Category: Nature

Wenvoe Wildlife Group Birdwatch Results 2026

WENVOE WILDLIFE GROUP BIRDWATCH RESULTS 2026

Thank you to everyone who took part in this January’s birdwatch. The weather was awful, but the number of individual birds seen was 439, which is up by 196! We received 23 returns (six up on last year) and 25 different species sighted (4 down on last year). Below are the results for this year, with last year’s results in brackets.

The top five birds last year and this year remain the same although the jackdaw has jumped from fifth to first equals with the blue tit. The great tit has dropped from 6th to 10th and the goldfinch from 9th to 13th. The blackbird has remained more common than first reports suggested, but the song thrush remains a rare bird in the parish (one sighting last year and one this). As this is only the second year for our bird watch it is hard to interpret any definite trends. However, jackdaws do seem to be on the increase particularly in the centre of the village, as do magpies and wood pigeons.

 

  1. = Jackdaw: 58 (last year 24 sighted. Fifth in the table last year). = Blue Tit: 58 (last year 37 sighted. First in the table last year)
  2. Wood Pigeon: 51 (last year 36 sighted. Second in the table last year)
  3. Long Tailed Tit: 46 (last year 26 sighted. Same position as this year)
  4. Blackbird: 41 (last year 30 sighted. Third in the table last year)
  5. Magpie: 32 (last year 15 sighted. Not in the top ten last year)
  6. Robin: 29 (last year 21 sighted. Same position as last year)
  7. = House Sparrow: 23 (last year 18 sighted. Same position last year). = Chaffinch: 23 (last year 16 sighted. Tenth equals last year)
  8. Coal Tit: 21 (last year 16 sighted. Tenth equals last year)
  9. Great Tit: 20 (23 last year. Tenth equals last year)
  10. Dunnock: 17 (8 last year)
  11. Greenfinch: 16 (4 last year)
  12. Goldfinch: 10 (17 last year)
  13. Feral Pigeon: 9 (2 last year)
  14. Carrion Crow: 8 (12 last year)
  15. Lesser Black Backed Gull: 7 (zero last year)
  16. Starling: 5 (3 last year)
  17. = Collared Dove: 4 (3 last year). = Wren: 4 (6 last year). = Greater Spotted Woodpecker: 4 (3 last year)
  18. = Nuthatch: 2 (2 last year). = Pheasant: 2 (3 last year)
  19. = Song Thrush:1 (1 last year). = Sparrowhawk:1 (zero last year)

 

The species seen last year but not this were goldcrest, moorhen, mallard and snipe.

Once again thank you to everyone who took part. We now look forward to our summer birdwatch in May.
Wenvoe school will be taking part again this year. Let’s hope it is better weather than in January!

 

An Encounter with Tai Chi

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

An Encounter with Tai Chi

Our February outing brought about our biggest turnout in a long while. We set about clearing part of Pound Lane and a great effort by the team was rewarded by an encounter with Sifu An Ni, a Tai Chi instructor, who saw the state we were in and said she could help. So the not so old amongst us wheelbarrowed the elders over the road to a safe place, where An Ni put us through some basic movements.

It can only be described as a miracle! The boys were so relaxed by the end, that some fell asleep while standing. Care in the Community have uploaded a video of the session, to prove what an inspiration these folk are to village life.

A big thank you to An Ni (Annie Bennett)

Our next get together will be at the narrow road on the top of Grange Avenue, 9th March.

The New Year Has Not Been Kind to the Team

VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP

The New Year Has Not Been Kind to the Team

The new year has not been kind to the team. Most got up to see in the new year, only because they needed a wee or had forgotten a tablet. Their new year resolutions have had a serious impact on numbers at our January meeting, where we cleaned up the border in front of the Community Centre. Our concern for absent members was well founded. Ieuan and Shady had been persuaded by their spouses to join a gym. Not quite sure what they were expecting; it certainly wasn’t the inability to get to the loo unless aided after the first visit. Another bright spark convinced his mate that he should join a slimming club. This has resulted in frayed tempers, no energy and starving. Tony, our thespian, has attempted to resurrect the Temperance Movement by canvassing outside the local hostelry. We didn’t think his heart was in it. After some short and choice words from the clientele he joined them inside and has since ditched his calling for holy orders to last orders. As with every January, this phase will pass, and we will have learnt a lesson. You don’t get this old without doing something right.

