: Hanes Naturiol

This week, three members of the department travelled to Whiteford Burrows on Gower to hunt for the black lugworm Arenicola defodiens. This species is less common than the blow lug Arenicola marina that most people may have heard of or seen previously, tends to be larger and, as the name suggests, is darker in appearance (see picture).

Digging for these animals is difficult as their burrows go deep into the sediment so we used a ‘bait pump’ to try and suck them out (see picture)! Success was variable but we did manage to collect a few of each species.

The black lug was first described in 1993 from shores in South Wales including Whiteford Burrows, so this area is considered the ‘type locality’ for the species. As we didn’t have any specimens of the black lug in our collections, we felt it was important to collect a few for future reference and potential research possibilities. Some material was also preserved in 100% ethanol for possible future genetic work.

June 7 Update

Eventful couple of days. Received a call yesterday that a young Peregrine was on the ground near City Hall. Directions weren't brilliant so had to go hunting around and finally found a young male hunkered down at the edge of one of the footpaths in Alexandra Gardens, under some overhanging vegetation. Amazingly you could walk past within a couple of feet and it didn't move. He was duly picked up and taken back to the roof of City Hall at the base of the tower where he was fitted with a BTO ring and a colour-ring Blue FH, the first photo is of him looking lass than happy with his experience but hopefully it will keep him out of trouble until he can fly strongly enough to gain height.

Then this morning I had another call from the RSPB to say that a young Peregrine was on a statue in King Edward VII Avenue. I met up with Phil Pinder and there was the bird sat on the statue (second photo). This one was unringed so we knew it was a different bird to yesterday, I tried to catch it so it could be ringed but wasn't quite quick enough and it flew off strongly. Which is a good thing as it suggests it should survive. Apparently it had been seen feeding earlier so it's good to know that the parents are feeding them even quite some way from the tower.

No sign of the young female today though.

June 6 Update

All three youngsters are practically fully grown now and one of the males has even left the nest ledge. He was seen on a roof above the west entrance to City Hall yesterday morning where he will be safe enough.

The other two, a male and a female, could be seen wing flapping and getting themselves ready for their first flight. It won't be long before they're out and about.

So far, so good, although the next two or three days are still perilous for the youngsters as they don't have the strength to get back to the higher ledges in the first few days after their first flight. Fingers crossed that all three will be safe and fledge this year.

May 29 update

Well the chicks are now about a month old and the change in the last 10 days or so has been dramatic. The pictures show them at about 20 days and then a mere 8 days later, changing from fluffy white balls to something resembling a Peregrine.

If all 3 chicks fledge - possibly a big if given the knack they have of falling off the tower before they can fly properly - this will be a very good year. Well, I suppose it is anyway as the adults wil have raised 3 chicks to fledging age, just that the nest site isn't particularly safe for youngsters!

Judging by the size of the young it looks like there may be one female and 2 males. At one month the difference in size between the sexes is apparent even from a distance.

The next 2-3 weeks will be very challenging for the youngsters, I hope they manage to stay on the tower! 

May 3 update

Plenty of feeding taking place today and I think there may now be 3 chicks. Their heads are becoming more visible by the day so it should soon be very obvious how many chicks there are. Female seems to be doing most of the feeding at the moment with the male bringing in the food.

I hope the chicks are more sensible this year when they are bigger and don't get too adventurous too soon - the ledge by the nest isn't very wide! 

Watch their progress here