Gwent Glamorgan Recorders' Newsletter Issue 28 Spring 2023

Gwent-Glamorgan Recorders’ Newsletter

Issue 28

Spring 2023

Welcome to the twenty-eighth issue of the Gwent-Glamorgan Recorders’ Newsletter.

This issue showcases the joys and surprises of different types of wildlife recording, from structured annual surveys (Garden Moth Scheme, page 6) to concentrated square bashing (Monmouthshire Damsels & Dragons, page 4) and from chance encounters (Snow Flea, page 18) to rediscovery of populations (Hazel Dormice, page 12).

Recent research (Wildlife recording is good for people, page 24) shows that recording has benefits for our mental health as well as for wildlife conservation, so all the more reason to dive in!

If you would like to share the joys of recording with others this year, check out our upcoming events schedule on page 21. We hope to see many of you at these during the summer. Many thanks to all who contributed to the newsletter. I hope it proves an inspirational read to many recorders.

Elaine Wright, SEWBReC (Editor)

If you ever want to contribute an article to our biannual newsletter, please get in touch on info@sewbrec.org.uk. Our next issue will be Autumn 2023, but content is welcome year round.

Front page photo: Golden-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii) © Richard M. Clarke. Learn more about Richard’s Odonata sightings on page 3.

Curlew in Wales

Your help is needed in 2023!

Populations of breeding waders, and in particularly Curlew are in steep decline. Curlew are considered to be amongst the highest conservation priorities in the UK at the moment. Low chick productivity is leading to the continued loss of this iconic species from many of our upland areas here in Wales.

During the spring of 2023 we are attempting to get as much information as possible on the location of the remaining breeding birds throughout Wales.

Curlew will be returning to their upland breeding areas from the beginning of March onwards, with breeding territories established during April before they settle to brood the eggs. From mid-May we are likely to see them chick guarding and alarm calling to protect their young. Birds that are still alarm calling on their breeding grounds towards the end of June or even into July suggest they have young very close to fledging.

We are asking those of you who have previously recorded Curlew in the uplands between March and July to re -visit the same area, or other Curlew areas this year and record their activity. A series of visits to the same area would provide very valuable information indeed on the likely breeding success of this iconic bird. Negative results are also of great value to the work on Curlew. Knowing an area has been visited during the breeding season and no Curlew were present is an important record for us.

Please submit Curlew records at bit.ly/curlewcymru (NB: If you have an existing method of submitting records to one of the Wales Local Environmental Records Centres then please continue to do so, with the exception of negative records, which are best submitted using the dedicated portal).

Noting the presence of any rings or tags on the legs will also inform the many projects in Wales and the remainder of the UK who are working to avoid the possible extinction of Curlew in the next few years. ( See the link for recording these on the Gylfinir Cymru / Curlew Wales Project page on Cofnod www.cofnod.org.uk/ LinkInfo?ID=12)

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to know more about how you can help Curlew, anywhere in Wales please contact Bethan.Beech@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Curlews at Sully © Annie Irving

In search of Monmouthshire’s Damsels and Dragons

Richard M. Clarke

Dragonflies and damselflies are fascinating insects. I’ve had a passing interest in them for many years, however, it was not until Steve Preddy’s 2022 call for records for a Monmouthshire atlas that I decided to devote more time to seeing what I could find locally.

As a starting point, I asked Steve for a summary of the records that I had submitted previously. To my surprise (and slight embarrassment), the list I received back was very short. Prompted by this, I trawled through old photographs and notebooks to see what else I had lingering that had never been submitted. I found some records and although not as many as I should have kept, I extracted and submitted them.

A high-level map of Monmouthshire showing where dragonfly records were sought had already been circulated and given that some of the areas were close to home, it wasn’t difficult to narrow down where I might first have a look. Local knowledge and Google Earth helped me to further refine search areas. My main focus was on the western side of the county in the Ebbw and Sirhowy river catchment areas. These afford a good variety of habitats and waterbodies from mountain moorland, ancient and other woodlands, meadows, rivers, pools, ponds and a canal.

A big bonus for me when it came to looking for dragonflies was the weather conditions during the summer of 2022. The year will no doubt be remembered for being dry, hot and sunny. The settled weather meant that I was able to get into the field on plenty of occasions. On the downside, the protracted period of dry weather did have a significant impact upon upland ponds – many of which dried up completely in the drought. I’m sure that some of those I visited in late summer would have had adult dragonflies present in a “normal” year and I fear that the drought will also have longer term consequences at such sites.

Overall, I managed to record some 240 dragonflies, comprising 10 species of Damselfly and 13 species of Dragonfly. There were many highlights for me, including finding five scarce and localised species of conservation importance for Monmouthshire:

Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ishnura pumilio) – British Dragonfly Society National Priority Species that is classed as near threatened. A new breeding site at Pontllanfraith, where an adult male and a teneral male were present. Records away from the moorlands of the north west of the county are unusual.

Keeled Skimmer Dragonfly (Orthetrum coerulescens) – found at two local nature reserves; at the Gwent Wildlife Trust’s Dan-y-graig Reserve at Risca, where a male was holding territory, and at Caerphilly CBC’s Flatwoods Meadows in the Sirhowy Valley Country Park at Wattsville, where a female was present.

Brown Hawker Dragonfly (Aeshna grandis) – two new sites in the north west of the county near Tredegar.

The attractive St. James Reservoir at Tredegar, where both Brown and Common Hawker Dragonflies were found.

Common Hawker Dragonfly (Aeshna juncea) – ten new sites, several where breeding was confirmed.

Black Darter Dragonfly (Sympetrum danae) – found at four new locations on the Rhyswg mountain above Abercarn, which now represent the most southerly population of the species in the county recorded to date.

There were some other notable finds including a new population of Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) near Bassaleg which was welcome given that the species wasn orded at all in Monmouthshire during 2021. A new population of the Small Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma viridulum) was found at the same site, which provided further evidence of the rapid expansion of range of this species that was first recorded in the UK in 1999.

When writing this article, I am already looking forward to the start of the new season and have identified some new target areas to explore as well as some key species to look out for.

