Tardy Bears Picnic

After our meeting of the Ceredigion Moth Group on Saturday morning Morgan and I headed back down to sea level and collected Anna and a friend of Morgan’s called Lotti and we all headed off to the RSPB reserve at Ynyshir where we were booked in for a Teddy Bears Picnic – or as it should have been called a ‘Tardy Bears Picnic’ – D’you see what I’ve done there!

We got there about 10 minutes early as usual as the picnic was due to start at 11.30am There was no one else with teddy bears there so it looked as though it was going to be a quiet picnic, perhaps people had been put off by the grey weather. We had a chat with the wardens whilst Morgan and Lotti did some colouring and they said that 3 other groups of people had phoned that morning and booked so they should be there and they knew what the weather was like when they phone so we shouldn’t be on our own.

These other people did turn up in the and, but not until 11:50am, 20 minutes after we were supposed to have set off on the picnic, so in the end we didn’t get going until midday. Not a huge problem but the picnic was due to finish at 1pm and that’s what time we had planned to leave as Lotti had to get back to go horse-riding. So, in the end, everything was running late thanks to the late people and we had to leave at 1pm whilst the picnic was still ongoing. We missed out on the scavenger hunt on the way back through the woods despite being the only people who got there on time.

What is wrong with people, why can’t they be on time, and why when they are late do they not even acknowledge it. It’s just rude, but seems standard practise for many people these days. It annoys me and invariably it is those that are on time that end up missing out.

Anyway, apart from that we had fun. The children found bears on their way to the hide and stuck colourful things they found in the woods onto a sticky rainbow. Once at the hide they did colouring and dot-to-dots before having a story and a picnic. Morgan spotted a Buff-Tip moth on the way there too which was pretty good and I think he impressed the warden by seeing it and by knowing what it was!

There was supposed to be a scavenger hunt on the way back to the visitor centre but we missed out on that – We do have the sheets though so can do it some other time on our own.

I forgot to take any photos though.

Looks as though we’re going to be having another naturalists weekend this weekend.

First there’s a meeting of the Ceredigion Moth Group so I have to set my moth trap up on Friday night and then go back to it for an early morning meeting with the other members and go through the contents of the trap. If you trap moths or want to start trapping moths then let me know and feel free to join us.

A few other members will be setting traps too and I’m sure they’ll hang around for a while for tea and cakes.  I’ll miss out on that though as I’m going to have to rush off after investigating the trap contents as I’ve promised to take Morgan to Teddy Bears Picnic at RSPB Ynyshir. I’m not sure exactly what’s happening there but as RSPB members we’ve been making the most of the events at Ynyshr lately and Morgan seems to look forward to them.

Then on Sunday we’re all off to a meeting of the Aberystwyth Beekeepers Association – At the moment the weather isn’t looking too good for Sunday, but hopefully that will change by the time the weekend comes around. Hopefully we’ll be able to borrow bee suits and such like again and inspect some hives. We’ve yet to get our own hives, but will do ready for next year. We might even buy ourselves some bee-suits soon so that we can attend the meetings without having to borrow someone elses.

Sounds like we have a good weekend lined up – I’ll have to find some time to ride my bike as well.

We seem to be spending quite a bit of time at Ynyshir RSPB Nature reserve at the moment. Yesterday was ‘Butterflies Flutter By’ walk, once again led by Caroline who was standing in for the butterfly expert.

It was a hot sunny day and we did see a few butterflies but not as many as we’d hoped for. Large White, Small White, Meadow Brown, Painted lady, Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell and Small Skipper. We did of course also see lots of birds, including a number of Redstarts which was nice.

It was a very leisurely walk around part of the reserve and everyone seemed to enjoy it, despite the heat.

We also said hello to some Welsh Mountain Ponies, saw some damselflies and dragonflies and a whole load of baby toads.

