Natur Cymru

Issue 36

Dormice don’t read books!

It turns out that hazel coppice is not the only habitat favoured by dormice; just that this is where humans find them most easily. This and a number of other dormouse secrets have been uncovered thanks to some very neat research and lots of volunteer effort. RHIAN HUGHES, SARAH BIRD, SUE TATMAN and PHILL WATTS tell the story.

Summary

Fencing on Foel Goch (c) John Farrar

Taking offence – fencing in the uplands

Another runner-up in our Inspired by Nature competition. Here ROB COLLISTER laments the increased use of barbed wire across the wildernesses of Wales. Not only is it ugly, unsympathetic and unnecessary, it is an infringement of our hard-won Right to Roam.

Fly agaric (c) Richard Becker www.richardbecker.co.uk

The psychology of fungi and mushrooms

Here we enter the amazing world of mushrooms. The British tend to ignore and fear the mushroom world, possibly due to historical reasons. But CYNAN JONES has an extremely close relationship with the mushroom. Based on deceit, he has mastered the art of harvesting exotic mushrooms throughout the year in Nantmor, Beddgelert.

This article is written in Welsh. A translation is available on request.

European badger (c) Michael D Smith

Encounter with a badger

The only badgers most people see are ones lying dead at the side of the road and for many farmers a good badger is a dead one. For many others, badgers are a much maligned denizen of the Welsh countryside. LINDA AULD looks forward to the thrill of seeing a live badger.

House martin (c) Tom Marshall RSPB

Swallows and martins

Another runner-up to our Inspired by Nature competition. STEWART ROBERTS writes an evocative account of the swallows and house martins which shared his home in west Wales.

Shrill carder bee Bombus sylvarum (c) Dave Goulson

Bumblebees on the Pembrokeshire Coast

PIPPA RAYNER, Conservation Officer for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, is currently working throughout England and Wales to conserve bumblebees by providing wildflower habitats. Her main focus is preventing the national extinction of the shrill carder bee Bombus sylvarum, a very rare bumblebee which has three of its six remaining UK populations in south Wales. Since starting in post last summer she has been raising awareness of the plight of this and other rare bumblebees, as well as setting up new projects to help provide the habitats that bumblebees desperately need.

Marsh samphire (c) Ziggy Otto

Saltmarsh Secret Service

One of the most biologically productive ecosystems in the world can also protect us from the dangers of flooding and rising sea levels – yet most people do not recognise the value of saltmarsh and, in the past, have done their best to get rid of it. ZIGGY OTTO opens our eyes to how important these areas really are.

The Boat Inn, River Dee, at Erbistock (c) Steve Hughes

The River Dee and me

The River Dee starts in the west of Wales, in the hills of Southern Snowdonia, but traverses across the country to disgorge into the sea at Wales' easternmost boundary. When STEVE HUGHES set out to walk its length he was not sure what he was letting himself in for. Three days, 75 miles and two sore feet later he arrived at the river mouth, older and wiser.

Peatland Secrets

A large block of windswept moorland in north Wales vies with the Berwyn to be the largest tract of blanket bog in Wales. The Migneint has a secret life, with carbon at its heart. This enables it to perform a very important function, as MIKE PEACOCK explains.