Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma.
SPOILER ALERT! Do not read if you haven't watched BBC's Wild Isles - Woodlands - yet
This week’s episode focused on woodlands and the wide-ranging plants and animals that call it home from the free roaming wild boar to robins and fungi on the ground.
One of the highlights of the second episode in the Wild Isles series on BBC One was the amazing spectacle of the starling murmuration. If you’ve not seen this phenomenon before, then a visit to either Newport Wetlands, Conwy or Ynys Hir reserves should be high on your priority of places to visit. If you plan on getting to see this unmissable sight, then it’s best to be at the location a bit before dusk – that’s when the starlings will start to gather for the night and you’ll start to see the murmuration forming.
Despite it being a common bird and the fact it spends most of the year in flocks, according to the latest Birds of Conservation Concern in Wales report, Starlings remained on the Red List and have become absent as breeding birds for large parts of Wales.
I see trees of green
Another thing we found out during this woodland focussed episode is how little of the British Isles is now covered by forests. Our native trees are essential: they purify our air, capture carbon and provide food and shelter for thousands of species. But centuries of poor management and destructive development has left the UK with only 13% tree cover, and only half of this is native woodland. Woodlands play a crucial part in protecting, feeding and providing a home for a wide range of species.
In recent years there’s been a push to plant new trees, but despite this, our woodland wildlife is still declining. Species such as Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, Willow Tits, Hazel Dormice and woodland butterflies are all in trouble – and planting trees isn’t enough to save them. We need to look after the native woodlands we have left, and when we do plant trees, they need to be the right trees in the right places.
Here in Wales, the Celtic Rainforest Wales project is working to protect areas of ancient woodlands in north and mid Wales. The project, which is in place until 2025, will attempt to rid four areas of Celtic Rainforest of invasive species and find ways of improving their management, for example by changing how the woods are grazed. RSPB Cymru is one of the partners (along with Eryri National Park).
If you’re interested in visiting ancient woodlands, how about a trip to one of our nature reserves. We are fortunate to have numerous ancient woodlands on our reserves at Ynys-hir, Coed Garth Gell, Gwenffrwd-Dinas and the Mawddach valley.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a Red Squirrel!
Did you manage to catch the scene of the acrobatic (James Bond-like!) Red Squirrel auditioning for a part in an action movie? For the majority of living in Wales, the best bet to see this furry little creature is on our television sets. The reason for this is that Anglesey is the only place in Wales to see the UK’s only native squirrel species. Whilst no Red Squirrels are to be seen on any of our reserves, if you find yourself in or around Pentraeth and Newborough forest or the woodlands bordering the Menai straits keep a look up and down in case you see a bushy red tail scampering away.
The tale of Red Squirrels in Wales is one of hope. After almost being completely wiped out less than 30 years ago, with numbers dropping to as low as 40, the situation is much improved thanks to a series of reintroductions and natural expansions numbers are now around 700.
Wild Isles is a ground-breaking BBC documentary series produced by Silverback Films, with the RSPB, WWF and the Open University as co-producers. You can watch all the episodes on BBC iPlayer.