Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael ymaGuest blog by Rhian Pierce, Conservation Advisor for the North Wales Area
Last week 15 students from Glynllifon college near Caernarfon joined me at Llanycil Common, near Bala in the county of Gwynedd, to have a look at the work RSPB have been doing there, and to learn about land management for curlews and blanket bogs.
The students, all studying countryside management or forestry, are in their second year. We had fantastic weather on the day and coats were soon stripped - it felt like spring had arrived with skylarks, meadow pipits and stone chats giving short bursts of song.
We discussed the value of blanket bogs, comprising of deep peat as a carbon sink, as well as a habitat for birds like dunlins, golden plovers and hen harriers, and rare plants. These include a variety of sphagnum mosses, that can hold up to 20 times its own weight in water, cranberry, bell heather and cotton grass.We also looked into the valuable role that sheep and ponies play by grazing, preventing the vegetation from getting too tall and thick, especially the heather. Curlew don't like too dense a sward as they can’t walk through it nor reach the soil to feed.
We looked at some conifer shelter belt felling which we had carried out near the common to reduce the amount of predation from nesting crows and other predators. This was an interesting topic for those studying forestry who are learning all about tree growing! It is all about the right tree in the right place.
The students seemed fascinated by the requirement of livestock farming for many wildlife species, especially when we approached the fields where lapwings always breed. These are purposefully kept very short by the farmer as this is what the kind of habitat that the lapwing prefers.
Only one student lost a shoe - and I was pretty impressed that there was no complaining even as he emptied out the thick sphagnum and peaty water!