A huge turnout is expected at the junction of Walston Road and Pound Lane on 9th February

Our Biggest Wild Animal

Our Biggest Wild Animal

The biggest wild animal we have in the Parish is the Badger and this has been the case for hundreds of years ever since the last wolf was hunted to extinction. But this could all be about to change. The deer is Britain’s largest land mammal, and the species is gradually spreading throughout the mainland. The population is believed to be about 2 million, an increase of 1.5 million in the last 50 years. Deer come in all shapes and sizes with the largest being the Red Deer. However, the species most likely to appear first in our Parish is the Muntjac, shown in the photo. Around the size of a dog it has been spotted in Lisvane so should not take long to spread through the Vale. Although taller than a badger it is not heavier so it could be argued that the badger will continue to be our largest until other varieties such as Roe or Fallow put in an appearance

Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) buck showing tusk

So, is this good news? Many would argue otherwise as deer can cause significant damage to crops and your gardens. They browse on young trees so prevent regrowth and reduce biodiversity. They can be a hazard on roads causing accidents for drivers and damaging vehicles, particularly during the mating seasons when they are more active. Around 350,000 are culled every year but this has done little to check the increase in their populations.

But there is another mammal which could become our largest. Weighing in at up to 200 kilograms – a badger may get to 35 kgs – these can also cause major damage to gardens, parks and other green spaces. Whilst well-established in the Forest of Dean there have been occasional sightings near Cwmcarn. This is about 25 miles away by road – less as the crow flies. Once a common feature in the Welsh countryside and featured in the Mabinogion it is, of course, the Wild Boar.

With Care They Will All Come Up

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

With Care They Will All Come Up

Keen gardeners will have the windowsills covered in propagators and pots with plastic bags over them. These will be full of tomato, sweet pea, leek and calendula seeds. Hopefully with a bit of care they will all come up. The ones that survive the grandchildren poking their mitts into the soil, looking impatiently for signs of growth, should be ready to go into a cold frame in March. Try, if you have room, to spread the seed planting out over a couple of weeks or more to give you a longer flowering season.

 

To get a decent display from snowdrops you need to buy them in the green during February and March and plant them as soon as they arrive, you will then have a good chance of a tidy display next year. Planting just the bulbs when they’re available in the Autumn never gives a satisfactory outcome. Have you remembered to plant that amaryllis you were given for Christmas? Better get on with it as the giver will want to know how it’s doing.

After an initial rough cut back last Autumn, the roses can be given a tidy up at the end of the month and into March. Cut the stems back to just above a bud and try to leave an open aspect as this will allow air to circulate, discouraging disease. Take some of the

tatty leaves off the hellebores, this will give the flowers a chance to show off. If any of the leaves have black spot, make sure you bin or burn these.

At the allotments pest control has started. Broad beans and peas that were planted in the Autumn are showing off their new foliage to the pigeons so netting or cloches are the order of the day. If using cloches make sure the ends are blocked off as the pests love nothing better than eating your veg when they can be out of the elements. Cover freshly dug soil or weed seeds will soon cover it for you. The jury’s out on whether chitting the seed potatoes before planting has enough going for it to make it worthwhile. Spread the planting time out so you have a longer harvest of new potatoes. Growing asparagus is a long-term investment, it would be worthwhile speaking to Bernard as he grows a fantastic crop.

Last Summer the folk round the village who grew grapes and figs had a remarkable year. Growing grapes is a little more work but with a bit of care the results are a joy.

Take care and happy gardening

A Programme for the Coming Year

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

A Programme for the Coming Year

January. Just browse the seed catalogues and, if you do venture into the garden, consider whether you’re going to make things worse by compacting the soil and trampling the bulbs that are doing their best to come up straight.

February. Weather permitting, look out for the crocus and snowdrops brightening up the garden in the last month of winter. Plant tomato seeds and put on the window sill; it’s a good feeling to see them poke through the compost.

March. Now we should have lots of colour in the borders and pots with daffodils and anemones signalling that spring is here. Weeds of course are the first to realise it’s spring and will cover the borders in no time unless we curb their activity. Do not be tempted by the new young plants in the garden centres unless you have a warm place to store these tender plants.

