At last spring is here

Well it feels like it today and at last it also feels like everything has 'woken up' (including me!). The meadow area is looking greener all of a sudden and much noisier - walk over there most evening before dusk and the sound of birds singing their hearts out is enough to drown any hometime traffic in the distance. Its definitely time to start looking for those other vital signs of spring.
The herons have also been busy as well. One has been stalking around the meadow looking for food and another was spotted perched at the edge of the temporary pond behind one of the copses. No doubt there is obviously more food around for them as well.
There's more work to be done on the park tomorrow if anone fancies a few hours tidying up and cutting back shrubbery - as always it will help increase biodiversity + its a good way to keep fit!

Its cold and wet

but the birds appear to be rejoicing no matter what -against a backdrop of trains rumbling by on their way along the valley line. If you walk late afternoon as the suns begins to slowly set you can hear the sound of thrushes singing their heart out or other birds marking their territory more assertively. There's little colour around apart from the yellow of the gorse and the red of a solitary dogwood bush - of course the straw like bits of the meadow make a lovely contrast to a deep blue sky on days like today when the sun actually shines. The meadow is pretty boggy at the moment in some bits more than others but then those bits wouldn't be wetland meadow otherwise.
Keep an ear out for the foxes who seem to be quite vocal at the moment as its their breeding season and on bin nights can be seen running off the park in the early hours and into the neighbouring streets in search of easy pickings. I do wonder if some are blaming the noisy barking dog fox for a neighbours dog.

Come along tomorrow ...

More help needed to do voluntary work in the meadow. Meet up at about 12.45-1pm in the car park at Radyr Road, Llandaff North this Sunday. All welcome - we don't bite!

The vibrant colours of the spring, summer and autumn are missing at this time of year - but there is some in the shape of this interesting red bush (no leaves on it but all the stems are red) and of course the gorse is still flowering. Have also noticed that there appears to be a lot of acitivity in the meadow in areas where some of the small mammals live.

Merry Christmas and happy new year all

... and a big thank you for all our supporters and hopefully we'll have an even better year next year.

More scrub-bashing

and what a lovely day to do it - a crisp sunny winter's day. We managed to cut down scrub along the driveway from Ty Mawr Road and also clear the willow and buddlea from the 'triangle' on the other side of the changing rooms.

Well, its that time of the month again - scrub-bashing time (above photos are from last month's work). We'll be out on the meadow along with Cardiff Conservation Volunteers tomorrow from about 10 till 4 and you're all welcome to join us. Hopefully, it'll be just as lovely a day as today - cold and crisp but sunny. I think tomorrow's task is clearing the buddlea and willow from the Ty Mawr Road entrance down towards the changing rooms. If there's time we can then tidy up any other small areas that need 'bashing'. If you've never done this before just turn up (we don't bite) and we'd love to see you - make sure you have sturdy shoes/boots on and suitable clothing just in case the weather changes. All ages and abilities welcome - work at your own pace and you don't need to stay the whole day, just an hour or two if you can. We'll be led by Edmundo the ranger in the morning then Gareth our resident ranger in the afternoon.

Enjoying the meadow

Well Ruby is practically a resident of the meadow and the sun was shining even if it was pretty freezing, so what better way to enjoy it from a log bench with a flask of coffee.