Nothing can beat the pleasure of being sat beside a pond on a warm summer’s day with the company of inquisitive, busy and at times very exciting Dragons and Damsels. Finding interesting species is in itself very enjoyable, but my enjoyment went beyond that. I laughed watching a House Sparrow trying to catch a Four-spotted Chaser. Full marks for ambition, but the odds were well and truly against the bird getting the fast food. I was slightly shocked when I realised that the only butterfly I had seen one morning was being dismembered by an Emperor Dragonfly; the Small Tortoiseshell’s wings swirling through the sky like sycamore seeds. And finally, I will never forget the rustling of wings as a Southern Hawker Dragonfly tried to oviposit her eggs on my boot.

More recorders are needed to help with the atlas survey work. From my experience, I would strongly encourage anyone to get involved.

All records of dragonflies in the county are welcome. The simplest and most problem-free way to contribute your records is to enter them directly through SEWBReC or iRecord, but if you'd prefer a different method, please get in touch with Steve Preddy, Monmouthshire County Dragonfly Recorder, British Dragonfly Society:

w: https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/monmouthshiredragonflies/

e: Steve.Preddy@me.com

The Monmouthshire Dragonfly Atlas Project aims to produce Monmouthshire’s first dragonfly atlas by 2030. Survey work is already underway and the ambition is to extend this to every part of the county and for dragonflies present to be recorded.

The British Dragonfly Society (BDS) led project will produce a comprehensive and detailed set of distribution maps and will help to identify and gather data about important dragonfly sites. This vital information will then be available towards conservation efforts and when combined with national data will help BDS to carry out its next national status assessment.

Images top to bottom: Keeled Skimmer (male) Dan-y-graig, Risca / Black Darter Dragonfly found at several ponds on Rhyswg mountain above Abercarn / Keeled Skimmer (female) Flatwoods Meadows, Wattsville / Ovipositing Red-eyed Damselflies near Bassaleg

A New Moth-er ’s First Year of Garden Moth Scheme

Hilary May

Like many people it was the Covid lockdowns that got me looking more closely at my garden wildlife. I’ve always had an interest in wildlife and have done the BTO’s Garden Birdwatch since moving to our current house in 2008. I was trying to identify bees, butterflies and dragonflies in the garden as well as birds and getting increasingly frustrated as they move too fast and I’m not a great photographer. Then a friend started sending me amazing photos of moths that her teenage son had caught in their garden with his 2020 present of a moth trap. Once lockdown restrictions lifted they came to visit and ran the trap in our garden. This was a great introduction to moths and we caught an Elephant Hawk-moth and various footmen, Buff Ermine and many other species. It took a while but the following year I decided to invest in a moth trap, I was running it occasionally and attempting to identify species using a concise moth guide, What’s Flying Tonight website and asking advice from our local nature records centre Facebook group – SEWBREC

It was one of the staff at SEWBREC who suggested that I might like to try the Garden Moth Scheme (GMS). I had never heard of it, but on looking into it I thought it might be just the challenge I needed! Certainly it has been quite a learning curve. At the start of 2022 there were probably only 5 or 6 moth species I could identify reasonably confidently, whilst I’m still not sure of many, the GMS ID help Facebook group is amazing. That together with a decent moth book, the amazing app Obsidentify (recommended in the group) and the What’s Flying Tonight app has meant I have been able to identify most of the moths I’ve caught – it is amazing that with a smartphone camera you can get a decent shot of the moths – I don’t think this is a hobby I would have been able to take up a few years ago.

I’m proud and slightly amazed that I have managed to run the trap every week – even running it the night we’ve got back from holiday a couple of times! We’ve also taken the trap on holiday and to visit family and friends so have definitely been spreading the moth love. Everyone is wowed by the hawk-moths in particular but the variety even in fairly urban settings is amazing. Having raved about moths on my Facebook and Twitter accounts I also now get sent a lot of photos of moths by friends – normally Elephant Hawk-moths or Jersey Tigers.

We live just outside Cardiff between Penarth and Barry so we have a very mild climate. We are also fortunate

Elephant Hawk-moths

enough to live next to a small patch of broadleaved woodland so we have quite a range of moths. It was interesting to read in the latest GMS newsletter that Jersey Tigers were recorded mostly in the South East and one location in Wales and to realise that that is my garden! They were one of the first species I learnt as I saw a couple in 2021 during the day and in 2022 I saw them on several occasions including twice in my GMS trap.

During 2022 I recorded 112 of the GMS species (837 individual moths) and 32 non GMS species (165 individuals) –I’ve been amazed that, with the exception of some that flew off (especially in the middle of summer) and some that were too worn to ID, with help I’ve been able to identify almost all the macro moths and even a few micros. Thankfully I never broke the 100 moths in one catch - although I came close - and my family got used to finding moths all over the kitchen and in pots in the fridge. At times it did feel that quite a lot of my Saturday was spent on moth ID. However it definitely got easier and I love the seasonable variety – even in the final week of the year I caught a new species for me – Feathered Thorn.

My top 10 for 2022 are shown in the below table – 30 of the Mocha were in one catch on the 12th of August which was my fullest trap of the year.

So I’ll definitely be carrying on for the winter and into next year. I look forward to being able to use the NFG and NFY acronyms (ed - New For Garden and New For Year) and welcoming back some of my favourites like Buff-tip and the Ermines.

Editor notes: Garden Moth Scheme runs from March until November each year, and requires participants to put out their moth trap every Friday night. Although the season for 2023 is already well underway, late starters may still be able to make a useful contribution - contact the Welsh co-ordinator Norman Lowe to discuss: norman@enviro-consulting.com

Find out more about the Garden Moth Scheme on their website: http://www.gardenmoths.org.uk/.

Help with moth identification is available on the Garden Moth Scheme ID Facebook group, the SEWBReC Facebook group, Whats Flying Tonight and we recommend the identification app Obsidentify (please double check any virtual identifications).

This article originally appeared in the Garden Moth Scheme Newsletter Autumn 22 edition, edited by Norman Lowe.

One of the 30 Mocha which escaped onto the kitchen window

Investigating Ergot (Claviceps

Colin Titcombe

The article you are about to read has taken a number of different forms over the period of my studies, but I have now reached, what I believe to be, an update assessment relating to the ergot ( The initial version of this article began with the following lines –“I currently manage to live a life devoid of internet, or any other associated device, and if at all possible, it is my intention to continue in the same way. I am, however, fully aware of the restrictions this places on any research projects I may have, especially when delving into the realms of relatively little known or complex topics such as ergot. I therefore have to make it clear that the notes which follow come from observations of my own, and also from information provided by my collection of books (see book list opposite).”

