Category: Nature Notes

Nature Notes Commentaries on Nature will always be something of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. So let’s start at the grimmer end of the spectrum. Neonicotinoids are a form of insecticide widely used in the 1990s but when evidence became clear that they were killing bees they were banned in the European Union in 2018. What does history […]

Nature Notes Discover our 5 Community Orchards With more and more people discovering one or more of our 5 Community Orchards, all designed and planted by the Wenvoe Wildlife Group, the question is often raised – What has this got to do with wildlife? Orchards are a priority habitat in Biodiversity Action Plans whether at UK Government levels, Welsh Government […]

Red Kites spotted flying over the Parish A number of residents have spotted Red Kites flying over the Parish recently which is great news. Once upon a time they were quite common and Shakespeare referred to London as a ‘city of kites and crows’. They were the street cleaners of the time and even had a degree of protection However […]

NATURE NOTES Wildlife Photos In The Parish Those who follow us on Facebook will have seen the large numbers of photos of wildlife taken in the parish. Many are coming from gardens, others from the countryside, as more adults and families are walking the footpaths around the village. Species sent in include moths such as the Cabbage, the Silver Ground […]

Wild Life – Consider Making Them Welcome In response to the Nature News piece in the April magazine, I recall that the only time I have seen a fox in the village was many years ago at night time, running down the road outside my house, no doubt hoping for some easy pickings from rubbish bags. Quite often there is […]

Stoats near Burdons Hill Several people have spotted a pair of Stoats near Burdons Hill. Usually quite unobtrusive this pair were either amorous, antagonistic or play-fighting resulting in a fair bit of noise and rustling in the hedgerow. Stoats are bigger than Weasels, are chestnut brown above and white underneath with a clear demarcation line. If you manage to see […]

  Have you seen a fox in the village recently? The photo shows one in a Wenvoe garden at midday during last August and sightings from other residents are not uncommon. Whilst there is no clear demarcation between ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ foxes, ours are likely to be more of the countryside variety. However many urban areas of Britain have large […]

By the time you read this there should be a lot more blossom about. In mid February we can see the first white splashes in the hedgerows of Blackthorn, from which you get your sloes, and early flowering cherries are popular in gardens. At the entrance to Clos Llanfair is a quite uncommon Purple-leaved Plum or Black Cherry Plum, one […]

Leeches Not Cute And Lovable Leeches are abundant and all around us, yet few will notice them. They are not exactly cute and lovable – indeed they might generate a frisson of terror in some, particularly those who remember Humphrey Bogart being covered in them in ‘The African Queen’. Stories in the press such as the removal of a leech […]