Category: Environment Team

Conscientious Litter-Pickers

TWYN-YR-ODYN & ST LYTHANS

A group of environmentally conscious litter-pickers have joined together to help keep the local area clean.

The weather was fine and sunny on 23rd March – the perfect conditions for a spring clean – when fifteen volunteers came together to help tackle our litter problem. Armed with bin bags and grabbers, our all-ages group set about clearing up the rubbish lining the roads.

We began our collection at the bottom of Old Port Road and made our way up into St Lythans, collecting around 18 bags worth of rubbish in total. The group was made up of volunteers from Twyn-yr-Odyn and St Lythans, all happy to do their bit to help keep the area clean and tidy.

A few of the unusual items found along the way included strip lights and a single football boot – the other one presumably having wandered off before we could locate it.

A special thank you to Heather from the Horse and Jockey pub for providing much needed sustenance after our efforts.

It was lovely to see so many people pitching in and as it was so successful, we will be running another one soon. We’d like to invite anyone who is keen to join in to get in touch with Rhian at the following email address: rhiansexton@yahoo.co.uk

 

 

Future Meetings Schedule

 

In future the Group will meet on the second Monday of the month at the Community Centre at 9.30am. If it is felt there is a need for an additional meeting during the month it will be decided at the meeting.

Bringing a fork and secateurs with you can prove useful. The Group does have a few additional tools in their store room.

 

 

June Meeting Report

At our June meeting we were all involved in fitting the new window boxes at the Community Centre. You may recall that the old wooden ones had finally rotted away. The new ones are up and running and are fully planted up. Hopefully they will last for many years.The rest of the village is now complete with the usual summer bedding. Our next meeting will be on the 16th July at 9.30am.
Towards the end of June I was invited to join the Beavers on their litter pick. There was a good turn-out and the leaders divided them into two groups. They spent almost an hour in Grange Park and Station Road, including over the footbridge. We could all learn a lot from these little people who were so eager to do their bit for the environment and I was very pleased to be involved. WELL DONE BEAVERS.

Trevor Case.

 

 

Meeting Rescheduled

 

Put it down to a senior moment, but when I chose a date for our May meeting I had forgotten about the early May Bank Holiday which just happened to be on that Monday. Apologies for my error. We have missed so many meetings this year but maybe we’ll be lucky this month so we will try for June 11th. Meet as usual, at 9.30 at the Community Centre.

 

 

March Was Rained Off

 

In spite of weather warnings the snowfall still took us by surprise as it’s not usual to have so much in these parts. However, the village community soon rallied round with help in many ways to those friends and neighbours who needed it.

Once again our planned monthly meeting in March was rained off. Surely things should improve in April so we’ll try to meet again on April 16th.

 

 

Birds Don’t See Windows

A recent BBC item highlighted the problem of birds crashing into windows mistaking them for openings or seeing a tree reflection with tragic consequences. The city of Toronto in Canada sits on a major migratory bird route and every year is witness to huge numbers of bird deaths due to this phenomenon. They have now changed their building rules so that new constructions must incorporate bird friendly initiatives such as recessed windows to prevent reflection and smaller glass panes rather than buildings shrouded in vast glass panels. The article demonstrates a significant reduction in bird strikes and deaths indeed in one building alone down by a massive 90%.
Here in Wenvoe many residents love to feed garden birds with large numbers of feeders and bird tables across the village. As we now approach spring the birds are becoming more active in courtship and nesting so using more energy than normal. These feeders create a dichotomy as birds become dependent on them and less territorial in nature. That means birds often congregate in smaller areas given the ready supply of food. Territorial competition is part of nature and as birdsong is wonderful to us humans it's actually a robust warning message to other birds to stay away and go elsewhere.
This congregation of many different breeds of birds at garden feeders creates excitement and competition amongst our feathered friends often resulting in fights and disputes which creates confusion and disorientation. All too often birds in their haste mistake dark windows as open gaps or see reflection of sky or trees resulting in impact. Smaller birds weighing only a few grams can survive these collisions but bigger birds like wood pigeons and crows or fast flying birds like green woodpecker are often killed by breaking their necks or at the very least badly stunned.
This is easily preventable. The RSPB recommends breaking up the dark window (not literally!!) by closing curtains to prevent reflection; putting plants on the windowsills as a visual deterrent or by adhering stickers to windows to show there's an obstruction. There are varied and lovely stickers available on the RSPB website and other outlets which are not too expensive and a great way to support these beautiful little gifts from nature. See  http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/bird-window-stickers.html

 

 

 

Autumn Tasks

 

On a lovely autumn morning we did some work on the village green, shortening back the roses and trimming along the shrub border. Before the end of October the boxes and tubs will have been cleared of the remnants of summer bedding, ready to plant the bulbs. One meeting is planned for November, on the 13th at the usual time, 9.30am..

 

 

September Activities

 

 

Work in September included dead heading the roses at the community centre and on the village green and making a start on clearing overgrown shrubs on the latter. This will be finished this month. As I write this piece there is still plenty of colour in the remains of the summer bedding. Tulip and daffodil bulbs have been ordered ready to be planted in the window boxes and elsewhere at the community centre. October’s meetings will be on the 16th and 30th, weather permitting.

Work in September included dead heading the roses at the community centre and on the village green and making a start on clearing overgrown shrubs on the latter. This will be finished this month. As I write this piece there is still plenty of colour in the remains of the summer bedding. Tulip and daffodil bulbs have been ordered ready to be planted in the window boxes and elsewhere at the community centre. October’s meetings will be on the 16th and 30th, weather permitting.

 

 

 

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