My initial interest in this subject came from my discovery of tiny sclerotia (ergot) on the seeding heads of Purple Moor -grass (Molinia caerula) growing on the heathlands of the Trellech Plateau in Gwent. Checking with my ten books on fungi I found in book number 9 (by Gerrit J. Keizer, see list opposite) that the species named as la occurs on Purple Moor-grass.

It would appear, however, that we are dealing with a single species of ergot ( of forms depending on its chosen host. Grasses with small seeds (e.g. Purple Moor on them, those with larger seeds have ergots of correspondingly larger size. The question now is, just how large can ergots be? Most books in my possession suggest ergot lengths of c. 1cm. Book number 11 (not a book on fungi, but on poisonous plants) is rather more generous, suggesting lengths of up to 1.5 inches (3.8 cm).

The largest sclerotia I have found to date occur on Cordgrass (Spartina sp. ter on the salt-marshes of the Severn Estuary in Gwent.

On Thursday 27th October 2022, Chris Hatch and I walked through the Severn Estuary saltings between Black Rock and St Pierre Pill. Here on the Common Cord gelica) we found ergots up to 2.25 inches in length (see image, right).

marsh near Black Rock (left) and Magor Pill (right)

Books consulted

1. Introductory Mycology, C.J. Alexopoulos, Wiley Toppan, 1962.

2. Mushrooms and Toadstools, John Ramsbottom, Collins New Naturalist No. 7 (7th impression), 1977.

3. Fungi, Roderic Cooke, Collins, 1981.

4. Fungi (New Naturalist series), Brian Spooner and Peter Roberts, Collins, 2005.

5. Grassland Fungi (A Field Guide), Elsa Wood & Jon Dunkelman, Monmouthshire Meadows Group, 2017.

6. Mushrooms, Roger Phillips, Macmillan, 2006.

7. British Cup Fungi (and Their Allies), R.W.G. Dennis, Ray Society, 1960.

8. How to Identify Edible Mushrooms, Patrick Harding, Tony Lyon and Gill Tomblin, Collins, 1996.

9. Encyclopedia of Fungi, Gerrit J. Keizer, Rebo Productions, 1997.

10. The Encyclopedia of Fungi (of Britain and Europe), Michael Jordan, Frances Lincoln, 2004.

11. British Poisonous Plants, Bulletin No. 161, HMSO, 1954.

12. Plant Galls, Margaret Redfern, Collins, 2011.

Purple Moor-grass (Molinia caerula) infected with ergot (Claviceps purpurea).

entoLive

Keiron Brown

The entoLIVE series consists of interactive webinars that link invertebrate scientists with audiences including biological recorders, amateur naturalists, conservation practitioners and ecological consultants. Each 1 hour webinar is delivered over Zoom, with an interactive presentation of around 40 minutes followed by a live Q&A where the participants can put their questions to the guest speaker. The presentations are recorded and made publicly available through YouTube, as well as written up in a blog alongside a transcript of the live Q&A. There will 40 webinars during 2023 (see upcoming talks in the table below), with the talks being sponsored by the British Entomological & Natural History Society and Royal Entomological Society.

Find out more and book spaces on all the upcoming webinars here: https://biologicalrecording.co.uk/entolive/

Date Title Speaker

01/06/23 The Bugs Matter Citizen Science Survey: Where Every Journey Counts

17/07/23

Dr Lawrence Ball

Invertebrate Sentience: Do Invertebrates Experiences Deserve Respect & Welfare Protection? Dr Jonathan Birch

20/07/23 Rarities in Arachnology: Finding and Recording Rare Spiders in Britain

27/07/23 Mass Marine Die-offs: Searching for the Cause of These Events in Northeast England

31/07/23 Disguised By Difference: Phenotypic Polymorphism As A Means Of Camouflage

10/08/23 The Tale of the Ivy Bee: A New Species To Britain

07/09/23

Ant Navigation: How To Be A Champion Navigator With A Small Brain

14/09/23 Water Beetles: Recording and Atlases of Britain & Ireland

21/09/23 The Rothamsted Insect Survey NBRI: History, Function, Services and Impact

05/10/23 Team PollinATE: Feeding People and Pollinators

Richard Gallon

Dr Gary Caldwell

Jamie C. Weir

Aaron Bhambra

Prof Paul Graham

Prof Garth Foster

Dr James Bell

Dr Beth Nicholls

16/10/23 Gardening For Earthworms: The Mutual Benefits of an Earthworm-friendly Garden Keiron Brown

26/10/23 From Springtails to Pauropods: Soil Biodiversity Monitoring in the UK

23/11/23 American Signal Crayfish: A Losing Battle?

Dr Frank Ashwood

Dr Nicky Green

27/11/23 The State of the UK's Butterflies: Are Conservation Efforts To Save Our Butterflies Working? Dr Richard Fox

INNS Mapper launched!

INNS Mapper Steering Group

INNS Mapper is an app and website (https://innsmapper.org/home) for the reporting of sightings, surveys and management of INNS (invasive non-native species) in England, Wales and Scotland. INNS Mapper is free to use and aims to provide an effective resource to support INNS programmes and coordinate efforts. The INNS Mapper app and website are available in Welsh and data reported to INNS Mapper is open access and publicly available for anyone to use.

Who can use INNS Mapper?

We encourage everyone to get involved with using INNS Mapper to report sightings of invasive non-native species. For those also going out to survey and manage invasive non-native species, such as LAGS and volunteer groups, this will provide the tool to report and share that data which will help to coordinate effective management.

How does it work?

Records of sightings, surveys and management of INNS can be reported to INNS Mapper and this data will be available on the map function and on the INNS Mapper website. Sighting records can also be verified by users of INNS Mapper on the ‘verify’ function and additional information such as ID guides are available.

Which species can be reported via INNS Mapper?

There are 62 INNS that are able to be reported via INNS Mapper, including freshwater and terrestrial plants, freshwater invertebrates and mammals.

Find more, including species identification guides and app download links on the INNS Mapper website: https:// innsmapper.org/home.

Letter to SEWBReC

I always enjoy Colin Titcombe’s articles in the SEWBReC Newsletters and his recent note on a decline in Kingfishers was of particular interest to me as I regularly survey parts of the lower Wye catchment for river birds (Ed. see Issue 27, available on our website www.sewbrec.org.uk/newsletters).

