Migration

Most of the meadowlife has migrated to our official website http://www.friendsofhaileypark.org.uk

Find the lady!

Today we've been spying painted lady butterflies, a beautiful migrant - its amazing that they migrate to and from northern Africa every year and are back here for the summer. In the autumn they will all ether die or emigrate to Africa. It seems we're also being asked to note down every time we see them and where and records are showing its been the biggest migration for years.

While down the river at the edge of the meadow we also spied a male orange tip - a butterfly that always seems to be on the move. But at least we managed to get a better glimpse of the speckled wood butterfly.

Over near the railway line we managed to find a grass snake and a family of slow worms basking in the heat.

Nature in the raw

Of late it seems there are lots of jackdaws/carrion crows in the meadow mostly as the sparrowhawk appears to be doing a lot of hunting there and no doubt rich pickings are to be found as a result. Sadly though while I know nature is cruel I disturbed a flock of these corvids on saturday some hopping around the meadow while one or two were pecking a solitary dove to death - on my arrival they left her struggling with a broken wing and a damaged eye - the only solution really was to take her to be put to sleep as while she proved to be still a feisty girl it was the kindest thing to do.

I have seen magpies stealing and killing fledglings from nests before but never this and no doubt it probably happens quite a lot but goes unseen.

At least the broom is now heavy with 'blossom' making a lovely array at one end of the meadow while the gorse that was blooming all winter is now diminishing. I've also noticed more trees appearing on the meadow where no doubt we had scrub before - most of them seem to be oaks that have suddenly appeared to double in size. Sadly I also noticed the first appearance of knotweed in the area we cut and rake each each year.

At last more colour is appearing in and around the meadow - the grass even appears to be greener if that's possible. It seems like there is more broom and gorse on the pile of rocks becuase of or in spite of our massive scrub clearance in the autumn of the willow and buddlea thatusually take over this area - home to small mammals and hunting ground for foxes and reptiles - and its blossoming with its bright yellow flowers. Sadly the nearby pond is drying up - a side effect of the good weather we've been having which no dubt will have a knock-on effect of fewer amphibians so lets hope they found other watery spots to hide in as well. At the edges of the meadow I've spied clumps of cuckoo flowers.
Its lovely to see how the young trees we planted over a year ago are getting on, some are even twice their size now. Unfortunately, there's a clump of knotweed slowly invading one patch.
One dog walker recently was lucky to spy a heron who had been fishing in the Taff and had been quite successful; however, shortly after he'd landed near the changing rooms the sight of dog and walker scared him enough to drop the fish and fly off. Acting quickly as the fish was still alive, a lucky perch, the dogwalker scooped him up and quickly ran towards the river to save him to swim about the Taff for at least another day.

Cardiff Biodiversity Bulletin January 2009

It appears we've made it to the Cardiff Biodiversity Bulletin, Issue 19 - January 2009 with regard to our work in regenerating the meadow.

"Grant funding was secured in June 2008 under the Countryside Partnership programme 08/09 for grassland restoration in Hailey Park. The funding contribution was used for the hire of Cardiff Conservation Volunteers to carry out the removal of scrub in Hailey Park over two dates. The grassland restoration project was a joint project with the Friends of Hailey Park and Community Park Rangers. The work dates took place on Sunday 16 November and Sunday 7 December 2008 and were very successful. The Friends of Hailey Park will endeavour to maintain the grassland in favourable condition via volunteer work days with assistance from Community Park Rangers."

This support just highlights how important this project is.

A pile of rubbish?

No its a des res fit for insects and hedgehogs. Today, Mothering Sunday, was also a voluntary work day for Friends of Hailey Park.

We've been tidying up the entrance that leads on to the meadow - apart from the bottles and cans that people have thrown in from the road there was lots of dead wood around.

So the rubbish has been picked up and the dead wood has been turned into a couple of habitat piles. Eventually the area will also be planted with bulbs to add a splash of colour, but that will have to wait till next year.

Reptiles anyone

Yes we have reptiles in and around the meadow - no doubt taking advantage of better habitats in some areas. However, as with most things on the meadow its up to us to find out who's living where. Cardiff Council's ecology team have come up with a lovely idea of training local people or those who also spend time on Hailey Park to learn how to survey them - the training session is on Sunday 29 March from 10am (meet-up place to be confirmed). We have a few places left if anyone wants to go on the training and help us in our mission to survey the reptile population here. Any takes please contact fohp@hotmail.co.uk

Its becoming quite apparent that there is at least one young family of foxes in and around the meadow at the moment. I haven't worked out how many cubs they have yet but they most certainly are making thier prescence known - in the early hours of the morning when the air is still you can hear the wonderful sounds of cubs playing for all its worth.
The other day I also found what I look like kestrel feathers, so many that I think they may also have lost their life along with them - kestrels do frequent the meadow area as do sparrowhawks and the odd buzzard.

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.

Look no willow

Well I eventually got some photographs of the finished product of our labours - the wetland area of meadow now has no willow in it. The willow in the background forms what is a small copse of various other tree species, including young oak. Then of course we have the only flowering plant in the meadow - gorse.

Not a lot is happening at this time of the year, as

most of the foilage is changing its colours and slowing down and many others are hibernating - so far the only plant that is in flower is the gorse over where some think of as an old pile of river dredgings when in fact it is home to much of the reptile, amphibians and small mammals (and obvious haunt of the fox families who live near by).

We have been doing more scrub-bashing and it has changed the look of the meadow quite dramatically now as so much willow and buddlea has now been removed. Still there is more to do but we should have done all of it now by the end of the year. It will be very interesting (exciting even) to see how this work will slowly begin to change the biodiversity of the meadow - it has certainly changed the overall view of the meadow, where it had huge wild clumps of willow and buddlea you can now see much more of the meadow.

We're doing more scrub-bashing in the meadow this sunday and its going well (Gareth the countryside ranger led a group of Duke of Edinburgh award students last sunday), but more needs to be done. This sunday we're also being joined by Cardiff Conservation Volunteers who tend to work from 10am till 4pm; however, you can just come along when you feel like it and maybe help out a little when you can.

Its a great way to keep fit and can suit all levels of ability. Everyone is welcome, but children need to be supervised and accompanied by an adult. All tools will be provided. You will need to wear sturdy boots/shoes and suitable clothing (there are brambles in some sections!), plus we can't always guarantee the lovely weather we had last time so you may need to bring along waterproofs. Basic refreshments (squash, water, and biscuits, and may be coffee if I can obtain a large flask in time) are provided but you may also want to bring your own.

It's a good way to start your week by getting rid of the frustrations of the previous week --- lopping and chopping down the buddlea and willow that is invading the meadow. You will also be helping us regenerate a meadow so that next year we will have a better array of plants and wildlife.

Either meet up in the car park on Hailey Park (top of Radyr Road) at 9.45-10am on Sunday 16 November, or if later than 10am then we'll be in the meadow area (beyond the changing rooms).

Hope to see some of you there at some stage.

You may also have seen the council working on the park in various areas --- they have been out improving some of the paths over at the Hazlehurst Road side of the park (up towards the play area) and today they have been cutting back the trees in the graffiti wall area down to Station Road/Bridge Road behind James and Jenkins and some members of Friends of Hailey Park have been litterpicking in that area as well.