A lot has happened since I wrote this guest blog for Dyffryn Tywi in 2020. I will be creating a blog in response to the proposals for a 60 mile network of electricity pylons through our beautiful valley. The diagram shows just part of the proposed development and I’ve added photos of a few of the actual birds and animals that live along just that tiny stretch. It feels personal – I know these creatures! The Whooper swans overwintering and grazing the fields along with the Canadian and Greylag geese. The Red Kite that nests in sight of the school and directly under the proposed electricity line ..read more

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Secret-Life-of-an-Arable-Field-Hardback/p/19262 Rosie, from Pen and Sword Books contacted me to see if I’d like to review this new book. Having never written a book review – and having been away from my own writing for most of this past year due to illness and other reasons, I wasn’t sure if it was something I could do, but I agreed and was sent a copy – and thankfully it inspired me to get back to writing, and attempt a book review too! The book opens with some statistics: “First there is food. Agriculture in the UK is a £5.3 billion pound industry…… and us ..read more

As I walked along the track I stopped to look into the ruins of where there was once an old house – amusingly noted to be called Ty Newydd on the Ordnance Survey of 1888! The flower I was hoping to see is often found near human dwellings – it was introduced as a cultivated plant hundreds of years ago and without many insects or other pollinators around in the depths of winter, it doesn’t tend to spread widely unless replanted. Photo by Miriam Fischer I was on the lookout for snowdrops – one of the first flowers of the New Year. These tiny white flowers have long been associated with purity, li ..read more

A distinctive rhythmic hum vibrated my ears into action, and I paused and looked to the sky. I knew this sound, and I knew it could be coming from up to a mile away. The hum changed in tone and frequency as the wedge of Mute swans flew closer and closer. The noise changed into a powerful but gracefully slow; swoosh, swoosh, swoosh – and I gazed skywards as the elegant birds with necks outstretched and heads pointing towards the lake ahead; passed over me without a sound leaving their beaks. I smiled to myself because this was the second wedge of swans to fly over that morning. The earlier bird ..read more

This is the time of year when we may be lucky enough to observe deer during their annual rut. I have been able to hear the blood curdling bellows and groans of the fallow bucks on several occasions this past week as they have strutted around their territories, showing off their suitability as a breeding male. If you are very lucky, you may even get to see the strongest males battling it out head to head, using their magnificent palmate antlers as weapons in a competition to identify who will be the successful choice for the does to mate with. Autumn 2020 at Dinefwr park, Llandeilo My best sigh ..read more

Autumn is well and truly upon us. I have delighted in those recent dawns full of of mists and mellow fruitfulness. There is something magical, warm and lazy about the light at this time of year and the leaves are beginning to turn to gold, the rowans and rosehips are dripping with red fruit, and the trees and fields are covered with intricate gossamer blankets, woven into perfectly formed geometric shapes and dripping with the early morning dew. Spiders build webs all year round, but autumn is a fantastic time to see them because their transparent silk threads are often found covered in the se ..read more

I could smell the electricity in the air this morning, and my tummy had been warning me of the approaching storm since yesterday evening. I wanted to go down to the woods before the storm started to see what the animals and birds were making of it all. So, Blaze and I took our usual route down the track, Blaze running back and for after her ball. The woods were eerily quiet, the creatures knew what was coming. There was a distant roll of thunder and a few birds squawked and cried before becoming silent again. In the distance a lone farm dog barked. We headed back home as the occasional huge, h ..read more

It’s that time of year when people are considering travel. Of course, 2020 has panned out very differently to recent years; some of us may be reading this in the local paper whilst on our holiday – welcome to our beautiful county of Carmarthenshire! Or perhaps we are planning trips with our families to visit those friends and relations we’ve been apart from for so long. Some of us may decide to stay put this year and keep close to home. Whatever your destination, it is unlikely to be as far reaching or unusual as some of the travels our plants and animals go on. We are all familiar with the mi ..read more

“Where’s the best place round here to see badgers?” “I saw this bird, a bit like a sparrow but different, any ideas?” “What sort of the poo do you think this is?” I am frequently asked questions like these, and I’m absolutely delighted that when people have a wildlife-based query, they think of me as someone who could possibly help. My knowledge doesn’t just come from having a good memory, and it certainly wasn’t taught to me in school. My passion for the natural world is lifelong and developed from a childhood spent reading – and walking about, noticing things. I grew up in the days before we ..read more

Many of us have been enjoying tending our gardens and have been busy harvesting the various salad crops and veg that have had their recent midsummer growth spurt. It’s not just us humans that appreciate a well-stocked garden – caterpillars are aplenty, and all four stages of the butterfly and moth life cycle may be observed if you look closely. I have a lifelong passion for butterflies – some may call it an obsession! They are remarkable creatures and I can spend many an hour transfixed by the way they fly in such seemingly random ways from flower to flower – if you’ve ever tried to photograph ..read more