I know that I now sometimes miss seeing Kingfishers as no longer have such good hearing. Their call as they flash by used to alert me to them. However, during 2022 I have seen a fair few Kingfishers along the Wye and Monnow. One or two Kingfishers were seen on two walks between Monmouth and the Biblins, at Wye Bridge too and birds have been seen on many occasions along the Wye between Redbrook and Whitebrook and on one walk, south of Llandogo. On the River Monnow I saw Kingfishers at various places during 2022 - in Monmouth, Skenfrith, near Grosmont and at Llangua whilst they were regular along the Afon Honddu near Pandy where three were caught and ringed on 18 September; three others were also ringed that day on the upper Monnow but just across the Herefordshire border.

I think the dry season in 2022 allowed Kingfishers to rear two or three broods successfully without the nests being washed out as has happened in several previous years. Five of six birds caught in September were youngsters. So despite pollution levels, birds do seem to be holding their own on the lower Wye catchment and at least in 2022 they had a productive season.

Stephanie Tyler

Hazel Dormice at Park Wood

Richard M. Clarke

Introduction

Recent monitoring of Hazel Dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) at Park Wood has revealed a considerable local population, which looks to buck the trend of diminishing populations reported from other known dormouse woodlands in southeast Wales.

Park Wood near Bassaleg, Newport is a Natural Resources Wales (NRW) woodland comprising some 106 hectares of woodland. Historically, the wood was part of the Tredegar Estate and what is now called Park Wood was previously known as Park Wood, Monachdy (monk’s house) Wood and Rhydgwern Wood. These were brought into public ownership by the Forestry Commission following which the ancient woodland was felled and conifer plantations were established. Today, the woodland structure comprises several large remaining blocks of conifer on the northern and southern ends of the wood and a central self-seeded broadleaved regeneration area that has been allowed to flourish post conifer harvesting.

Background to monitoring

Members of Newport City Council’s biodiversity team first identified the central area of Park Wood as having potential for dormice and with the agreement of NRW the wood was surveyed. Initial results from the survey were encouraging and consequently 50 boxes were installed and the site was registered as part of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species’ (PTES) National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP).

The boxes were monitored between 2014 and 2017 and over the four-year monitoring period 19 dormice were recorded with 11 individuals in October 2014, four in August/October 2015, four in September 2016 and then nests only in 2017.

Perhaps surprisingly, none of the 19 individuals recorded were noted as being in breeding condition and no litters were found. Nevertheless, breeding was confirmed in October 2014 when a juvenile was present and possible juveniles were also noted in August 2014 and October 2015.

Stock-take and re-establishment of monitoring

With NRW agreement, I visited the woodland with Trevor Fletcher in October 2020 to assess whether dormice and the original boxes were still present and viable. In all, 19 boxes out of the 50 were located, but these were mostly in a very poor state of repair. Despite this, dormice were still very much in evidence with single male and female juveniles present and a further four empty dormouse nests being found.

The continued presence of dormice led to discussions with NRW about re-establishing a monitoring project, which then resulted in 100 new dormouse boxes being provided and these were installed during March 2021.

To provide a level of continuity with the 2014-17 monitoring project, 50 boxes were positioned in or near the original box locations in the central section of the- woodland. The remaining boxes were positioned in previously un-boxed areas on the north-eastern and western areas of the central section. The woodland was subsequently renewed as an NDMP site with PTES.

Results

Monthly monitoring of the 100 boxes was undertaken between May and October in both 2021 and 2022 and the results have been very surprising with there being a significant increase in the size of the population when compared to the results from the previous monitoring period.

In the first year 2021, 44 boxes were used by dormice and 101 dormice encounters were made. These involved 43 adult mice comprising 27 male,14 female and two of undetermined gender. There were a further 58 juvenile mice and a minimum of 7 litters.

Dormouse in torpor in October

In the second season there were noticeable increases on 2021, with the number of boxes used being 55 up 25% and dormice encounters 143 up 43%. These involved 66 adult mice comprising 35 male, 27 female and 4 of undetermined gender. There were a further 77 juvenile mice and a minimum of 8 litters.

Over the two years, 67 of the 100 boxes were occupied by dormice. Of note is the variation of box use between years with 12 of those used in 2021 not subsequently being used in 2022. Furthermore, 22 boxes not used in 2021 were occupied in 2022.

The seven litters in 2021 were recorded between July and October and all live litters had a lactating female in attendance. A litter in October was unfortunately dead with the nest being damp and cold following wet weather. Litter sizes ranged from three to eight young, with a mean of 5.

A very early litter was recorded in 2022, with 5 “pinkies” (2-3 days old) noted on 18th May and a further seven litters were recorded up to October. In the case of one of the litters, the young were sealed in the nest and were mummified. Presumably, something had happened to the female for the young to be abandoned in this way. Litter sizes ranged from three to seven young, with a mean of 5.1.

The Dormouse Conservation Handbook notes that sometimes females may aggregate their families into a crèche, with up to nine young present at once. The Park Wood litter of eight in 2021 was considered large and the possibility of this being a crèche could not be ruled out. More evidence of a crèche came about in 2022, when a litter of four increased to seven between monitoring visits and there was a small but noticeable size difference between juveniles.

Table 1: Parkwood dormouse monitoring results 2021 & 2022

The contrast between the number of dormice recorded between the two monitoring periods 2014-2017 and 2021-22 is very marked, even considering the doubling in the number of boxes available. The reason(s) behind this will probably never be fully understood, but we can draw out a few things to consider which might at the very least be factors that have contributed to the apparent increase and the reason why Park Wood now supports a very significant local dormouse population:

a. the boxed area of the woodland is that of regenerating broadleaf which has developed and matured favourably for dormice since the first monitoring period and provides significant feeding opportunities. The woodland mostly includes birch, ash and hazel but with alder, hawthorn, sycamore, sweet chestnut, oak, rowan, cherry and lime all being present;

b. the woodland understorey is also dense in sections with both bramble and honeysuckle, which provide food and elevated and connecting routes. The extent of honeysuckle is very noteworthy, with the climber dominating some trees and providing a knitted understory in other areas;

c. Park Wood is a wet woodland that has several springs and issues and two main streams that run southwest before issuing into the river Rhymney. Dormice hibernate mostly on the ground and therefore having a suitable level of moisture is essential if the animals are not to desiccate;

d. the absence of deer at Park Wood is possibly a significant benefit to dormice because the shrubby understorey has developed without being browsed.

