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I've been away at the BSBI Welsh AGM and then busy with leading a walk in a reserve followed by some Geology around Tenby so it was nice to get back to some botanical recording on Thursday accompanied by members of the Brecknock Botanical recording Group, my co-recorder, Mike Porter, Steph Coates and Paul Green.

We were exploring Cae Bryntywarch Nature Reserve (Brecknock Wildlife Trust) in the hope we might refind Small White Orchid in the second site in the county where it has been seen in the last few decades. There was no luck with this and sadly several choice species previously seen at the reserve were no longer present, including Dyer's Greenweed and Butterfly Orchid. However, Carex montana was still well-established, if long-past flowering:

Soft-leaved Sedge, Hesgen feddal or Carex montana

There was plenty of Wood-Bitter-vetch:

Wood Bitter-vetch, Ffacbysen chwerw or Vicia orobus

some still flowering but much more with seed pods. (The above not taken this year...) Great Burnet was abundant as was Betony and many other good things which made the conundrum of the disappearing species even more baffling.

By the time we had explored the lanes around the list stretched to nearly 200 different species (slightly fewer if you discount the subspecies my more-expert colleagues were pointing out) and we scored a full set on my recording card of Dryopteris ferns (ie all the ones I expect to find at all often in Brecknock - five in all).

Tormentil, Potentilla erecta subsp. strictissima (a rare subspecies of a common plant)

Plus this cooperative and photogenic lizard.

And I took this in the car park in Brecon from which we shared cars to the reserve...

A gallery from the Welsh BSBI AGM and Tenby

Sea Spleenwort, Duegredynen arfor or Asplenium marinum high above the beach at Saundersfoot

Greater Knapweed, Y bengaled fawr or Centaurea scabiosa at Skrinkle Haven

Lesser Centaury, Y ganrhi goch fach or Centaurium pulchellum at Newport Wetlands Centre

Narrow-leaved Bird's-foot-trefoil, Lotus tenuis probably introduced in a seed mixture at Newport Wetlands Centre

Lily-of-the-valley, Lili’r dyffrynnoedd or Convallaria majalis at Black Cliff Wood

Geology at Saundersfoot...

Pwll y Wrach always delights

I joined the some of the Powys Road Verge Nature Reserve volunteers for their annual joint outing at Pwll y Wrach yesterday. This is billed as Brecknock Wildlife Trust's most popular reserve and deservedly. In my experience it always has delights in store at any time of year.

Possibly yesterday's highlight was the largest population of Hard Fern I have seen - looking magnificent in the dappled sun. I don't suppose this photograph does full justice...

Hard-fern, Gwibredynen or Blechnum spicant

We were also pleased to encounter Water Avens (or maybe its hybrid with Wood Avens) on the climb up to the waterfall.

This probably is is Hybrid Avens, Mapgoll groesryw or Geum x intermedium

And we saw much more - including on the road verge on our return - it's one of the verges in the scheme.

Another very hasty one

Here are some pictures of Fedw Wood, which was well worth braving the rain for. (the rain soon stopped as well.)

The bluebells were very good but not a lot else in the understory. There were interesting trees though - a regenerating Wych Elm and an assortment of Birches including these magnificent ones - with very fissured bark:

And then next day Steph and I were looking at Globeflowers of a tributary of the Llynfi:

(A very species rich meadow in private ownership.)

Ignore the forecast

I do watch the weather forecast but Thursday was the only day I could manage and it didn't look too bad... So I was very pleased that three joined me for a spot of recording in Cwm Cadlan with the off-chance of confirming a record from 1983 of a rather unlikely (but not impossible) species of Mouse-ear. We didn't find it but intriguingly found habitat it wouldn't be out of place in and the two common relatives were there as expected. But best of all we had glorious weather - even sun and some great views, albeit after a dampish but bearable start.

Eating our lunch with this view:

I was very glad Paul Green was with us - in the grazed turf there I would have taken twice as long to find half as much. As it is I learnt several species in minimal vegetative state under Paul's guidance. We even saw some dandelions which I was able to say half-literate things about.

Common Whitlowgrass, Llysiau’r-bystwn ar or Erophila verna - abundant in places

Brittle Bladder-fern, Ffiolredynen frau or Cystopteris fragilis in the rock crevices

Looking back as we returned.

 

Botanising along the rock ledges

An old lime kiln used by locals in the past ?