Saturday was certainly a busy day. Moth trapping, invertebrates of Cors Fochno, barbeque, windsurf and then at 9pm we headed off to RSPB Ynyshir for a Nightjars and Glow worms walk.

Caroline led the walk and there was the three of us, plus about 8 other people in attendance. We were a little early really as it didn’t get dark until around 11pm and even then wasn’t completely dark, so we had a very leisurely stroll to our preferred location. Once there, we heard plenty of grasshopper warblers and also the sounds of the wading birds from the Dyfi Estuary. There was a cuckoo in a nearby tree, but no signs of the Nightjar.

Eventually one started up with its distinctive call. Caroline flapped a white tissue around to try to entice it towards us but without any luck. After a while it stopped calling so we slowly headed back to the cars. On the way back we heard another but once again we didn’t manage to see it in flight. We also saw a couple of glow worms in the bank beside the path which was good.

Morgan seemed to enjoy himself and thanks to his afternoon nap managed to stay awake all evening and was very quiet and well-behaved. Anna had fun too, and also stayed awake! Back at home it was now gone midnight and Father’s Day was upon us so Morgan gave me his card and present – A collection of little moth pots which I’ve already put to use this morning.

As far as wildlife walks go it was 100% successful, both species we set out to see / hear were seen and heard, the weather was great and everyone was happy. It did get pretty chilly though with temperatures dropping to 4ºC which may explain why there weren’t too many moths in the trap this morning.

Morgan and I have just finished doing our RSPB Make Your Nature Count survey. We spent an enjoyable hour sat there watching the garden and chatting about the birds that we saw. It’s easy to do as all you have to do is record the highest number of each species you see at any one time.

It wasn’t that busy out there but we were pleased to see a couple of Linnets. The results were:

• 2x Blaxkbird
• 1x Dunnock
• 2x Magpie
• 1x Starling
• 2x Blue Tit
• 18x House Sparrow
• 2x Linnet
• 2x Hooded Crow
• 1x Skylark
• 2x Swallow

If you haven’t done the Make your Nature Count Survey yet, then today is your last day to do it… It’s better than watching the TV!

The RSPB Make Your Nature Count Survey starts tomorrow. It is very similar to the Big Garden Birdwatch held earlier in the year. Basically you have to spend one hour counting and noting the birds that come into your garden. The only difference is it is held in June not January and they are also asking you about the mammals that come into your garden too.

The birds we see will of course be different at this time of year and rather than sitting indoors watching them or wrapped up with hats and gloves we can sit outside with shorts and ‘T’-shirt and a cold drink whilst watching them.

The survey period is from the 5th to 13th of June, so take an hour out to relax in the garden and record the birds that come to it – It’s actually really nice to just sit there and watch for a change and you’ll be doing your bit to help nature conservation at the same time.

The RSPB site has a handy recording sheet for you to use and some identification guides for any birds you don’t recognise.

I’ve just spent the weekend in Conwy. I decided to head up to North Wales as there was a North Wales Moth Recorders’ Meeting at the Pensychnant Conservation Centre. I travelled there on Saturday, stopping on the way to do a few geocaches and arrived in plenty of time for the meeting.

After a coffee and a chat with some fellow moth-recorders we had a presentation by Zoë Randle the Moth Recording Coordinator for the Moths Count Project. She talked us through the successes of the Moths Count Project and Butterfly Conservations efforts to put moths on the map.

Butterfly Conservation have had funding from a variety of sources, and lots from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Zoë told is how this money had been spent. Most of has been spent on the website and the publication of national moth distribution maps. I’ve yet to have a close look at these, but they look pretty impressive, especially as many of them can be zoomed in to resolutions of 100m so that you can see exactly where moths have been recorded. Hopefully some of my records will start showing up on these soon. These really are ‘putting moths on the map’.