April. Now some of the earlier bulbs like daffs are starting to fade, you need to be deadheading and give them a liquid feed on the leaves to ensure a good display next spring. Tulips come to the fore now with brilliant displays to gladden any heart. The end of April is a good time to purchase annuals from the shops.

May. The greenhouse is full of plants that are ready to go into the garden. Look for a good spell of weather; you don’t want to put them out to get battered by heavy rain and wind in their first few days in the open and ruin your good work. Plant kidney bean seeds now, they’ll soon catch up with some you were tempted to put out early which were attacked by slugs.

June. Patience will be rewarded if you resisted the temptation to put your hanging baskets on their brackets until now. That’s why professional people always have great displays. The gardens and allotments are in full swing now. Allotment folk will be carrying water daily to look after their precious crops while house holders will be wishing they’d installed an extra water butt

July. Controlling weeds and deadheading is the order of the day. In the greenhouse tomatoes are coming faster than you can eat them. You’re afraid to go on holiday as all your hard work in the garden will just shrivel up.

August. Everything is at its maximum now and you’re starting to look like a kidney bean because you’ve eaten so much of this king of veg. The longest bean you’ve kept for the village show has been nibbled by a pest. Start to pick some apples to give the rest of the crops a chance to get bigger. Dahlias are starting to show why we love them with gorgeous displays. The village show is at the end of the month in the community centre.

September. Here we go, it must be Sept as the garden centre shelves and most of the floor space are full of Christmas stuff. If you don’t like it you have to go and look around the aquarium section with only the odd Father Christmas in a fish tank. Plant some potatoes in a spare pot to ensure new potatoes for Xmas lunch. Foxgloves, hollyhocks and Canterbury bells need to go in seed trays now for displays next year.

October. Leaves starting to fall in abundance now. If you can bear it leave the ones on the border, it’s a great mulch and the worms love them. We now buy a load of pumpkins and carve them for the kids, then leave them outside until they’re mushy and try to stuff them in the food bin.

November. A dreary month, but force yourself into the garden to tidy up; you’ll be so glad you did come the spring. Everyone loves a bonfire, so get your hedgehog recipes out in case one has decided to hibernate in yours.

December. Rummage through the shed looking for the Christmas decs and lights, wishing you’d put labels on the boxes, then finding stuff you were looking for in the summer. Give the garden waste collection workers a tip, don’t leave it all over the road. Then cancel your subscription.

January. Start again!

Take care and happy gardening

When It’s Wet To Stay Off The Ground

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

When It’s Wet To Stay Off The Ground

We are advised when it’s wet to stay off the ground. It causes a lot of damage if the soil gets compacted. This causes problems with drainage and restricted plant growth and includes the grass. There is still plenty to be getting on with, starting with trying to make room in the shed. This is for the stuff we are going to throw out from the house in spring but can’t bear to take to the tip. It’s the same ritual every year.

It has been such a strange year with a dry summer and a warm autumn. This has meant we have bedding plants still flowering in November. Pelargoniums are sometimes discarded but an old method of storing them is cut them back, pull up and shake off the soil, dry them out and store root ball pointing up and wrapped in newspaper. Ieuan uses the Guardian newspaper for his, but I’m quite sure the Telegraph would suffice as long as you don’t mind the plants leaning to the right when you replant them next spring. When the rain eventually came it seemed to bring all the insects, that had been waiting in the soil, to life. With not as much to eat in Autumn, they even started eating geraniums which are usually left unscathed. A lot of gardeners were bitten as well. A noticeable absentee from the late summer was the wasp, very few around.

Another piece of advice handed out at this time of year is to up the feeding of our feathered friends. They say it will encourage them to feed on the pests in the garden. I can’t say I’ve seen those little darlings ignore an easy meal to go hunting for the odd insect. What it does encourage is the larger pests (mice and rats) if we don’t keep the area cleaned regularly. If you’re putting apples out for the blackbirds, you will need to quarter them as they won’t peck through the skin. If you leave them whole, you are just inviting Pam Williams to recover them for her apple distribution network. Open feeders will bring in the sparrow hawk, it works like a McDonald’s drive through for these small raptors.

Working in and around the village throughout the year it’s an absolute pleasure to see the way the gardens are kept. I have to mention Mr& Mrs Cottle who always keep theirs in lovely order.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas. Take care and happy gardening.