For their support, encouragement and assistance with this project my thanks in particular go to Rosalind Watkins and Kevin Dupe (NRW), Trevor Fletcher and Natalie Waller. Other people have helped with monitoring and my thanks go to all.

Juvenile Dormouse in July

Taking a Geo-botanical Tour in eastern Gwent

Colin Titcombe

A regular drive for me (shopping etc.) takes me up the Wye Valley to Monmouth and then back over higher ground via Trellech. This route runs mostly through an area of eastern Gwent, the exception being that stretch of the A46 between Bigsweir Bridge and the village of Redbrook.

At Llandogo, my starting point, the underlying geology is termed Head. After passing over Bigsweir Bridge and moving on through Redbrook the road re-enters Gwent and passes along the lower edge of Lord’s Grove before moving into open country towards Wyesham and Monmouth. The geological sequence on leaving Redbrook is the Brownstones, 1st Terrace Gravels, St Maughan’s Group Marls and Alluvium

I next take the A40 for a short distance but soon branch off along the B4293 up to Lydart. The geology here is, once again, the St Maughan’s Group Marls. Beyond this the road passes over a narrow strip of the Brownstones before entering an area dominated by Quartz Conglomerate

In and around Trellech there are small pockets of Alluvium, but otherwise we find ourselves back with the Brownstones as we turn left along the minor road to Cotland, beyond which we move back onto Quartz Conglomerate. Our route then goes on down to Llandogo, or alternatively to Tintern, after skirting Cleddon Bog on the way.

Of the geological areas passed over on the route described above, the first mentioned is Head (also known as Coombe Rock), described as an earthy mass resulting from solifluxion, the creeping downhill of material during the harsh periglacial conditions; in this instance falling slowly down the flank of the Wye Valley. My garden lies on Head material and the soil is light and easy to work.

Whereas the periglacial conditions referred to above are

associated with the end of the Ice-age (Pleistocene), the Brownstones were laid down in Lower Devonian times perhaps some 380 million years ago. Although by no means uniform in their structure, the Brownstones are largely rich brown sandstones, much used for building purposes, and the soils above them are of variable chemistry from slightly acidic to slightly calcareous (e.g. where seams of Cornstone occur) – see illustration, left.

Alluvium is of relatively recent deposition, by rivers or other waterways, and many comprise gravels, sands or mud (clay). Also of relatively recent times (post glacial) are the 1st Terrace Gravels.

Cornstone (left) and Brownstone (right) treated with dilute acid. The acid reacts with the calcareous Cornstone but not with the acidic Brownstone.

Bell Heather (Erica cinerea) with Heather (Calluna vulgaris). Former grit quarry (“rotten rock”) in Trellech Hill area All images © Colin Titcombe

The St Maughan’s Group Marls consists of a relatively soft rock, calcareous in nature, and including some bands of limestone. They pre-date the Brownstones within the Devonian system (c. 395 – 345 million years ago).

The final rock type encountered widely on this tour is that of the Quartz Conglomerate which lies above the Brownstones in the Upper Devonian (perhaps some 340 million years ago), and is decidedly acidic in nature.

In the area of Trellech Common and the top of the Whitebrook Valley (Trellech Hill), these normally very hard rocks have been largely reduced to gravel – a gravel with some commercial interest. Elsa J. Searle (see sources used) refers to these gravels as “rotten rock” and puts them together with the Head as products of the periglacial conditions. Within the beds of these “rotten rocks” some of the hard Quartz Conglomerate remained intact. This meant that large rocks of this material could be “quarried” simply by digging the soft gravels from around them (see image of “Harold’s Stones, Trellech”, below).

During the course of this ‘tour’ we have passed over rocks of an acid, calcareous and a neutral nature. Many plants are quite comfortable growing on any of these substrates, but others are distinctly choosy, typifying the nature of the soils they grow in. As we travel up the B4293 towards the Lydart during the autumn – winter period, the abundance of seeding Traveller’s Joy (Clematis vitalba) is very noticeable, it being a lover of base-rich soils.

Moving on to the Brownstone areas, and even more so, those of the Quartz Conglomerate, we come to the chosen habitat of the calcifuge heathers, heaths and Bilberries.

At the side of the minor road (Trellech to Llandogo/Tintern) lies the Cleddon Bog (pictured above) which apparently fills the basin of a former glacial lake. Over the millennia this has been invaded naturally by native herbage. Here grow Cotton-grasses, Sphagnum mosses, Purple Moor-grass (Molinia) and, at one time, Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos) and White-beak Sedge (Rhynchospora alba).

Postscript

On 29th January 2023, I travelled along this route and, near Whitestone car park (between Catbrook and Llandogo), a Muntjac crossed the road in front of me – the first time I have seen this little deer.

Books consulted

The Rivers of Monmouthshire, Elsa J. Searle, 1970, Christopher Davies, Wales.

The Flora of Monmouthshire, A.E. Wade, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, 1970.

The Flora of Chepstow, W.A. Shoolbred, Taylor and Francis, London, 1920.

Cleddon Bog has in-filled a former glacial lake

Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)

Green Garden Waste Bin Safari

Howard Burt

Last May, I spent a couple of days helping to clear the overgrown back garden of our late neighbour. Our garden waste bin was duly filled with nettles, bramble, Rosebay Willowherb, willow, ivy and various grasses. The following day I noticed that the bin was covered with aphids and on opening the bin there were all sorts of goodies to be seen. Cue lots of very odd looks from neighbours as I was frequently to be seen with my head in the green bin lost in a world of mini-beasts. I was quite disappointed when the bin-men came and took it away.

Not sure what the green aphids marching around on the bin were but they proved to be very useful in attracting my attention, because inside on Willow leaves were a number of Aphis farinose (Small Willow Aphid) – a species I had not seen before.

Lots of Ladybirds, but surprisingly no Harlequins. Most were 10-spot but some Cream-spot were also seen.

Several small batches of, what I assumed to be, ladybird eggs were seen on Willow leaves in the bin. One batch was so close to emerging that I waited for them to hatch before placing the larvae on the Willow in the garden. The first ‘new arrival’ emerged 4 days after I first saw the eggs in the bin.

I saw this little Psocoptera (Barkfly) on the side of the bin and managed to get it into a pot for a closer look. Turned out to be a very smartly marked Graphopscous cruciatus (approx. 3-4mm in length).

