Wales Feed

Signs of spring

2011-03-15T10:24:33+00:00

Everywhere we look now, we're seeing signs that winter is giving up it's grip (apologies if you've had snow up north recently) and that spring is taking hold.

The plants and wildlife on the ground are feeling it too, as adders come out of hibernation to bask in the sun, tadpoles are wriggling in the ponds and new shoots begin to sprout out of every nook and cranny.

The birds are getting feisty too as they fight for mates and territory and that golden orb in the sky feels just that little bit warmer.

I've finally unwrapped my palm tree from it's winter protection, so I hope we're frost free from here on in and before we know we'll be moving the clocks forward on 27 March... so not long to go.

Here a few of the stunning photos we've had submitted to the Flickr group recently that sum up the season so far:

Blossom by Belinda Evans.

An adder basking in the sun at Parc Slip by Steve Gunter.

Frog spawn by Angela Roberts.

Fox cubs at the back of the house. Image by sandra 45 near Carmarthern.

A female goosander in Snowdonia by Jeanette Cohen.

The Spring Equinox begins

2010-03-19T13:13:24+00:00

Yesterday, Hawarden in Flintshire was the warmest place in Wales. The temperature reaching a high of 16 Celsius, 61 Fahrenheit. Six degrees above the March average!

The wettest place yesterday was Capel Curig in Snowdonia with 13.4mm of rain. The most rain we've had so far this month...

I had hoped it would be dry this afternoon for the Gold Cup Race at the Cheltenham Festival but rain seems likely to arrive sooner than expected.

The satellite picture shows a mass of cloud spreading north into southern Britain.

It's tied to an area of low pressure which is heading our way, bringing a spell of wet and breezy weather.

Some heavy rain likely too, 15 to 25mm (up to an inch) on the Brecon Beacons.

Tomorrow is the Spring Equinox and will occur at 5.32pm in the UK but remember - the clocks don't go forwards until next weekend on Sunday, 28 March.

The equinox refers to the moment that the sun crosses directly overhead at the Earth's equator and some people consider this to be the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere.

The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). It means equal day and night. But in reality, the day is slightly longer than the night at an equinox.

This is because the sun is not a single point of light, but appears to be a disc. So when the centre of the sun is still below the horizon, the upper limb is already visible and emits light.

Sunrise over Stonehenge:

The atmosphere also refracts light downwards, so even when the upper limb of the sun is still below the horizon, its rays already reach around the horizon to the ground.

This combination makes the day slightly longer than the night.

In Wales, day and night were almost equal on March 18th before the Spring Equinox.

At the North Pole, polar bears will be celebrating the first appearance of the sun in 6 months but at the South Pole the penguins will be preparing for 6 months of darkness! Imagine that?

Here in Wales, I can't promise much (if any) sunshine tomorrow. The skies will be full of cloud with showers and longer spells of rain.

So if you're in Cardiff for the rugby tomorrow, an umbrella will come in handy although some drier spells are likely too and it will feel mild with a high of 13 Celsius.

Sunday looks better. Dry and bright for a time, some hazy sunshine in the morning, but more rain will move in from the west during the afternoon and evening. The wind picking-up as well.

Derek

Love, sex and war

2010-03-15T10:36:42+00:00

I hope you all enjoyed the sunshine this weekend and spoilt your mums on Sunday ;)

Make the most of the sunshine as it's not going to last much longer. Low pressure is set to move in this week, so good news for surfers who've been suffering during this recent spell of high pressure!

The animals have been making the most of it too and getting friendly in more ways than one.

I was down at Bosheston Lily Ponds on Sunday for a nice walk and was followed most of the way, by a pair of friendly robins who'd become incredibly tame due to people feeding them.

I stuck my hand out with some bread on it, (that I'd found on the floor) and a robin hopped straight onto it without any hesitation.

We stood perfectly still for a minute or so eye balling one another before he became bored and hopped back onto his branch a few feet away.

Quite a few pike fisherman out too - casting their plugs & lures and trying to dodge the overhanging trees.

The pathways are much wider and clearer now than they used to be though and the entire route is now 'wheel chair friendly' so worth knowing. The nearby Mencap Centre also does great fruit and veg.

At one point, my mum saw a splash and had convinced us that she'd seen a kingfisher feeding until we rounded the bend to find another fisherman casting out a large pike lure. She was subsequently taken off 'spotter duty' ;)

Plenty of other wildlife on display including mallards, coots, mute swans, grey herons fishing, a buzzard swooping low through the woods and black headed gulls.

Our wildlife explodes into action at this time of year as the daylight hours increase and the weather begins to warm up.