And finally - a preview of the Pwll y Wrach walk at the Talgarth festival on Sunday (when the weather is set fine). Many thanks to Dainis Ozols for the picture and especially for clearing our path for Sunday.

Mainly Dandelions

This is what a BSBI Taraxacum (Dandelion) workshop looks like:

There are well over two hundred species of dandelion in the UK and 130 or so have been recorded by Mike Porter, my colleague, or John Richards in Brecknockshire. John was the expert at the workshop I went to in Bangor over the weekend and is shown below explaining the characters of Taraxacum faeroense.

Three days of intensive taraxology haven't made me an expert but I will no longer be walking by every dandelion I see, muttering "Taraxacum agg." and moving on to more readily identifiable species - I hope.

I did learn a lot though and in a little excursion today was able to decide on a section (there are 9 broad sections for the genus) for the dandelions I saw at Henallt Common and even make a stab at a species for a few. But most were not suitable for taking home and pressing - an essential stage in identification for many. Maybe I will see some on Thursday... (The examples at Henallt were few and mostly too far advanced to be the ideal specimen.)

This was the highlight, Taraxacum palustre, Marsh Dandelion or Dant-y-llew’r gors at Newborough Dunes. It has been recorded in Brecknock, but not recently, and makes a good target to look out for as it is fairly easy to identify from the simple leaves and the habitat if favours (as well as other things).

 We saw other plants as well including this New Zealander at Aberffraw:

Cardamine corymbosa, New Zealand Bitter-cress or  Berwr chwerw Seland Newydd which was new to me and is apparently spreading through the country in pavement-type habitats. So to watch out for in Brecon and Hay etc.

And, of course, we saw some great scenery:

Dyrysiog Wood

A good recording day at this BWT reserve. We were disappointed not to find any Early Purple Orchids  (surely we were not TOO early ?) but everything else you might expect was there - with many species in satisfying abundances. There are also some great views of the Nant Bran ("Crow Stream") and sounds of many birds I couldn't identify - but Steph could.

It was the perfect time for Wood Anemones, Anemone nemorosa or Blodyn y gwynt and we particularly noticed that the patches showed a great variation in leaf and flower colour.

Caltha palustris Marsh-marigold Gold y gors

The Nant Bran with Steph finding stuff along the bank in the last picture

A fungus I haven't seen before...

... and the Bluebells were just starting to flower:

Purple saxifrage

Four of us went in search of this at the prime Brecknockshire site yesterday. We all visited both locations featured here, all met each other; but we were never more than three. Hence this log from my iPhone:

(None of us miraculously flew across the reserve crags - the route updates every 10 minutes but I think that leg took a little longer so one or two got missed I assume. Two used the route round the south - a steep climb / descent - but they didn't have my phone with them.)

 JC and TV at the cairn on the way up (after seeing the saxifrage once). Photo by SM.

Anyway - the saxifrage.

This plant is a glaciation survivor that tends to keep to highish altitude and sheltered places where it flowers in the early spring before things get too hot. Here in Brecknockshire is its southern limit for the British Isles I believe. At Craig Cerrig-gleisiad we saw it from 500m up to 600 (pretty much as high as you can go there).

We started by looking at some rocks near the base of one of the many gullies that incise the cirque:

One plant was spotted by SM just at the far left of the rock formation in the middle which descends from right to left.

Saxifraga oppositifolia, Purple saxifrage or Tormaen porffor 

 and the site:

Despite his intrepid search along the formation no more was seen here (but could have been lurking high up) and he did encounter a good patch of Sedum forsterianum. (The less intrepid of the party took an easier route.)

Sedum forsterianum is known as Welsh Stonecrop (Briweg Gymreig) and is a delight in flower later in the year - this from Stanner Rocks in Radnorshire:

We climbed up to the top of the reserve to look down into the ravine near the lower site and managed to spot three more plants from up there. This is where SG joined us. I'll finish with a gallery of pictures...

Saxifraga oppositifolia, Purple saxifrage or Tormaen porffor at about 600m

The top of the gully with P S showing (just) on the rock on the right of the cleft.

SM went down the gully a bit and took this:

and in 2010 he took this picture:

Anemone nemorosa, Wood anemone or Blodyn y gwynt thinking the habitat resembles woodland.

Abundant Saxifraga hypnoides, Mossy Saxifrage or Tormaen llydandroed - will be a great sight later in the year.