Other summer wildlife videos

Over the summer holidays we have seen lots of wildlife. Here are some of the films we have taken just using my Dad's mobile phone.

At Llysdinam, we saw a spider with what looked like its babies in a white sack underneath its belly...

Here's another hard-working spider in our back yard. It spun a web across the path during the night. How it did this I have no idea...

 

 

 Here's some kind of grasshopper or cricket in the woods of Llwyngwair...

More dragonfly action! I love them loads...

And here's an ants nest at Lam Cam...

and to finish off, a wild rabbit in North Wales.

Llysdinam Newts and Caterpillars - & skimming stones at Lam Cam

Newbridge-on-Wye, Powys

 

Cardiff University Field Centre, Llysdinam

 

Thursday 20^th of August

 

Today we went to an old University Field Centre where people from Cardiff University used to come to study nature but it has recently closed down. My Dad used to go there a lot when he was young to see the students and watch them work with birds, newts, polecats, badgers and loads of other animals.

 

The pond is still there and is being re-worked. It has a new path and loads of life thriving in it. By the pond we found…

·         2 small Smooth Newts (Madfall Ddwr Gyffredin - Lissotriton Vulgaris)

 

 

·         Nuthatch (Delor y Cnau - Sitta europaea)   

 

 

·       2 Privet Hawk Moth Caterpillars (Gwalchwyfyn Yr Yswydd - Sphinx ligustri)

 

 

 

 

I am getting to know how the Nuthatch calls now. It has a whistling whoop-whoop sort of call.

                                                                                      

After visiting Llysdinam we went down to the Wye river and a bend near Llysdinam called Lam Cam (in Welsh it means sort of 'Big Bend'). It's a great place to see wildlife. But you need to be careful near the river.

We skimmed stones across the river and then saw a Yellow Wagtail (Sigldigwt) ...

and loads of Minnows (Crothell) in the small rock pools left as the river went down.

This huge old tree grows next to the river. The roots must be a great place for wildlife to hide. I think it was a Beech tree (Ffawydden)

Plenty of places for animals to hide...

Looking up at the huge gnarled mossy Beech tree

 

 

Interesting things again today. And all on our doorstep!

 

Hwyl! See yah!!

 

Bug Hotel - open for business!

Bug Hotel! Gwesty'r Pryf!

The really cool that we have done this summer is build a bug hotel in our garden. Dad began it during the week of the Royal Welsh Show in July. Then we all helped finish it later on in August.

We recycled things that we found in and around the garden to build a safe place for all sorts of bugs to thrive and get shelter (hopefully).

Here's how we did it. Hope you like it!

Adding old pallets...
 

Filling up the pallets...

Adding all sorts of stuff...

Nearly finished...

Wedi gorffen! Finito!
 

We used old bricks, straw, pine cones, old plastic bottles, rolled up paper and cardboard, old pipe insulation, bamboo sticks, slates and old roofing, old flower pots, old bird houses. Dad also drilled holes in loads of bits of wood (which he really enjoyed doing!) To finish it off Mam collected pinecones and Nanna gathered moss for the top. We got some old slates from Tadcu too. A real family effort!

Glaslyn Ospreys

At Glaslyn Ospreys Nature Reserve

 

30^th of July

Afternoon

Weather: Sunny

On top of Wales! (but not so sunny)
 

 

After a tiring morning climbing Snowdon, we went to Glaslyn Ospreys Nature Reserve and saw some very interesting things. The reserve is now run by some of the people who live in North Wales.

 

We saw...

A GreaterSpotted Wood Pecker (Cnocell Fraith Fwyaf - Dendrocopus major) zipping along the river bank.

A Shorttailed Vole (again - like the one in Portmeirion) (Llygoden Bengron Y Gwair - Microtus Agrestis)

 

 

Many Chaffinch (Ji-binc - Fringilla coelebs)

 

 

Many Goldfinch (Nico - Carduelis spinus)

 

 

And some very busy Grasshoppers (Sbonc y Gwair - Caelifera)

 

 

The man at the Nature Reserve had recently found…

A DeathsHead Hawk Moth (Gwalchwyfyn Penglog - Acherontia Iachesis)

 

 

If this Moth is irritated it squeaks like a mouse! Wow!

He had also found a Horntail / Wood Wasp

 

 

At the back of its body it looks like a stinger but the female uses it to lay her eggs, they can’t harm you at all!

As well there were videos of the Ospreys LIVE and RECORDED  it was very interesting, thru the telescope you could see the pole and the cameras, the Ospreys huge nest and their heads popping out of the nest!

Here's me and my sister in an Ospreys nest! (not really :-)

 

Am ddiwrnod! What a Busy day!

Hwyl! See ya!

 

 

Portmeirion - Voles and Dragonflies

In Portmeirion 2:00pm

  

29th of July

In the Woods above the village

Weather: overcast, sunny spells

Today we went to Portmeirion in North Wales, there were a lot of ponds with Dragonflies Banded Demoiselle (Gwas y Neidr) ,The Emperor Dragonfly and small fish that may have been trout we think.

I was on a bridge by one of the ponds and I started walking on the path when I saw a small hole with old bread and a Short Tailed Vole! (Llygoden Gota'r Maes)

Here is a video of the vole nibbling on the old bread and trying to get it in its hole.

I also heard some strange noises, we don’t really know what it was if you know get in touch. We think it was an Osprey (Gwalch  y Pysgod) perhaps. Portmeirion is near the Glaslyn nature reserve and the people there said that there could be Ospreys in Portmeirion but not many.

Another wonderful adventure! Antur gwych arall!

Hwyl! See ya!

‘Jellyfish Day’

22^nd of July

Weather: Overcast

At about 12:00am we went to the Traeth Mawr again. We were very excited to go in the sea when but I went in on my surf board I realised that there was a pale orange Jellyfish swimming beside me. Later on my friends found another one in the sea. Afterwards we found about 8 or 9 on the shore. Here are some pictures of them.

We also found a huge shell and took it home. The next day we boiled it and it popped open. We found out the huge shell is called a Scallop and the small ones are called Queenies.

Before:                                                  

After:

All together we found 11 Jellyfishes!

Another wonderful adventure at Traeth Mawr!