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This is an Earthwatch initiated project which began in February 2001 and has continued in partnership with North East Wales Wildlife since October 2003.
The major aim of the project is to improve rivers as wildlife corridors by
Work has been carried out on the Rivers Clwyd, Alyn and Clywedog.
Three Rivers April 2010
Well done Karl Martin, ranger for NEWWildlife! Here is a Rhydymwyn otter. Over the years we’ve seen many prints and spraints by the holt – and one siting at the far end of the site – but it’s great to have captured a picture.
Our latest Holt
Three Rivers Holt 32 |
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Nant-y Frith, Bwlchgwyn |
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Land owner: Robert Didier 01978 756 451 |
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23 Mar 10 |
Log holt Otter prints seen close to holt later in month. |
SJ 2685 5433 |
Funded by Flintshire |
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Is built below a gorge in a site away from public footpaths in the forested Nant-y-Frith valley where the land owner is slowly replacing conifer with deciduous woodland. Robert treated the workers, David Tomlinson, David Thomas, John and Jenny Briggs, Shane Hughes (Keep Wales Tidy), Sarah Brown (Flintshire Biodiversity Officer), to a mix of some of his ‘Orchard Pig’ pies.
Photo gallery
Pictures supplied by David Tomlinson, Jenny/John Briggs, Sarah Brown and BL
THE TEAM: Left to right David Tomlinson, David Thomas, Shane Hughes, John Briggs,
Jenny Briggs and last but not least, Sarah Brown
Work in progress
Who did all the work? Girl power! The layout: Des Res for otter
David finishing off the roof Bottle of (cheap) wine for best caption
Monitoring
Roe Plas Meadow St Asaph Otter holt Three Rivers Holt 26
Thick vegetation covers the riverbank entrance but the land entrance usually has a clear path leading into it through bramble. In winter this is all too accessible to the public, especially loose dogs and failing permission to fence it off the Afon Elwy care Group agreed we could plant more cover.
So double row of hawthorn planted to reinforce bramble cover with a crab apple for luck.
Pentre Cerrig Bach River Alyn, Llanferres Three Rivers Holt 4
We coppiced two alder in 2003 for the holt and for BIG log piles. One cut alder has regenerated but the other died and has left an inviting hole in the canopy, just asking for planting since no natural regeneration of alder has happened.
So this winter five 6’-7’ high male black poplars have been planted along with some more alder buckthorn to add to one doing very well here.
These will need to be kept clear of the head height summer growth – help welcome.
Likewise, we have used more of our native plants from Prees Heath to provide cover for the Wilderness Mill holt to augment the natural re-generation in this fenced off area. Thorn and black poplars included.
Finally: Coed y Felin Hendre NWWT Three Rivers Holt 16
5 Mar 10 |
Holt hard to find as pipes missing, only small 5”entrance hole. Plantings: Four B pops, one pruned to 5’ (flood damage) and one to only 1.5 ‘ Alder buckthorn pruned to 2’ One B pop lost during balsam bash in 2009. Others lost to flooding. |
Three Rivers 2009 to Winter 2010
The Team We are sorry that Tony King has a severe back problem and Frank Hayes has moved to Scotland. This has depleted the team drastically as they both played a major role in our work. The exceptionally bad winter and other minor setbacks have not helped. Hence the delay in this report. On the bright side other people have turned up trumps and together we have continued to carry out or assist with good sound conservation work in the last six months.
Left picture: between David Tomlinson by the river and David Thomas on the left, is Emma Broad, Wrexham biodiversity officer, always willing to help when possible. Her first action on the day was to find spraint and otter prints on the river bank, to confirm good choice of site for an otter holt. Next to Emma is Shane Hughes of Keep Wales Tidy another hard worker and who thankfully has offered future support. Right picture shows Bill Devereaux in blue, an exceptional conservationist who is no stranger to us.