Definitive List Of Welsh Apples

Definitive List Of Welsh Apples

There has been some press coverage recently following an announcement by the National Trust of the publication of a definitive list of Welsh Apple varieties. There are 29 listed. As we have gone to great lengths to plant many of the Welsh varieties in our orchards, we have been considering the list and its implications. In fact although 29 are listed they are broken down into 3 categories. The first category is the Historic list – apples unique to Wales with evidence of cultivation in the country pre-1950. There are 16 of these and include varieties planted in our orchards such as Cissy, Gabalva and St. Cecilia. We have 11 varieties of these.

 

The second category is referred to as Modern which are unique to Wales but introduced by a Welsh breeder or nursery post 1950. One of these is Bardsey which is claimed to date back hundreds of years as it was found in an old orchard on Bardsey Island and sold around the world as such. However, as there is no evidence to support the claim and it was discovered in 1998/9, it is officially post-1950 and thus Modern. There are 5 of these of which we have Bardsey and Machen.

The final category is called Associated and these are not unique to Wales but may have been given a Welsh name and widely cultivated in Wales or the Marches. There are 8 of these of which we have only planted Morgan Sweet.

However, we have another 7 which we understood were Welsh but do not fall into any of these categories such as Afal Wern, Pig Aderyn and Cadwallader. The implication is that these are English apples which were just given a Welsh name. So, this list does help to clarify which varieties are truly Welsh and which were adopted and introduced from elsewhere. To check out the full list go to the National Trust website.

Orchard Maintenance

Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Orchard Maintenance

Sian has cleared a section of the Watercress Beds at Goldsland. Llewellyn from the Vale Local Partnership team has done a fantastic job cutting the Community Orchard, Wild, Goldsland and Elizabethan orchards whilst also widening the paths around the Upper Orchid Field.

These and many other jobs are made possible through the money raised by the Tuckers’ events and all of you who support them. Other items we have spent this money on include new benches in the Community Orchard, new noticeboard in the Community Orchard, junior workshops for 7- to 11-year-olds, insurance, schoolbooks and items in the wildlife patch, leaflets, signage, tools and materials. Thank you to all who support us directly and those who participate in the Tucker events.

Date for your 2026 diary. The Garden Birdwatch takes place between Friday 23rd and Sunday 25th January. More details will follow nearer the time.

Go For It – Plant The Bulbs

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

Go For It – Plant The Bulbs

Go for it – plant the tulip bulbs, they will produce excellent blooms if put in this month. Just make sure the pointy bit is aiming to the sky and they are deep enough. Daffs are cheap to buy now as the success rate diminishes with each week that goes by. Don’t even think about buying snow drop corms, they never do well. Wait until they are available next year, in the green, around March and April; you will be guaranteed a display the following Spring.

Some of the begonias flowered right through October. The mild, if somewhat windy, weather saw to that. Just make sure you save the tubers by drying them out and storing in a dry place, free from frost. The roses have also been producing blooms later this year, which has delayed any pruning until November. I will be putting the hedge trimmer through the roses and leaving the real pruning until the end of March, or when the buds show signs of growth. Do not leave any of the infected leaves around the base of the plants, as the black spot spores will thrive in the soil.

A lot of berries on the holly again this year, so if you need some for Christmas then cut off what you need and stand in water, it keeps for ages. If you don’t do this the wreath makers and wood pigeons will make short work of it before the first day of advent.

November is the start of the bare root season, these shrubs and hedging plants are generally cheaper than pot grown ones and take very well when planted. Apples and pears can be pruned at the end of the month through until the end of February. Don’t prune plums or any stone fruit until the Summer.

There is still plenty to get on with at the allotments. Mike Johnson along with others will be collecting leaves to fill the compost bins along with waste generated off his patch. This Autumn Mike is going to dig some of the leaves directly into the soil so the worms can speed up the process of decomposition. In the village you can leave the leaves on top of the soil for the same effect but up at Twyn Yr Odyn the wind will blow them into the Bristol Channel if you use this method.

Old hands Colin and Bernard have been pleased by the way the allotments have been cared for this year, producing good results in what has been a challenging year weather wise.

Reminder, if you’re having a bonfire, please check for hedgehogs. If you leave them in for too long they become crispy and take on a barbecue flavour. Barry Oliver wraps his in foil, to avoid any mishap.

Take care and happy gardening.

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