Sex is never far from their minds as the quest for survival begins. The aim is to produce young, soon enough for them to flourish during summer whilst food is plentiful and the weather is still mild. I said mild...not dry!

So the battle lines are being drawn as mates are sought out. Songbirds become more vocal, hares start to box, adders wrestle in the sun and deer begin to butt heads!

Here's a selection of springtime images from our Flickr group - sent in this weekend.

Frogs mating by 'Brackenb' :

Adders wrestling in the sun at Parc Slip by 'Former ex-tog' :

Check out the size of that foot! Male coots fighting over the ladies at Newport Wetlands Centre by Eiona Roberts:

Mother and lamb enjoying the warm sunshine by 'Bigfoot12' :

Watch a great crested grebe courtship display video.

Gull

The first day of spring

2010-03-01T10:52:07+00:00

Happy St David's Day everyone - And what a great start to March?!

Spring is finally here - it officially runs from March through till June although our summers seem to occur in May these days. So perhaps someone needs to rewrite the rule book on seasons for this country?

The weather is stunning weather across much of Wales today as high pressure looms out in the Atlantic, so we should be seeing some nice blue skies this week with the weather improving as we head towards Friday.

You can find out more about Dewi Saint on our history portal.

I've not actually seen a daffodil up yet? I guess I'm not looking hard enough but there seem to be a lot of crocuses springing up and my lawn is almost purple this year!

'Brackenb' photo submitted this shot to our wildlife photography group on Flickr.

A nice plump frog hugging her freshly laid spawn sums up spring perfectly for me:

Other spring news...the tides are huge once more as the moon is 99% off being 'full' and is said to be in it's 'waning gibbous' phase.

This means that the Severn Bore will be particularly good over the next day or so and surfers from all over the world will descend on the River Severn.

I believe BBC Countryfile are also heading down there to film the event so keep an eye out for that one.

I've surfed it twice now and it is great fun!

It's nothing like surfing in salt water though and the river is freezing but the whole experience is quite surreal. My last ride was around the 2.5 mile mark so I was pretty pleased with that as most people fall off within the first 50 yards!

The record currently stands at just over 7 miles, and was achieved by Steve King back in April 2006.

The first thing that struck me was the sheer volume of people who actually turned out to watch as well as participate in the event.

Coach loads of people arrive and there are literally hundreds of people lining the banks of the river to watch the spectacle unfold at the more well known spots (near the pubs!).

Here's a shot of me surfing it in 2007 (blue & orange surfboard):

The river has various twists and turns where the water is compressed into narrow, shallower sections and produces a larger, better looking wave - favoured by surfers.

The wave speeds up, slows down and changes shape rapidly according to the contours of the river bed so it's a real test of skill, courage and knowledge to stay with it as it surges towards Gloucester.

It's all very cloak and dagger though as these spots are rarely mentioned by the local surfers (yes there are locals) who surf the bore regularly.

The bore actually breaks every month but the 4* and 5* bores are few and far between over the year.

You can also surf the bore at night with head torches on but it's not for the faint-hearted as all sorts of heavy duty flotsam and jetsam are washed upstream with you, including - beer barrels, bits of broken boat, fridges, dead farm animals, tree trunks etc so you get the picture.

You can in theory have three attempts at surfing the bore should you fall off or be left behind by the wave, which happens often especially on your first attempt.

Staying on the wave can be extremely tricky but isn't helped by the fact that other people are all trying to do the same thing - bumping into each other and clashing against each others surfboards.

This clip on You Tube demonstrates well; the chaos involved!

Should you fall, you can in theory paddle in to the bank, hop in your car and drive 10 minutes or so, up river and rejoin the wave as it trundles past.

This sounds simple but is actually a logistical nightmare as the bank is incredibly slippery so physically clambering out with a 9ft longboard in tow is difficult.

You then have to negotiate the traffic and finally find somewhere to park, preferably near the river.

Goodluck to all the bore riders this year. If I can get my hands on a longboard in time, I might just join you!

Gull

Spring is sprung

2010-02-11T13:46:54+00:00

"Spring is sprung, the grass is ris.
I wonders where the birdies is?
They say the birdie's on the wing.
Ain't that absurd?
I always thought the wing was on the bird".

We've recently had our first spring like photos of 2010 featuring frog spawn and snowdrops, despite the spate of cold weather so spring must be well on the way.

Owen Pritchard photographed some frog spawn at Cantref in the Brecon Beacons where the frogs are particularly hardy:

Meanwhile Sharon Jones-Williams from Gaerwen snapped these snowdrops covered in early morning dew:

Now all we need is our first daffodil and we're complete. I've a feeling it probably flowered in December though...

Add you spring pics to our Flickr group or email them to me here at wales.nature@bbc.co.uk

Gull