To read this blog in Welsh, please click here.The cold nights are drawing in, the leaves beneath our feet are turning frosty and crisp while our wildlife is stocking up ready for winter. Hedgehogs are hibernating, squirrels are foraging and some of our well loved birds are starting their arduous journey in search of warmer climates. With such political and environmental changes taking place across the globe, there’s never been a more fitting time to appreciate the wildlife around us. So as the seasons change and Christmas approaches, we thought it was only right to look back at the year gone by and take time to celebrate our much-loved wildlife.
As ever, 2016 began with a good piece of cake and a cuppa as we counted our garden birds for RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch. Over 24,000 people took part in Wales this year, counting nearly 490,000 birds. The house sparrow remained on top as our most spotted garden bird, with the blue tit and starling completing the top three. It’s now onwards and upwards to Big Garden Birdwatch 2017 which takes place on the 28-30 of January.
Above: image by Rahul Thanki (rspb-images.com)
2016 has certainly been a memorable year for nature campaigning in Wales. We gave a voice to our Greenland white-fronted geese whose global populations are sadly suffering. We also received an overwhelming response from members and supporters to stop the M4 motorway diversion cutting through the heart of the beautiful Gwent levels. Over 5,000 people stood up for nature and asked our politicians to re-think their plans to damage one of Wales’ most important landscapes. With 2016 being the Wales Year of Adventure, it’s been an exciting journey for our nature reserves. We opened a nature play area at RSPB Lake Vyrnwy and developed some brilliant interactive wildlife interpretation at RSPB Conwy. Manx shearwater numbers are on an all time high at RSPB Ramsey Island, with two pairs successfully using artificial nest boxes to fledge chicks – being a worldwide first for this species. And last but certainly not least, we were delighted to announce that the bittern has returned to RSPB Malltraeth Marsh and nested on the reserve – the first time in Wales for 32 years. Looking ahead to the Wales Year of Legend in 2017, we’re eager to see what legendary tales nature has in store for us. Above: bittern by Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com) 2016 has also been a collaborative, innovative and creative year for wildlife. We’ve had virtual reality in the middle of Cardiff’s Bute Park, as we teamed up with arts organisation Migrations in July. Wearing bespoke virtual reality headsets, the public experienced the world anew through the eyes of a midge, a dragonfly a frog and an owl. We then raised awareness for the state of our wildlife in September, with the public launch of the State of Nature: Wales 2016 report - as poetry, beat boxing and eight-foot-high choughs all united in the name of nature. And more recently we celebrated a unique type of Birdsong, as artists Kizzy Crawford, Gwilym Simcock and Sinfonia Cymru performed a new repertoire of songs inspired by the wildlife of RSPB Carngafallt.
Above: In the Eyes of the Animal by Martyn Poyner, Organised Kaos by Callum Baker, Gwylim Simcock & Kizzy Crawford, and Ed Holden by Callum Baker
In 2016 alone in Wales, we’ve worked with a brilliant 600 dedicated volunteers, engaged an incredible 40,000 children with nature and continued to protect the unique natural places that mean so much to us.
The task of saving nature can sometimes feel like an uphill battle but if we continue to work together and value the wildlife we’re so fond of, then 2017 will certainly be a year to remember. After all, if we take care of nature it will take care of us.