Ponds and butterflies

More work has been done today to help create a permanent pond next to the meadow (we may create another one in the meadow at some stage so watch this space - there's always a need for ponds). About 4 or 5 trees were removed so the temporary/seasonal pond can get more light to it. They have left the area to the left with its dense tree and shrub cover as there are about 40-50 orchids growing there that love that sort of habitat (sometimes you have to go searching for some of the wonderful things that grow there).
On saturday there was much excitement as we think we saw a clouded yellow butterfly, which is a rare visitor to this area.

What a difference 24 hours makes

The river has now gone down quite a lot and is nowhere near as huge as it was or as dangerous. Plus the 'lakes' in the meadow have now disappeared as well, but its still wellie weather all the same.

Weather warning

If anyone is brave enough to venture out towards the meadow no doubt they are most likely a dog walker as why else would you want to when the weather has been like it has. The meadow is flooded in places and just plain boggy in others but great if you've got your wellies on. In venturing across the meadow beware of going too far over towards the river as its just plain dangerous - I will attempt later to show how dangerous it is (if I can with two dogs and a camera). Yesterday, with dogs firmly on leads and by my side, I ventured toward the path by the river but its completely disappeared so there is no way anyone can get from there over to the water wheel on Ty Mawr Road (in fact parts of Ty Mawr Road itself are also flooded as well), or the woods behind it, or even access to the path along the railway bridge towards the horses' field across the river toward Radyr). For now I will leave you all with sunnier times and a calm river.

What a difference autumn makes

Gone are the lovely swathes of colour, replaced by golden and brown hues with a dash of red thrown in and a lonely splash of yellow. Talking of lonely though, in the middle of the stretch of meadow we mowed and raked the other week there is a solitary little oak tree that will hopefully grow in the middle of this area forever more, and we'll just have to mow round it.

Memories of sunnier days

I couldn't resist ...

More pix of the few days we had this summer when it was actually sunny, if not a bit windy. While everyone's summer was spoilt by the rain the meadow just carried on regardless and showed itself off. Sadly the carpets of purple and yellow are now fading and we're left with a few dotted areas of colour as they sow their seed and then just die back and wait till next spring. However, don't think for one minute that the onset of autumn means life in the meadow will be dull, far from it --- just take a walk on a crisp autumn morning and see how beautiful it can still be.

Website of the week - Cardiff Nats

During the summer on a rare evening when it wasn’t raining we had the pleasure of a joint nature walk between Friends of Hailey Park and Cardiff Naturalists' Society. While the walk started at the bowling green we eventually made it to the meadow. The walk was a success and were very pleased to see a long-standing member of Cardiff Nats, Dr Mary Gillham MBE, on the walk, who has been an active member of the society for decades and continues to be one of the most highly respected naturalists in South Wales.
The Cardiff Naturalists' Society is the longest established wildlife organization in this area, having been formed in 1867 at the instigation of Robert Drane F.L.S. Members of the Society have been instrumental in protecting many of the wild areas that we all know and love, from Skomer to Forest Farm.
We hope to have continuing links with Cardiff Nats in the years to come as we progress with the regeneration of our meadow. The next walk between the two groups has been proposed for July 2009.