Thanks to
David at Wildlife Wales, we decided to re-visit Carmarthenshire's
Llyn Llech Owain Country Park at Gorslas near Cross Hands. We had been there once before, but it was a long time ago.
We particularly hoped to see
Goldcrests, and we wonder if we were successful since the birds we saw had the yellow-gold wing band that you can see on the juvenile
here on the RSPB site (you may need to click through to 'illustration 2').
We saw a number of
Goldfinches (see below) in the fir and larch plantations and on the scrubby heathland. My thanks to
David at Wildlife Wales for his help here.
We sat and watched Dragonflies and Damselflies from the hides. The spots of pink iridescence beneath the dragonfly below were extraordinary. I think the species is probably the Black Darter,
Sympetrum danae. I believe this one is a male, and would be grateful to know more.
There were a number of butterflies, too, including the Small Copper on the heather in the photographs below.
There was some very arresting fungus... On first inspection when I got home and uploaded the photographs, it looked like a
Yellow Coral fungus of some sort. I have yet to verify whether these grow in my neck of the woods! You can see an example of Meadow Coral
here.
We were particularly delighted with and surprised by our Herpetofauna sightings - two
lizards and two small frogs. I mistook the first frog for a large fly. I saw something like a Horsefly skittering about on the path in front of us, and then realized that it was actually hopping! I think it was a small
Common Frog. It was not warty enough for a toad!
It was not long before we noticed a second, though I seem to recall that the photo below is a second view of the first.
We were on the home stretch when we noticed a small dark
Lizard on the edge of the path.
I think it was a juvenile
male.
We paused to let a family pass by, and soon caught sight of this last creature. He was considerably larger and lighter in colour than the first lizard, though I suspect they were both
Common Lizards.
This photo above reminds me of a
Pangolin!
Lizards in previous posts
Yellow Fungus in a previous post
External Resources
We had had a lovely day at Laugharne, and came back to find a relatively cloudless sunset over the saltmarsh at Llanrhidian on Gower. There were a few birds and bats - and plenty of gnats - flying about. I hope you had an enjoyable Bank Holiday, too.
The weather was cool, blustery and grey, with the occasional sunny interval. It didn't seem particularly promising for Odonata. I was thrilled to spot the Golden-ringed Dragonfly above from the short boardwalk in the National Botanic Garden of Wales, as I had only seen one once before (at WWT Llanelli), and had failed on that occasion to photograph it. It is certainly one of the largest I have seen.
This species can apparently be found in the UK, across Asia Minor and in India. I was surprised to learn that these Dragonflies sometimes eat tadpoles and fish, alongside their usual diet of snails and the larvae of insects.
Do let me know if you have also seen anything approaching 'swarm' proportions! It was a joy to behold. The Small Tortoiseshells were joined by a sprinkling of Peacocks, Red Admirals and Small Whites. On this note, my thanks to Brian of Devon and Cornwall Viewpoint in the Tamar Valley for informing me that his August observations correspond with my own. You can read Brian's post here.
My thanks to David Gill for taking these photographs for me (on account of my fractured arm...).
It was not long before we noticed a second, though I seem to recall that the photo below is a second view of the first.
