The outing was inspired by BIS (Biodiversity Information Service for Powys and the Brecon Beacons National Park) who regularly invite us and others to record a 1km square which, as yet, has no records at all. The square for January happened to be in a area we must focus on for botanical records this year so it was a good excuse for an early survey. But, in the spirit of the request, we also put our heads together to record as many of the non-plant living things that we could, adding a further 26 assorted species to our botanical list of over 100 records.
(These included: Reindeer Lichen, Blushing Bracket, King Arthur's Cake Fungus, Common Mole, Tamarisk Moss and we assume Yellow Meadow Ants deep inside the anthills we sat on for our lunch. Birds ably identified by Alan as the rest of us scrabbled in the mud were: Buzzard, Raven, Crow, Chaffinch, Red Kite, Stonechat, Starling, Blackbird and Mistle Thrush.)
The lunch spot
The view towards Mynydd Troed and Castel Dinas (with The Dragon's Back just in the far right)
One of the many Hawthorns some of which, like this one, were encrusted with several lichens
Hypogymnia tubulosa
Usnea spp. (a Beard Lichen)
Mistletoe,
Uchelwydd
or
Viscum album on one of the Hawthorns
And, on the way back to the car, the moon was rising over the ridge between Mynnyd Llysiau and Pen Twyn Glas