Monitoring
| River Alyn |
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| Three Rivers 10 Wilderness Mill House Farm |
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| Mr Bill Devereux 01978 855149 |
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| 6 Mar 05 |
Built on the west bank using 10"D pipe used instead of usual 8" |
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| 2005 |
Sustainable Fisheries Project fenced off the holt, along with both river banks and canal. Badger seen using holt. 10 each bat and bird boxes from SF |
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| 2007 |
Otter reported to be using the holt. 2009 Mink |
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| Jan 2010 |
Otter prints by holt – see picture below |
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| River Alyn Llanarmon-yn-ial |
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| Three Rivers holt 23 Angus Holt |
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| 16 May 07 |
Prebuilt box holt |
| 3 Aug 09 |
Otter spraint on rock in river by entrance. Both entrances clear. DT/RJ/BL |
| Winter09/10 |
Signs of otter in vicinity RJ |
From the table you can see that the holt we built on Bill’s land (with his help and the help of his excavator) has been well used – badger, mink and currently otter. Likewise Remani and Christian’s holt, a prebuilt one, has been a success – see last two rows:
Bird boxes 1) 
Bill Devereaux’s Wilderness Farm
, Llay
Here with the help of Bill’s son Kieran and helper Kirsty we checked out 72 boxes, scraping and firing those with nests. Four boxes were new, birds roosted in two of the bat boxes and bat droppings were found in bat boxes and several of the bird boxes. Bird nests were found in 39 and 7 boxes need repairs. Otter holt Kieran spotted otter prints close to the holt (picture on right). The holt is fenced off but we plan to plant more cover around it.
2) John Almond’s report June’s wood and adjacent Tir Gofal field, Llanferres
Out of 13 boxes examined - one was damaged and unfit for use; three were not used; nine were used and all would appear to have been successful. Pied flycatcher nests in two of the boxes where nests had been flattened so presumed successful.
3) Lloyds/MA, Llanferres Eleven boxes, 2 not used, one with wasp’s nest, 6 with tits and two with pied flycatcher type nests 4) Jimmy Dodd has only 5 boxes – to ask if we can add more, hopefully to benefit the pied flycatchers using the river Alyn. So for the Llanferres stretch of the Alyn we had a total of four successful pied flycatcher nests. Scope for more -more boxes have been put up.
It has been a good season for wasp’s using our bird, and the odd bat, boxes. A fairly typical nest is shown on the left being evicted.
On the right is one on the Hem House Farm tree sparrow nests. In the summer John Lawton Roberts checked the farm drive boxes:
TS = Tree Sparrow
B1) TS - fledged brood nest
B2) Great Tit - 10 dead chicks, primary feathers ca 1/3 emerged. Cause of death?
B3) Tit - fledged brood nest
B4) some TS nest material, not bred in B5) TS - fledged brood nest (see July 1)
B6) TS - 5 chicks 'in pin' (feathers not emerging yet) B7) TS - fledged brood nest
B8) Roost B9) Small TS nest. Used?
The total number of boxes around the farm are 21, including the farm drive ones, and the total number of tree sparrow nests are the four JLR monitored with chick count and three other unmistakeable TS nests. The rest had tit nests and the start of tree sparrow nests.
So, for the 2009 season total of seven tree sparrow nest box successes
Emma Broad helped scrape and flame the boxes and when Emma went to check one of the two barn owl boxes two barn owls flew out – too quick for me to photo! We met then met Clyde and Sarah (on the left) to look at a potential site for more ponds on Clyde’s land.
Black Poplars We lose quite a proportion to flooding and for unknown reasons. However we now have some really good specimens making all the effort worth while. Here on the right are the ‘famous five’ on Clyde’s land welcoming otters from the river Dee into the River Alyn. They are at different heights because the cows got to nibble them before we re-fenced. The largest is in the centre but all are healthy.
Bodrhyddan Hall ponds and garden
Ogwen Morris and I cleaned the 16 boxes. Thirteen had been used, including one with muddy entrance indicating nuthatch. Two had wasp’s nests in them.
