Forest Farm Nature Reserve

I decided to pop down to my local nature reserve this week. I have been neglecting it of late. In fact, the whole of summer has passed me by without a visit. I was spurred into action by a phone call from my mum of all things! She was boasting on how she had just got a photo of a Kingfisher whilst she was there, something which has eluded me thus far this year.

Forest Farm is one of those local success stories that I love to read about. A group of like-minded individuals got together to see what they could do to protect an area of the Glamorganshire Canal that was full of wildlife. The canal used to run from Cardiff to Merthyr to transport materials to and from the Ironworks twenty five miles from the coast. The area preserved is the only part of the canal that still remains full of water. Fifty two locks and a rise of five hundred and sixty eight feet separated the industrial area of Merthyr from the coast and Cardiff docks. You can only imagine the sight of barges laden with coal and steel moving from port to the iron works and back, the tow paths full of the hustle and bustle of people going about their business, and the sounds of the shire horses snorting with the effort of dragging the heavy boats along. This was reported to be one of the most profitable canal routes in the entire country in its heyday. When Merthyr stopped being a major exporter of steel, and the railways became the mode of transport of choice the canal fell into disrepair, and the wildlife moved in. In 1967 the area was made into a nature reserve, and in 1990 The Friends of Forest Farm was formed to help maintain and develop the area, and more importantly, to stave off pressure from local developers that try to encroach on this valuable piece of habitat. The whole area has been designated an area of Special Scientific Interest.

The reserve is situated just off Junction 32 of the M4, and I mean just off the junction. It is sometimes hard to think as you watching the various species of woodland birds flit around you that the background rumble you can hear is the sound of hundreds of cars thundering along the tarmac.

And what wildlife I have seen there. It is a reserve for all seasons, but winter and spring are particularly rewarding if you want to get up close and personal with some of our favourite garden birds. The various nature watchers that frequent the reserve have had a habit of putting food out for the birds along the tow path, so much so that small feeding trays have been added to the fence posts along the route. As a consequence the birds are now so used to human activity that they are quite happy to hop down from a branch and start feeding whilst you are stood just a couple of feet away. If you are really, really lucky, you can get a bold Robin that will feed from your hand, something I have done there a couple of times. I have been told that even the Great Tits and Blue Tits will happily feed from your palm, something I haven’t managed yet, but will most certainly try. You stand still there at your peril. I have been stood under a tree with the camera trying to get a Great Spotted Woodpecker shot from across the canal and looked up to see a tree full of expectant beaks wanting feeding! They will then follow you from tree branch to tree branch as you walk along … it is quite a wonderful experience!

As I have already said, it is one of the best places to see Kingfishers, it is also the best places I have visited to see Nuthatches. On one visit I counted up to half a dozen coming in to feed from some sunflower seeds I had put down.

During spring the whole area is alive with bird song, and the high walled banking from the canal gives the area the acoustic qualities of an opera house. The river banks will be alive with Grey Herons fishing, and Snipe and Water Rail rooting around in the banking. Bittern are regular visitors during the winter months, with two individuals there this year. The rarer Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has been reported there on a number of occasions. Keep an eye on the Beech tree trunks for Tree Creepers, they are surprisingly common.

There are plenty of birds of prey to keep those who like their birds a bit more streamlined. Buzzards circle on the thermals created from the motorway, Goshawks have been seen from the hides as well as Kestrels and Sparrowhawks.

The summer months tend to be quieter for birds as it is hard to spot them through all the foliage, but the canal will still be full of Moorhens and Coots and their off spring, as well as of plenty of Mallards. During my visit this week there was a lot of Dragonfly activity; a number of Emperor Dragonflies picking off the numerous midges that you find in these types of habitats, as well as Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers. If nothing else, the whole circuit is a very pleasant walk on level terrain.

If you are local to the area or a planning a visit to Cardiff, I cannot recommend it highly enough as a way to spend a very pleasant couple of hours. You can find out much more on the history of the area by checking out the Friends of Forest Farm website.

A little update for you, back on the 26th of July I blogged about my rescued hedgehog. I had to rescue another one in the past week from the garden, so enquired about the first one. You will be pleased to hear that he made a full recovery and was released back into the wild on August 5^th. Sadly, there was no such happy ending for the latest poorly hedgehog I found, and he had to be put to sleep, but at least it didn’t suffer any more than it already had.

This, quite unbelievably, is my 40^th blog for the We Love Wales community pages and my last for a couple of weeks due to a number of reasons. I will return in October full of new wildlife stories to enthuse with you.

All Images © Anthony Walton