All images © Howard Burt

Most of the ‘bugs’ seen on the cuttings in the bin were nymphs, the exceptions being adult Anthocoris nemoralis and Lygocoris pabulinus (both Plant Bugs). Most of the nymphs were Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae) but there were some Plant Bugs (Miridae) including the very attractive Camploneura virgula

A number of caterpillars were rescued and released back into the garden but some were kept and reared through. Common Quaker was a fairly easy ID with the conspicuous yellow stripe towards the end of the abdomen and the adult emerged on 05 March. I wasn’t sure whether the second one was Dotted Border or Scarce Umber but the flightless female emerged on 12 March and was seen mating on 17 March confirming the ID as Dotted Border. George Tordoff Identified the last one as Winter Moth and this was confirmed when a flightless female emerged on 30 December. Really pleased with the last two as I had never seen a flightless female moth before.

So many smart looking mini-beasts seen in such a short time and I didn’t have to look for any of them. They were either climbing the inside of the bin trying to get out or they were carrying on regardless on the surface layers of cuttings. I now routinely lift the lid of the bin when I’m passing as you never know what may be trying to escape. All you need to do is look.

The Snow Flea in South Wales. A relict population, or more widespread?

Martin Bell

One of the biggest surprises of my recording life was on 3 Feb 2020. Whilst looking (very) closely at mosses on the parapet of a bridge close to home, a small insect walked into my area of vision. I knew immediately what it was as it was one of those insects that had grabbed my attention when I got my first copy of Chinnery’s Collins insect guide too many years ago. It was a Snow Flea, Boreus hyemalis, not a flea, (and not a springtail – Americans give the name ‘Snow Flea’ to a springtail, which can be confusing to those doing a search online) but currently considered a close relative of Scorpionflies (themselves neither scorpions nor flies). Whilst Snow Flea was one of these species I had longed to see, I never imagined finding one here in south Wales. This record was the third for the SEWBReC recording area – the previous two were from 1960 in the Waun Afon area.

The Snow Flea is a small, some 3-5mm long, insect that shares the extended downward pointing beak with Scorpionflies, but its wings are vestigial, so can only get around by walking or jumping. Unusually, the adults are active during the winter months (Oct-March). They can be found by searching patches of snow in open woodland – look for something small and dark walking or jumping across a patch. It is this habit that gives rise to their common name. It is thought that by being active during the colder months they are able to take advantage of fewer predators and competitors. Adults feed on smaller animals they find in leaf litter and mosses whilst the nymphs are believed to feed on mosses. Whilst the species can be found, in suitable habitat, across the UK, as a cold adapted species it’s at risk from climate change and it is expected that its range will shrink to more northerly and upland latitudes.

My sighting in 2020 was the first record for the SEWBReC area for 50 years and one that, I think, took everyone by surprise. Since then I’ve always had the intention to have another look for the species to see if my record was just a one off, or if there was a local population. Roll on to the end of 2022 and I decided to make good on that intention to have a more focused search. I knew that Snow Flea was on the ‘most wanted’ list for a number of local recorders so I let those know about my intentions to do a search in early 2023 and to invite them to come along.

My original sighting from Feb 2020 All images © Martin Bell

So it was at 10 ‘clock on the 14th of Jan that I met up with Ai-Lin Kee, Christian ‘Sparrow’ Owen and Liam Olds at the edge of Quakers Yard. Fortunately, the heavy rain of early morning had given way to a relatively dry, cloudy day. We started on the bridge where I found the 2020 individual. Unfortunately, the bridge brickwork had been cleared of all plant life a few months after I had found the Snow Flea and was in the process of being recolonised by mosses, so there was little chance of a repeat encounter with a Snow Flea on the parapet.

After about 5 mins we moved off the bridge to a steep mossy bank with large patches of leaf litter and began our search. Only to be stopped almost immediately as Liam announced he had one. We hadn’t had time to get down onto our knees and the search was a success. Christian and I managed a quick view of Liam’s find – a female – before it sprang off and we lost it. Christian then started to sieve some leaf little and quickly found a Snow Flea – this one smaller and darker, a male. This allowed all of us to get great looks and some decent photos. Wow. Not even 20 past 10 and the outing was a huge success. Liam followed up about half an hour later with a second male.

3 individuals were a great result and would suggest a reasonably healthy population at the site.

Part of the reason behind me inviting others to join me was to hopefully spread knowledge of where to look for this species and encourage others to look for and, hopefully, add further records of this enigmatic insect.

The site we explored at Quakers Yard is an area of deciduous woodland with Birch, Beech and Oaks, with little perennial ground flora – no Bramble or Ivy. The majority of the trees are relatively young (5-60 yrs. or less) but there are several older (100yrs+) Beech and Oaks, showing at least some of the wood managed to avoid the depravations of the coal and steel industry that felled most of the original valleys woodlands. The Snow Fleas we found were on a steep, north-west facing, bank with large patches of mosses, mainly Polytrichastrum formosum (Bank Haircap), Dicranum scoparium (Broom Fork-moss) and Mnium hornum (Swan-necked Thyme-moss) interspersed with patches of leaf litter. Whilst I think more northerly facing areas may be more fruitful, they are likely to be that little bit colder than more southerly facing areas, I wouldn’t rule out those southerly facing areas. I don’t think steep banks are a requirement, though these probably offer the more likely refuges for colonies. The habitat is quite common across the region, so there should be a good chance that other colonies exist out there waiting to be found. With the adults being so small, you may need to get down onto hands and knees to stand a better chance of spotting one – look closely at the patches of mosses, but don’t ignore the leaf litter either. It is, however, possible to find adults by sieving moss and leaf litter.

The bank where the first two Snow Fleas were found this year

SEWBReC Business Update

Adam Rowe, SEWBReC Manager

This will be a briefer-than-usual business update, as we appear to be going through a very welcome period of stability after all the political, economic and pandemic-related upheavals of recent years. There have been no changes to the SEWBReC team since our new staff started in October 2022, and we are all happily beavering away at our various roles to help keep improving our data holdings and the range of products and services we provide.

The SEWBReC board of directors (as well as finance, risk management and business planning working groups) continue to steer the business on a steady course. We remain in a stable financial position with no immediate cashflow concerns, although there are still a number of national and local Service Level Agreements (SLAs) which need to be tied up for the 2023/24 financial year. The business plan working group will soon be launching a new set of business objectives which will guide the monitoring and reporting of SEWBReC’s activities over the next five years.

