Late Night Visitor

Late last night we had a 6 legged visitor tapping at our kitchen window, It was a chunky Cockchafer....

Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha)
These are also called 'May Bugs' as they usually emerge in May. They are quite big and some people think they are cockroaches which they are not. They fly around at night and are attracted to light. This one was attracted to our kitchen light and kept flying into the window. When we released it we turned the light off so it would stop banging the window, the sound was quite load like someone tapping the glass.

Our local river usually dries up in the summer but because of all the rain it still had water in it so for the first day of our summer holidays we strapped our nets to our bikes and rode to the river for some stickleback fishing. There were lots about but we couldn't see and minnows.....

When we were riding home we saw a plant called Comfrey growing in a hedge

Comfrey (Synphytum officinale)
It likes to grow in damp areas. People used to grow it in their gardens and it was used to help heal wounds and mend broken bones. The flowers are shaped like little tubes and can be white, pink or violet.

Another 2 things off the list....

Comfrey
Cockchafer

Skomer

We finally made it to Skomer, today it was not raining/windy/foggy and my Dads ankle is better. We got up early and drove there in the car, thinking of Puffins all the way.

Waiting for the boat we saw Sea Beet growing on the cliffs....

There were Swallows nesting in the toilets....

On the boat across to the island we saw......

 A greedy Gull

 Gannets

 More Gulls

Guillemots

As we got near to the Island we saw our first ever Puffins......

We had to walk up the steep steps above the beach, there were Puffins everywhere, when we got to the top we could see a pod of Dolphins jumping around out at sea. The water on the beach looked really clean....

After walking we stopped for a pasty picnic, but we were being watched.....

We saw lots more Puffins, some were nearly walking over our feet....

We also saw lots of Kittiwakes nesting on the cliff, shouting "Kittiwake" at each other....

As we walked we saw a juvenile Wheatear....

Wild Black Rabbits....

Seals.....

Shags.....

And a pair of Harbour Porpoise...

By the time we got back to the boat my feet were aching but i was smiling. In the car i slept all the way home.


There are no Puffins in Tarka the Otter but i bet Henry Williamson would have liked them. So, i can cross 3 things off my list....

Guillemot (Uria aalge)
Gullimots live in colonies on steep cliffs. They like hanging around together and dive underwater chasing fish using thier wings to swim.

Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
This is the commonest and smallest cetacean in European waters. It is dark grey above and white below with a low, blunt dorsal fin. Unlike most dolphins the snout is not extended into a beak, it has quite a blunt head. They are not as energetic as dolphins and do not leap out of the water.

Sea Beet (Beta vulgaris)
This is the wild ancestor of Beetroot and spinach were. It likes to grow in rocky and pebble places by the sea. It has long green flower spikes between June and September.

Wet Weather

Despite the wet weather and my Dad spraining his ankle we have spotted a couple of things. We were out on a bike ride when we spotted a sick looking hedghog near a friends house. They took him in for the night and fed him some cat food to give him energy. In the morning he had escaped from the shed and was back out in the wild.

We had one sunny day and went down the beach. I caught loads of blennies and prawns and we found this whelk on the beach which was unusual because they usually live out in deep water.

We had a good day at Wildlife Watch Group at Margam discovery centre even though it was raining again. We saw lots of damsel flies, heron and coot at the pond.

We caught some cool creatures pond dipping including caddis fly larvae, lesser water boatmen, water hoglouse and a selection of leeches.

Off the list

Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
Everybody knows what a spiky hedghog looks like. Unfortunately when people see them they are usually dead on the road. They like to eat worms. A baby hedgehog is called a hoglet.

No Show Nightjar

Last night we stayed up late then went up the mountains looking and listening for Nightjars. Nightjars are a type of bird that come out at night and eat insects.

We got there at half past 9 and waited until it got dark. We didnt see any Nightjars but we did see some bats, lots of midges and heard some Tawny Owls calling.

Skomer - Cancelled

We were going to go to Skomer Island ( http://www.welshwildlife.org/skomer-skokholm/skomer/)today but the weather was bad so we decided not to, it was a good job because the boats were cancelled due to the wind. Instead we went for a trip to Usk.

First of all we stopped off at the Cwmcarn Forest visitor centre and watched the Goshawk chicks on the nestcam http://your.caerphilly.gov.uk/cwmcarnforest/content/goshawk-nestcam.

Then we called in at the Owl Sanctuary in Ebbw Vale (http://www.theowlsanctuary.co.uk/). This place rescues abandoned owls that people have bought as pets and helps injured/abandoned wild owls get better so they can be released back into the wild.

The people there were very friendly and showed us a juvenille Little Owl they had just rescued, unfortunately this Owl was allready too tame to be released back into the wild....

They had lots of owls including a hooting Great Grey Owl. Its sounded just the same as the one in 'The Big Year' which is one of my favorite films about bridwatching in America. Its got Jack Black in it who is really funny.

Juevenille Little Owl

Great Grey Owl

Barn Owl

Tawny Owl

Tawny Owls

 And some other birds of prey

Buzzard

American Kestrel

They had a Captive Snowy Owl, this is on the Challenge list and is the most difficult thing on the list to see in the wild. I think there is only one that visits a remote island in Scotland in the winter. I dont know if i will ever see this bird in the wild, i hope some day i will....

Snowy Owl

We had a sausage roll for lunch and went to Usk. We parked the car by the river and as we walked out of the car park we spotted a Kingfisher zooming past. The Kingfisher in Tarka is called Halcyon, i'm not going to cross him off my list untill i have seen him on the river Ogmore. We walked along the river looking for Otters but didnt see any, the water was quite high after a lot of rain.

Otter hunting on the River Usk