Back at the end of January we were very happy to welcome Aberystwyth University Conservation Volunteers on site for the day. Their task – to clear a special site on the reserve of the tangle of bramble that has hidden it for a while. The site? CADW heritage Domen las, this mound in the woods behind the hide of the same name has historical importance. The mound is all that is left of a strategic castle facing northeast across the Dyfi estuary. It was from here it is thought in the latter half of the 12th Century that advances from the north and the princes of Meirionnydd into Ceredigion were held back.
Clearing the bramble means that visitors will now be able to see and appreciate this historical monument.
However they will have to wait until the summer as our red kites have already begun to prepare for another breeding season in the woods around I,t and so the path is currently closed to allow them to do this peacefully.
Big Thank You to Kate, Robyn and David too.
Our team of regular Tuesday Volunteers have been busy too – clearing and repairing or replacing if needed the nest boxes around the site in preparation for the breeding season.
If you visit over the next month you may notice that a number of nest boxes have ad their holes plugged with a sticks. This is not a practical joke – it is part of our work to help the red listed summer visitor the Pied Flycatcher. The oak woods on our western shores are their preferred breeding habitat however globally their numbers are in decline. So along with all the other woodland management work to improve the habitat for them , we are giving them a helping hand in finding a vacant nest box when they arrive all the way from western African continent.
Blocking the holes in some of the boxes means that birds such as blue tits or great tits that are already with us don’t take up all the available nesting boxes early in the season. Once the first male pied flycatchers are seen on site we will remove the sticks in order to encourage them to use them and have a successful breeding season, so boosting population numbers.
So if you visit and see a nest box with a stick in it, please leave it be.