We are delighted that in recent months we have been able to fully resume face-to-face events and training sessions. In the post-pandemic world, and with new staff (especially Emma Williams) available to dedicate more time to events and outreach work, we have been able to plan a packed programme of activities including introduction to biodiversity recording training courses, partner events and bioblitzes. See opposite for our current list of events, and there are still more to come with final details of additional events still being planned.

Our data management colleagues (Amy Hicks, David Slade, Elaine Wright and Jon Mortin) are continuing work to establish better data flows and to import significant volumes of new data into the SEWBReC database (and subsequently onto Aderyn). We have also been focusing on ensuring more records are verified more quickly, by working with local and national experts, as well as increasingly verifying more records in-house.

The SEWBReC enquiries team (Becky Wright-Davies, Becci Robinson, Rachel Shepherd-Hunt and Emma Williams) are continuing to efficiently deal with a wide range of data enquiries. During the 2022/23 financial year, they dealt with a record number of enquiries (963) and, despite a quiet April, a bumper May means we are also on target to match that figure this financial year. In addition to data enquiries work, Becky has also been leading two contracts on our behalf (Living Levels and the review of Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation for Swansea Council). Becci and Rachel also lead our data mining work and are painstakingly working through our data entry backlog, as well as beginning work to mobilise more records of interesting sightings posted on social media.

SEWBReC staff continue to work closely with staff across the Welsh Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs). The four Managers meet online every few weeks and we now have number of active LERC Wales working groups meet online to discuss issues such as data management, communications and IT. The annual all-staff meeting took place virtually in April, with 26 staff in attendance (see photo below) and a programme of all-staff webinars is being planned, as is the development of a shared LERC Wales “recording hub” website to streamline services which we offer jointly and to provide a clear focus for the promotion of wildlife recording and the work of the LERCs in Wales. Another major piece of work which is currently ongoing is the redevelopment of the Aderyn website. The lead developer, John Robinson (who is employed by SEWBReC on behalf of LERC Wales) is undertaking a complete re-write of the code behind Aderyn which will lead to a far faster, more efficient and more user-friendly version of the website which delivers our data services to public and professional users across Wales. We will also soon be launching a new version of the LERC Wales app which will include the capability of checking or suggesting species identifications using artificial intelligence.

As usual, I would like to encourage as many of you as possible to continue to generate and submit records in the way that suits you best (whether via paper form, spreadsheet, SEWBReCORD, the LERC Wales app or any other means) and remember to share any exciting finds or identification queries to the SEWBReC Facebook Group. We hope you are planning plenty of exciting visits to all parts of our region, and we can’t wait to see the records appearing afterwards! Thank you for your ongoing support.

All Wales Staff Meeting, April 2023

SEWBReC Membership

If you would like to become a member of SEWBReC, please complete and return an application form

Current SEWBReC board of directors: Steve Bolchover (Chair), Alison Jones (Vice Chair), Stuart Bain (Treasurer), Kate Stinchcombe, David Clements, Vaughn Matthews, Andy Karran, Alex Wilson. Observers: Karen Wilkinson. Company Secretary: Rebecca Wright-Davies.

There have been two recent changes to the SEWBReC board, with Alex Wilson joining and Mark Pavett resigning. We would like to welcome Alex and thank Mark for his service on the board.

We are currently actively seeking candidates to fill two current vacancies on the SEWBReC board of directors. If this is something that potentially interests you, please get in touch and we can discuss the role and hopefully invite you along to observe a meeting or two before you join.

Upcoming Events

Event Date Location

Living Levels BioBlitz Saturday 24th June Rogiet Country Park

Monmouthshire

Celebration of Nature Saturday 1st July St Fagans Museum

Cardiff

SEWBReC Recorder’s Day Saturday 15th July Castell Prin Woods Monmouthshire

Dynamic Dunescapes BioBlitz

Sunday 16th July

Go Wild! Saturday 29th July

Crymlyn Burrows

Swansea

Bryn Bach Park, Tredegar Blaenau Gwent

Lost Peatlands WildBlitz Saturday 29th July Blaenrhondda Rhondda Cynon Taf

Lost Peatlands WildBlitz Saturday 12th August Glyncorrwg Neath Port Talbot

More information

Living Levels website

Museum website

Details to follow on SEWBReC website

Details to follow on Dynamic Dunescapes website

Details to follow on SEWBReC website

Lost Peatlands website

Lost Peatlands website

SEWBReC Recording Grant and Equipment Loan Scheme

Our grant scheme continues to provide equipment to enable recorders to expand or enhance their recording efforts. The newly launched Book Grant has also been popular, with Steven Dixon (right) among those adding to their wildlife library. Grants are available up to £500 (£75 for books); take a look at our website to see if the scheme can be of help to you.

We also have a range of equipment available to loan, for those who don’t need to buy anything outright. This includes bat detectors, moth traps and microscopes. Our library of books is also available for loan or use at our offices. Please take a look at our website or get in touch with any questions and loan requests.

© Steven Dixon

Glamorgan Bat Group AudioMoth Project

Aaron Davies

In 2022, Glamorgan Bat Group deployed several low-cost, full-spectrum acoustic loggers called the AudioMoth within woodland locations across the Gower peninsula. These AudioMoth devices can listen at audible frequencies, well into ultrasonic frequencies.

The AudioMoths were partly self-funded, but with five provided as part of the South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre (SEWBReC) Recording Grant. Funds to purchase five AudioMoths were awarded to Glamorgan Bat Group in November 2021.The aim of the SEWBReC Recording Grant is to support recording activities in south east Wales and to improve the flow of data to SEWBReC.

Photo 1 & 2 Deployed AudioMoths

Deployment Locations

During 2022, the AudioMoths were deployed within a total of 15 locations as follows (shown on Figure 1, right).

Five locations within Gelli Hir Woods

Four locations within and close to Elizabeth and Rowe Harding Nature Reserve

Five locations across Ilston Woods

One location at Llethryd

Data Analysis

All data was processed via the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Acoustic Pipeline. Analysis carried out by the BTO Acoustic Pipeline includes data extraction and analysis using full spectrum data processing, which extracts the maximum information possible from recordings to inform species identification. The analysis provides an independent estimate of error in species identification and provides an identification for all recordings, regardless of quality, but provides a warning of low confidence for identifications which they suggest should be discarded. It was decided for this project that only recordings with confidence levels greater than 0.75 would be retained. Therefore, only these records are discussed overleaf.

