Barn Owls and Fish traps...
Teifi Barn Owls and Magpies by Colin Dalton...
Not just the excitement of evening Barn Owls on the Reserve, the photo below has captured a few of the Magpies at their regular gathering - often up to 40 birds make their way noisily across the Marsh to the Willow scrub around the Osprey platform
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| Magpie roost at dusk- Colin Dalton |
With a very low tide this week it was possible to walk out to the old Lifeboat Station at the far end of Poppit Beach to explore the low intertidal zone.
It makes sense that this area often has feeding Gulls and Oystercatchers as the tide drops when you see the food rich habitat. Species such as Common Scoter and Great Crested Grebes have historically favoured this area too. This winter, despite regular scoping, the sea has been very quiet for these species. There is a regular flock of Common Scoter up the coast though, viewable from the path between Aberporth and Tresaith.
The low tide rocks are covered in Honeycomb Worms. These build tube shaped structures made of sand and shell fragments and together form reef like structures.
These particles can be seen when looked at closely.
A Medieval Fish trap is now covered with these tubes changing it from an entirely man made structure to a fully functioning natural reef which adds to the biological diversity of the area. Part of the fish trap was visible this week, with Cardigan Island in the background.
The 263m fish trap as seen on Google Earth.
