The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales North Ceredigion Group Newsletter September 2017 1. Chairperson’s Introduction Summer has flown by and hopefully you have had plenty of chances to get out and enjoy the abundance of local natural history. One of the highlights of the summer for me was taking part in an event organised by Dyfi Biosphere who have been focusing on Welsh legends. I was partnered with local storyteller Peter Stevenson for a story walk at Cwm Clettwr on 5 August. Local families who had not previously visited the reserve joined us for a delightful stroll from the Cletwr Cafe. Peter’s legends interwove perfectly with the natural history. The find of a marbled magpie moth near the river was interesting as their caterpillars feed on elm (thanks to Tony Allenby our county macro-moth recorder for this information). The dormice at Cwm Clettwr have continued to thrive with good numbers found during the summer. Speaking to those who attended the story walk highlighted to me how invisible most of our reserves are to non-members, even Cwm Clettwr, which must be one of our more easily found locations. Following up on this, the Local Group Committee are interested to find out how many visitors visit the North Ceredigion reserves. I will be asking at the next couple of indoor meetings for a show of hands to help us collect this information. We are currently updating the species lists for many of the reserves with the help of many volunteers and some paid expertise – there will be more on this at a later date. Summer has flown by … North Ceredigion Group – local contacts Chairperson Fiona Corke 01970 822078 [email protected] Secretary Dave Purdon 01970 871012 [email protected] 2. North Ceredigion Group programme of meetings for winter 2017/18 (compiled by Ian Scott) We have a final field meeting for the year: Sunday 17 September 2017, 10 am - 1 pm. Cors Ian WT reserve near Lledrod with Emily Foot. Meet in the parking area of the reserve (SN669696). Link to reserve information here: https://www.welshwildlife.org/nature-reserve/cors-ian-lledrod-ceredigion Indoor meetings in Theatre C22, Hugh Owen Building, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth University: Monday 2 October 2017, 7 pm. Wild Orchids of Wales by Sue Parker (Local Author, http://www.first-nature.com). Monday 6 November 2017, 7 pm. On the Trail of the Whale by Elfyn Pugh (Organisation Cetacea Volunteer, www.orcaweb.org.uk). Monday 4 December 2017, 7 pm. WTSWW’s Species Conservation Work by Lizzie Wilberforce (WTSWW Conservation Manager). Monday 5 February 2018, 7 pm. Things that Slither and Crawl: Local Reptiles by David Kirby (Local Member & Aberystwyth Resident). Monday 5 March 2018, 7 pm. Choughs in Wales by Tony Cross (Mid-Wales Ringing Group). 3. The Nature of Our Village project (Penparcau Community Forum): update by Chloe Griffiths The Penparcau wildlife group ran monthly Bee Walks over the summer to record the bumblebees on Pen Dinas. These walks follow the same 1-km route each time and have to be done under specific weather conditions. They help us provide standardized information on how our bumblebees are doing so that we can build up a picture of long-term trends in their numbers and hopefully spot and report any declines. As the weather warmed we began to get good numbers of Common Carders and Buff- tailed/White-tailed workers. The queens were also present on the August survey, considerably bigger than the hard-working worker bees and described by some as ‘like flying mice’. We have also benefitted from training in Advanced Bumblebee Identification and help with identifying solitary bees. Sinead Lynch from Bumblebee Conservation has worked with more than 30 local people to plant up a wonderful, bee-friendly garden in the grounds of the Penparcau Community Forum Community Centre and we hope the flowers will find favour with many of our important pollinator species. Other winged creatures also came on our radar this season, with a few good ‘firsts’ for our village. One of these was a species with a close relationship to bees, perhaps closer than they would like! This is the Thick-headed Fly Siccus ferrugineus, or the ‘Bee Grabber’ as they are sometimes known. It is a parasite of bumblebees and solitary bees, where the female grabs the bee, uses the end of her abdomen to prize it open and then lays her egg inside it. The egg then hatches within the body of the bee and eventually kills it. Although this is - 2 - arguably rather gruesome, the entomologist Liam Olds told us that seeing these flies is a sign of a good bumblebee population. One final bee-related discovery was the sighting of a Slow-worm in the middle of a Common Carder