Money has also been spent on publicity and organising events such as the Garden Moths Count and National moth night. This prompted some ‘discussion’ as one person there in particular thought hat this was a waste of money that could have been spent on computerising historical moth records so as to allow for a better understanding of trends in distribution over time. However, I think that publicity and events are actually a good use of the resources they have. I for one wouldn’t be recording moths if it weren’t for such events. I may only be one small person doing my little bit but I’ve been recording moths, have been partly responsible for setting up the Ceredigion Moth Group and collating records from Vice County 46 and have been spending some of my time on a voluntary basis computerising the historical records.

Just a small amount of money recruiting new recorders and volunteers such as myself can pay dividends in the long run, which has to be better than directly paying to have historical records computerised. Of course such events also fall within the ‘community’ remit of the funding requirements which is why they have featured heavily in the activities of Moths Count.

After the ‘moth meeting’ I headed off to RSPB Conwy where I had a walk around the nature reserve where I saw a little Egret, found a geocache on the banks of the estuary and then stood and watched millions of starlings come into roost.

Not a bad way to spend a day and I almost felt like a naturalist by the end of it!

Little Egret, Conwy

As you may know from recent posts I’ve started moth trapping and have been part of the formation of the Ceredigion Moth Group. It’s all a little ‘geeky’ but I quite enjoy the moth trapping, as does Morgan and learning more about the creatures around us is always a good thing. Keeping records of them and submitting them to the various interested parties makes it all feel a little more worthwhile, and in a small way these activities may help with the conservation of rare species.

In some respects I would rather be actively contributing to conservation in this way than simply donating money to conservation charities. However, as well as actively taking part in moth counting and submitting results to the Big Garden Bird Watch we also spent some money recently on becoming members of the RSPB and Butterfly Conservation.

RSPB

There are a few RSPB reserves locally and we do often enjoy a short walk at the Ynyshir Reserve, so becoming a member seemed like a sensible thing to do. The membership fees obviously go towards supporting the RSPB which should be the main reason for joining, but you get quite a it for your money too. As well as free entry to their reserves you receive a Quarterly Bird magazine with plenty of interesting articles in it and junior members such as Morgan get a ‘Wild Times’ magazine six times a year, featuring the adventures of Owlbert, Rookie, Red the squirrel and Squeak the mouse. You also get free gifts if you want them and RSPB bird guide book (which I already had).

Obviously you don’t really join for these benefits, but we were pretty interested in what Morgan would get for his membership fee as it is these things that will keep him interested in the wildlife around him.

Butterfly Conservation

The Butterfly Conservation membership is similar. For your fees you receive free entry to their reserves a ‘Butterfly’ magazine three times a year, a welcome pack and a garden butterfiles ID guide, along with advice on attracting butterflies and moths to your garden

Of course, you also get a nice warm feeling at having helped the conservation effort of our wild British birds, butterflies and moths.

Both organisations have decent websites where you can join them or simply donate. They both have lots of information online, not just about the organisations themselves, but about the birds and butterflies of the UK too., so check out their websites and join up too.

Thanks to constant pestering from Morgan we have done our Big Garden Birdwatch. Morgan sat there quietly for a whole hour and helped me count the birds we saw. There was nothing unusual and all in all it was a fairly good representation of what we normally get in the garden, with only a couple of things missing.

The results were:

• Blackbird: 3
• Blue Tit: 2
• Carrion Crow: 2
• Chaffinch: 7
• Collared dove: 2
• Dunnock: 1
• House Sparrow: 10
• Magpie: 2
• Robin: 1
• Starling: 18

Morgan now wants to do the same in the front garden!

This weekend is the weekend that the RSPB have picked for their Big Garden Birdwatch.

All you have to do to join in and help with the data is sit down for an hour (preferably with a cup of coffee) and count the birds you see in your garden. You count the number of birds of each species that lands at any given time and then submit your findings to the RSPB. You can download a counting sheet to make things easier and then submit your results online.

I’m hoping to do it today, so don’t forget to join in. Every bit of data helps.