Looking forward to Iolo Williams Valleys programme tonight on BBC Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 - 7:00pm, BBC1 Wales.

Lots of wildlife in an amazing part of Wales. And it's featuring some of the work we are doing for upland water voles in the area.

Wonderful to see so many brown hares at the farm in the Vale of Glamorgan last week. If you sit quietly for a while they often run up to you. Hopefully our new wildflower arable margins and cover crops will benefit them as much as the farm's yellowhammer population.

First of our marsh fritillaries emerged over the weekend in their rearing pen. Hopefully they will mate and lay thousands of eggs over the next few weeks so that we can continue to reinforce local populations in South Wales. Huge thank you to everyone for helping us get this far.

Lots of Brimstone butterflies at the farm in the VoG yesterday. We were there to check on the trees we planted a few months ago. The butterfly lays its eggs on Alder Buckthorn - the caterpillar's food plant. Great to see lots of our planted trees already supporting the eggs.

Its great to be working with @badwolf_tv to help increase biodiversity around the grounds of Wolf Studios Wales. Lots of wildlife already and lots of potential to do more.

Lovely to see a glow worm at our nature reserve in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park national park recently. Also had otter and our first pied flycatcher for the reserve. Hoping to do a lot more surveys there this year to get a better idea of what the site supports.

We are entering a very sensitive time for our marsh fritillaries in the rearing pen as they are starting to pupate. In the wild they do this under leaves of scabious and other plants, but in the rearing pens they love to pupate on the sides of plant pots. Photos: Vaughn Matthews

Yn y rhifyn cyfredol o Natur Cymru, mae Seth Johnson-Marshall o Afonydd Cymru: The Rivers Trust of Wales yn gofyn pam fod yr amser yn iawn ar gyfer y newidiadau radical sydd eu hangen i wella ein hafonydd ni yng Nghymru. I danysgrifio a dysgu mwy:
bit.ly/NaturCymru2024
📸 Seth Johnson-Marshall

In the current edition of Natur Cymru, Seth Johnson-Marshall of Afonydd Cymru: The Rivers Trust of Wales asks why the time is right for the radical changes needed to improve our Welsh rivers.
To subscribe and learn more:
bit.ly/NaturCymru2024
📸 Seth Johnson-Marshall

Wonderful day today down at the wildlife garden with volunteers. We were planting out hundreds of wildflowers in the meadow and wetland areas around the pond. Thank you to all the volunteers for helping and for all the people who stopped by to say hello.

Conservation Officer - Job Advert

INCC are looking to appoint a Conservation Officer to oversee our three-year upland Water Vole conservation project in the Glamorgan uplands, South Wales.

For more information on how to apply: natureconservation.wales/news/

please repost.

Swyddog Cadwraeth - Hysbyseb Swydd

Diolch i gyllid gan Gronfa Weledigaeth Pen-y-Cymoedd, mae INCC eisiau penodi Swyddog Cadwraeth i oruchwylio ein prosiect cadwraeth Llygod Pengrwn y Dŵr ucheldirol tair blynedd yn ucheldiroedd Morgannwg, De Cymru.

natureconservation.wales/news/

Really looking forward to doing some wildlife surveys at Bad Wolf studios this spring / summer to find out more about the different habitats present and the wildlife they support. Its great to be involved in projects that aim to do more for local wildlife and the environment.

Thank you to local ecologist Aaron Davies for helping to install 50 Dormouse survey tubes for us at a farm in the Vale of Glamorgan. The farm has over 5km (and increasing) of thick hedgerow which is linked to surrounding woodland and scrub - so fingers crossed.

Another 90 newly installed House Martin nest cups installed in the Amman Valley. Lots of House Martins flying overhead too. Fingers crossed they'll find them. Huge thank you to TRJ and Heddlu Dyfed-Powys Police Rural Crime Team @ Dyfed-Powys Police for all their help today and for letting us install all the boxes.

Lovely wildlife walk today in the Amman Valley. Thanks to all for coming along and braving the mud. Lovely to show off some of the valleys most important rhos pasture habitat. Highlights were flowering Lousewort and watching a nuthatch making the finishing touches to its nest.

The very rare parasitoid wasp Cotesia bignelli larvae emerging from a marsh fritillary caterpillar (its only host species) earlier today. Wasp larvae would have been inside the caterpillar since Aug/Sept last year eating away at all non-essential parts until today.

Swyddog Cadwraeth - Hysbyseb Swydd

Diolch i gyllid gan Gronfa Weledigaeth Pen-y-Cymoedd, mae INCC eisiau penodi Swyddog Cadwraeth i oruchwylio ein prosiect cadwraeth Llygod Pengrwn y Dŵr ucheldirol tair blynedd yn ucheldiroedd Morgannwg, De Cymru.

natureconservation.wales/news/

Conservation Officer - Job Advert

INCC are looking to appoint a Conservation Officer to oversee our three-year upland Water Vole conservation project in the Glamorgan uplands, South Wales.

For more information on how to apply: natureconservation.wales/news/

please repost.

First 104 house martin nest cups have been installed in the Amman Valley thanks to support from the local nature partnership, Clwb Rygbi Yr Aman and Cwmaman Town Council. Hoping to install the remaining 100 or so next week on several buildings closer to Ammanford.