Maintenance See last row
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Nant Padrig (R Clwyd catchment) |
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Trefnant |
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Three Rivers 27 |
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NEWW Contact office 01352 742 238 |
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16 Aug 07 |
Pre-built holt used. |
SJ 0515 7127 |
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Otter spraint 500m downstream found under bridge this month. This bridge is 500m from the river Clwyd with a breeding population of otter. |
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16 Dec 09 |
D Tomlinson and I put in more stakes, logs and turf to cover exposed pipes. Coppiced and layered thorn bushes by holt. More cover needed? |
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Otter Sightings sent in by John Lawton Roberts
Two on and near Dee S of Bryn Howell hotel, Llangollen, ca 21 August (John Rushton);
One under Llangollen Bridge, watched by A.Thomas (fisherman) ca 6-7 weeks ago from 24 September.
One dead on road (A5) near ex-Seed Factory, Llangollen, 3-4 weeks ago from same date, also A.Thomas.
Another sighting, of live animal, on Dee downstream from same factory, Alan Thomas, since last date, before 29 October.
Otter Holt 3R 31
Tim Rosselli requested an otter holt as part of the Tir Gofal scheme on his estate in woods not far from the Cross Foxes, Overton. This was built in a brief spell of good weather by the team shown at the start of this report. Below the summary table are pictures showing the work in progress and the spraint Emma spotted.
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River Dee |
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Bryn y Pys Estate Overton |
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Peter and Tim Rosselli 01978 710043 |
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18 Feb 10 |
Spraint and otter foot prints very close. Otter seen by old mill 2009 |
SJ 3573 4203 |
You can see from this that we are using a new design, using logs to roof the holt instead of ply. It is increasingly difficult to be sure of obtaining sustainably sourced marine ply and here we had ample beech from trees on site which, needed thinning. Extra layers of thin stakes cut from branches were used to fill in the roof logs. Sods were added as cover and finally brash hid the holt from view. This holt was built without nails and the only artificial part was the pipe entrance leading to the river. Tim brought his father Peter down to see the work in progress which they found interesting. Tim helped by transporting our gear across a large partly sown field to the woods and Bill, who arrived later in his land rover, carried it back – thank goodness!
Finally, we like to help with other people’s conservation projects, for example, as with the dry stone walling on the Rhydymwyn Valley Site with NEWWildlife shown below.
Three Rivers Report July 2009
Otters One of our volunteers, Jenny Briggs, sent in this picture after her holiday in the Shetlands when she saw otters every day. Sadly in North Wales we get more RTAs than sightings of live otters, so their future is far from secure.
At least otters are still regularly seen by one of ‘our’ sites near Rowan. To quote Adrienne, a friend who lives nearby “....well the lake fishing farm next door now swanks about it's otters!” How good to hear that about a fish farm!
Bats found for the first time in our Three River’s boxes at:
Plymog This is our first Three Rivers site and 2 out of three boxes in the ‘triangle’ had bat droppings.
Mynydd Llan This wood belonging to Clwyd Badger Group is near to the Ysceifiog Fisheries and had bats or bat droppings in seven out of 8 bat boxes and one bat in a bird box. There are 6 other unchecked bat boxes too difficult for me to examine. Amanda Davies of Clwyd Bat Group says that long eared bats are one of the common species that use bat boxes
Image from web
Dormice
Karl Martin (recovering from leg and foot injuries after being knocked off his motorbike while negotiating a roundabout) put up dormouse boxes in many woods 9 or 10 years ago, including Mynydd Llan. Rhian Hughes of the NWWT gave me a couple of Karl’s dormouse box maps, including one of Mynydd Llan, to check. This turned up a couple of boxes which had not surfaced previously - and guess what – one of them, C3, contained a lovely dormouse nest made of woven honeysuckle strips. This is the second dormouse nest found in our (Clwyd Badger Group) wood.
Picture showing Rhian throttling Ddol NR dormouse (only joking Rhian – no one more gentle).
The links Rhian, Donna and I filled with dozens of dormouse boxes running either side of Ysceifiog lake from Ddol nature reserve to the CBG wood, Mynydd Llan, both had dormice! But one dormouse nest was found in our (CBG) wood before the links were completed, the second C3 nest was found afterwards. We think that although the dormice must have been present all along in Mynydd Llan they must have been in very low numbers.