Figure 1 AudioMoth deployment locations

All images © Aaron Davies

Results

A total of 20,985 records were collected in 2022. Of these, the vast majority were bat records with only twelve records accepted of other ‘small mammals’. A total of ten bat species were recorded with two other small mammal species. These are shown, with respective number of records, in Table 1 below.

Recordings were dominated by calls of Common Pipistrelle and Soprano Pipistrelle bats which accounted for 95% of all recordings. The third most recorded species was for Daubenton’s Bat which accounted for three percent of all recordings.

Greater Horseshoe Bats were recorded within Gelli Hir woods, Elizabeth and Rowe Harding Nature Reserve, Ilston Woods and at Llethryd. 69% of the calls recorded for Greater Horseshoe Bats were at Llethryd. Lesser Horseshoe Bats were recorded at all sites other than Gelli Hir woods but calls were mostly recorded at Elizabeth and Rowe Harding Nature Reserve (74%).

Future Surveys

It is hoped to expand the Glamorgan Bat Group AudioMoth surveys in 2023, in particular by looking at other areas covered by Glamorgan Bat Group (counties of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot). This is especially focused towards areas with limited or no existing records for bats. It is also hoped to expand the project to a wider number of volunteers, via an AudioMoth loan scheme.

Table 1: Number of records per species

my mood”.

In addition, those writing down three good things they noticed, either alone or when combined nature recording activities, reported they were more likely to adopt pro-nature behaviours beyond their involvement in the project, such as planting more pollinator-friendly plants in their gardens, or creating shelters for wildlife, showing that taking part in citizen science has even more benefits for nature.

Dr Michael Pocock, ecologist and academic lead for public engagement with research at UKCEH, said: “Being in and around nature is good for our wellbeing, and we’ve shown that focused, active engagement with nature is just as important – whether that is ‘mindful moments’ in nature or taking part in citizen science.”

He adds: “This has been a valuable exercise for us in exploring how we can make citizen science even better. We now know that if we design future projects with additional nature-noticing activities, for example, we can enhance people’s own connection to nature, while still collecting valuable data.”

Co-author Professor Miles Richardson, who leads the Nature Connectedness Research Group at the University of Derby, said: “People connect with nature in different ways, so it’s great to see nature-based citizen science can provide another form of active engagement that can strengthen the human-nature relationship. When combined with noticing the positive emotions nature can bring, citizen science and help unite both human and nature’s wellbeing.”

There are many nature-based citizen science projects run by different organisations across the year. UKCEH welcomes support from anyone interested in volunteering to get involved with recording wildlife [for example] via the iRecord website and free-to-use apps for butterflies and the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme. Records from these citizen science projects are used in vital scientific research to understand changes in our wildlife. [Editor’s note: records added to local systems www.sewbrecord.org.uk and the LERC Wales App are also available to researchers and other organisations.]

The benefits of citizen science and nature‐noticing activities for well‐being, nature connectedness and pro‐nature conservation behaviours, was published in People and Nature journal on 09 February 2023 (DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10432)

Small Tortoiseshell © Amy Hicks

Species Identification Apps: Which, When, Why?

Elaine Wright, SEWBReC

In recent years AI has come on leaps and bounds, and recorders are currently spoiled for choice when it comes to species identification aids for smart phones. But are they any good? And which one is best? It can be confusing, with more options seeming to appear all the time, and the dataflow can be difficult to navigate. SEWBReC have created a comparison guide to three of the more popular apps.

https://observation.org/apps/obsidentify/

All species groups in Europe and Dutch Caribbean

There is the option to add a record after identification, however

Developed in the Netherlands, Obsidentify mainly covers European species, which helps avoid unlikely species suggestions. A favourite with SEWBReC staff, it returns very accurate results for a range of species groups, and

Potential drawbacks: Currently there is no dataflow from Obsidentify to SEWBReC or other relevant UK organisations, so we would NOT recommend entering records with this app. There is a potential for it to be biased towards species more common on the continent.

Does SEWBReC recommend it: YES! This is our favourite ID app of the moment, just don’t use it to enter records :)

App name: iRecord (app version) https://irecord.org.uk/app

Species covered: All species groups in UK

Will SEWBReC get my data: Yes

Positives: Species Identification is a new feature recently added to the existing iRecord App, and this AI newcomer is sure to become popular based on the excellence of other aspects of iRecord. Focus on UK species should remove more potential confusion species. Dataflow to SEWBReC, verifiers and other UK organisations is well established and there is already a large community of users engaged with iRecord.

Negatives: As a newcomer, the feature is relatively untested. Only UK species are included, so it cannot be used for holidays / research abroad.

Does SEWBReC recommend it: YES! The species ID feature will soon be added to the LERC Wales App as well.

App name: iNaturalist https://uk.inaturalist.org/

Species covered: All species worldwide

Will SEWBReC get my data: Sometimes! Some data from iNaturalist does flow to the iRecord system, where SEWBReC can download it. In order to reach iRecord, records must meet a few criteria: the user license must be amended to allow commercial use for observations (CC0 or CCBY) and the record must reach “research grade”.

Positives: There is a large community on iNaturalist, and if you enter records feedback is generally very quick. The system allows users to take part in global challenges such as City Nature Challenge, and can be used anywhere in the world.

Potential drawbacks: Dataflow is tricky and a lot of records do not reach SEWBReC. Species suggestions can be impossible due to bias towards American species. As a true egalitarian system, there is no emphasis on expertise and correct identifications can become lost.

Does SEWBReC recommend it: Sometimes, with caveats as above. iNaturalist can be good for complete newcomers, but we would not recommend it for established recorders already using other methods.

For all app based species identifications, SEWBReC recommends double checking the species using other resources and/or confirming with experts. Feel free to get in touch with SEWBReC with any questions about the suitability of these or other species identification apps, or if you have any other questions or comments.

South East Wales Biodiversity Records

Centre (SEWBReC)

15 Talbot Street, Talbot Green, Pontyclun, CF72 8AD

Telephone: 01443 808 896

E-mail: info@sewbrec.org.uk

Web: www.sewbrec.org.uk

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