Bumblebee nest. The mossy nest was under a reptile shelter (refugium) on Pen Dinas and we can only assume that the reptile was having a quiet snack on the bee larvae. Comments on this interaction from local and national experts suggest that the Slow-worm’s scales might protect it from A Common Carder Bumblebee found on stings and that the larvae would be a good one of the Bee Walks on Pen Dinas. source of carbohydrates and protein for it. (Photo Chloe Griffiths) Recording wildlife is certainly full of surprises! With thanks to our funders, The Nineveh Charitable Trust. If you would like to take part, please get in touch via [email protected] or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/829779180427287/ 4. Bird report for Spring and Summer 2017 (Mike Hayward) Compared with many of the east coast counties of Britain, such as Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, Ceredigion is a county not noted for its vast flocks of birds. However, what we may lack in flock sizes we make up for in the variety to be found in the wide range of habitats that occur within the county. This spring and early summer has seen the recording of many bird species which have only rarely been encountered in the past. Of particular note was the small flock of Cattle Egrets that took up residence at Ynys Tachwedd for several weeks in May. Perhaps these birds will become domiciled like the Little Egret, first recorded to be breeding in the county in 2004. Other notable recordings included a King Eider, which settled on the Ynyslas – Leri estuary for several weeks. A Great Snipe along with a Bittern were observed on Borth Bog during a ‘Bird Race’ undertaken by a team of four dedicated bird recorders who, in the course of a day, observed a grand total of 126 different species! Once again the highly variable spring and early summer weather has had a major influence on the expected behaviour of our resident birds and the seasonal influx of summer migrants. The greatest effect of the lower than average spring temperatures, with long periods of heavy rain and strong winds, was a later than usual start to the nesting season and timing of the arrival of spring migrants. The regular signs of spring, Swallows, other hirudines and Cuckoo were all later with lower numbers than usual, especially of House Martins. On the reserves, those nest boxes that have been monitored have had a good number of the usual species – Blue Tits, Great Tits and Pied Flycatchers all producing a good number of - 3 - fledglings. At Cors Ian, a Swallow platform, newly installed in the refurbished stable block, was promptly utilized as a nest site, while two pairs of tits occupied nesting holes in the stable walls. One of the new Spotted Flycatcher boxes there was also occupied. Around the county, the Kestrel boxes have been used to a lesser extent than in previous years but brood sizes have been well up. Barn Owls have again made use of some of these boxes. Also of note is that a Barn Owl box on one of the reserves was used this year for the first time, some ten or more years since it was put up! As we approach the end of summer the passage migrants such as the small wading birds which nest in the Arctic are stopping off at Ynyslas for refuelling on their journey to sunnier climes for the winter. Dunlin and plover numbers have recently been topping 2000+ birds at the high tide roost. The bird ringing groups within the county have made full use of this opportunity to undertake a colour-ringing or -banding scheme to more easily monitor the movement of these birds. Dunlin, colour-banded last year at Ynyslas, have been recorded as far away as Spain and Iceland. The colour-banding allows observation without the need to capture the birds to read the regular metal rings and also means that individual birds can often be identified from photographs. Records of any colour-ringed birds, especially Chough, gulls and waders should be sent to any of the contact persons listed for ‘sightings’ on the Ceredigion Bird Blog website (http://ceredigionbirds33.blogspot.co.uk) so that this valuable information can contribute to our understanding of the distribution, behaviour and long term conservation of these species. 5. 100 Club – Carolyn Lynn Once again it is almost time to ask for subscriptions to the 100 Club for the coming year and I shall be starting to collect monies at our first autumn meeting on Monday, 2 October. The price per ticket is £10 and I should be most grateful for your support once again. The money raised is very important to the activities of the Group as it is the only source of income for funding Em's excellent work on our reserves AND don’t forget, there are generous cash prizes to be won.