out this week a few times.

The sewage works held all the usual species with nothing notable. The Pied Wagtail roost held 110 birds and the Corvid gathering numbered 50+ Carrion Crow and 70+ Jackdaw. The only noticeable interest was the large number of Long-tailed Tits in flocks of 15-20 and numbering 100+ birds overall, supported by good numbers of 25 Goldcrest.
My. Ty-Talwyn held 130 Fieldfare, 10 Redwing, while the Lapwing flock at the bike track fields on My. Baeden numbered 46.Other birds seen in the area included a single Red Kite, 8 Buzzard, 6 Raven, 15 Chaffinch, 8 Reed Bunting and little else.
Finally at the Waun-y-Gilfach feeding station there were 2 jay and unusually 3 House Sparrow [not seen them here before].

Mystery solved

Last year at the sewage works I photographed this rusty cog. I was intrigued what it could be. It was buried deep in a pebble bank in the river. I tried to move it but it was well and truly buried and attached to perhaps something bigger and bulkier. So all I could do was to muse about what it might be. Was it part of and old mine workings tram, washing machine drive or something else.

One year on and after many floods and storms had eroded the pebble bank more of the mystery item was showing, and it is clearly a wheel. It was quite easy to pull it out and I give it a quick clean to reveal the image below.

To my disappointment it turned out to be a rusty wheel and cog from a modern off-road "Trail" motor bike. It was quite heavy but very distinct with its over-lapping spokes. I checked the web for images to see if I could get a match and it wasn't to long before I found the image below.

Not an exact match, but the over-lapping spokes are exact and with a bit of imagination the heavy cog is a close match too [after rusting]. So it is just a recently discarded motorbike wheel and not something of note from the heritage of the valley like a coal/iron mine tram. Just goes to show that all that rusts is not historical gold 🚲

Garden

With a biting cold wind and frost laden cars making me reluctant to leave the house, I've been catching up on my paper records and installing a new computer after my old one died on New Years Day. So the only sightings I have are from my garden feeders. Bird numbers are low with maximum numbers of 2 Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 1 Coal Tit, 2 Hedge Sparrow, 1 Robin and only 1 Chaffinch and no House Sparrows?. Jackdaw and Herring Gull drop in when I put out stale bread on the shed roof. On the bright side I just had a party of Long-tailed Tit (10) visit the feeders to brighten up the day. Overhead there are the odd Kite, Buzzard and Heron. The nearby mountain of Foel-y-Dyffryn has Rook, Magpie and Jay feeding in the fields and trees otherwise quiet.