By providing continuous runs of boxes we are helping with their breeding. Work is needed on the old hazel coppices to increase the food supply and help sustain this most beautiful and endangered little animal. David Thomas has created glades which has caused a blossoming of flora and will help the old layered and newly planted hazel to fruit. Iliff Simey, Rodney Waterfield and John Purchase have provided inspirational and practical help. At Iliff’s insistence no stump is left in peace - Beetle Banks everywhere –enhancing the base of the pyramid of woodland life.
David Tomlinson and Frank Hayes attended the Natur conference at Bodelwyddan which they considered very thought provoking. Here is David’s write up:
Shaping the Landscapes of Wales by David Tomlinson
What are our nature reserves for? What makes an area of land important, and important to whom? Why should we preserve an area of land as if it was a time capsule when so much of the rest of the world is changing around us?
These were just some of the questions that were raised at the recent Natur conference held at Bodelwyddan Castle. As with a lot of issues there isn’t one answer but these are important questions to be considered when being asked to manage a nature reserve.
We all belong to a wildlife loving organisation but the land that our rare species inhabit has a history all of it’s own, it has a social history, a geological history and maybe an industrial history so who is to say which one is the most important, should one be sacrificed for the good of another or can we learn to compromise and find a place for all.
Let me give you an example, you are managing a site that has the remains of a Bronze Age round house on it. Over the years a number of oak trees have grown amongst the ruins and are now very large and causing significant concern to the integrity of the round house, the oak trees though are the only ones on the site and are classed as veteran trees. What should you do, what should we secure for the future and more importantly who has the right to decide?
When I sat back and thought of these issues a phrase came to my mind, it was “blurring the edges”, the edges between all the various parties that may have an interest in the land, its usage and its history. We must engage with all of these groups and encourage them to share responsibility for the site, to take ownership of it and care about what happens to it.
How many times have we left a site after completing a project only to see it vandalised the next day, or for us to put up interpretation panels only for them to be ignored. How much time have you put into organising a community event and then not get the response you were hoping for?
Maybe these people don’t feel part of the process, don’t feel that they have any ownership or involvement, maybe it’s time to talk to them and find out exactly what they feel is important to them and how we can incorporate their ideas into our reserves. Maybe we can “blur the edges” and provide reserves that are not only important to the plants and animals on them but also to the people who live alongside them, who have grown up with them and have a history with them.
River Clwyd Bodrhyddan Estate Buffer Four
The four buffer zones have withstood severe flooding over the last few years but finally due to fallen trees directing the current into the bank buffer four was no longer stock proof. As soon as Ogwen Morris – on the right – found this I rang Jim Kilpatrick and Gary Davies of Denbighshire Countryside Services who have been so helpful in the past. Jim immediately came out and organised repairs – another of the buffers also needed work. Jim has now completed this work so we should get good natural regeneration and do some planting of alder at Lord Langford’s suggestion. We are all delighted with this repair work!
Bontuchel Holt (See right)
David Tomlinson and Frank Hayes helped with a project in June co-ordinated by Sharon Woods - Forest Partnership Warden/Clwydian Range AONB/Forestry Commission Wales - to build a holt in the Ruthin area, a lovely site at SJ0822 5691 on the Nant Melin Dwr.
Fencing off Badger Sett
We have managed to build over 30 otter holts in good weather but as soon as we do fencing – it rains! This takes some of the pleasure out of our work and we cannot postpone it once the fencing materials have been delivered unless we have somewhere safe and on site to store them. Luckily the weather was not as bad as forecast when we fenced off a badger sett which had been badly trampled. David Shiel of Denbighshire Countryside Services funded the fencing with enough over for wood to make more bird boxes to encourage, mainly, the few pied flycatchers we are lucky enough to have visit the Alyn Valley. We have a small section of wiring to finish.
Fencing 21 JUL 2009
Site Plymog, Llanferres SJ 1885 5980
Land owne: Roy Studley 01352 810229
Purpose: To protect badger sett from trampling by stock
Team: David Tomlinson, David Thomas, Frank Hayes, Betty Lee
Fencing supplier: Morgans of Ruthin