Autumn Colours Wildlife Walk with Nigel Brown at the Dingle, Llangefni

Caroline Bateson, NWWT Public Engagement Officer, shares some of the sights and sounds of this autumn walk with local botany expert Nigel Brown as they explore the wildlife and history of the Dingle (Nant y Pandy) Nature Reserve at Llangefni, Angelsey.

Nigel Brown has lived in North West Wales for almost 50 years since coming to Bangor to study Botany. Employed by Bangor University for 39 years as Curator of Treborth Botanic Garden and lecturer in Botany and Ecology. He is now happily retired and kept out of mischief by very fulfilling family commitments, gardening and indulging himself in various aspects of local natural history through bird watching, leading wildlife walks, acting as Joint Vice county recorder for Anglesey for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland and Chairing Bangor Bird Group.

The Dingle (Nant y Pandy) Nature Reserve, Llangefni, is a 10 hectare (25 acre) wooded valley, rich in wildlife and history managed by Anglesey County Council..

The walk today at the Dingle was the perfect antidote to the grey and seriously windy weather we have been experiencing lately. This photo taken from the interpretation board in the Dingle shows this amazing place in its wider context – a completely unique river cut valley created after the last glaciation. Despite having been to the Dingle for numerous walks there was so much I didn’t know about it. Nigel Brown brought geographical, geological, cultural, historical and ecological information to the walk today that completely changed my experience of this place. The aerial photo below shows the river Cefni cutting its way through the land – a peneplain comprised of rocks 2 km thick!

Down in the Dingle we were well out of the blasting wind and could enjoy the autumn colours, plants and birds in relative shelter. In the past the Dingle was host to many different activities and the river has been modified in many ways. The adjacent railway line changed the hydrology and older still are constructions such as Llyn Pwmp (see below) which was excavated to provide water for the steam pumps. Nigel brought an old photo showing what the area looked like before being reclaimed by nature.

Nigel brought an old photo showing what the area looked like before being reclaimed by nature.

They did the build sensitively incorporating a stone fish ladder, allowing for fish such as trout, perch and roach to move upstream.

Nigel pointed out a diversity of ferns such as golden scale male fern.

It is heartening to witness in the Dingle how nature has reclaimed an area that has been well-used by humans over the centuries by farmers and industrialists alike. The old railway station and livestock market meant the nearby river Cefni (in the Dingle) was used as a livestock watering hole and the old 18^th Century pump house by the settling pools is home to eight species of bat including the rare Lesser Horseshoe Bat.

Other ferns in the Dingle include common polypody, soft shield fern, hartstongue fern and the rare hard shield fern.

We saw a diversity of bird life on the walk including grey wagtail, heron, nuthatch, chaffinch, great spotted woodpecker, robin, raven, coal tit and a lovely mixed flock of long tailed tit, blue tit and great tit flitting from tree to tree as we walked. We also had great views of Britains’ smallest bird – the goldcrest. Nigel explained to us how these flocks of birds probably forage methodically through the woodland on a daily basis, staying safe from predators and moving as a flock to save energy and exploit known foraging grounds. One bird within the flock will always be on lookout for predators such as sparrowhawk.

Although the Dingle woods occur on an ancient woodland site as evidenced by indicator species such as lesser celandine, dogs mercury and opposite leaved northern saxifrage, the woodland was actually planted in the late 19^th Century. However the mix of species now create a diverse and beautiful wildlife habitat which is sensitively managed by the Isle of Anglesey Council to have open areas of woodland, lightly managed spaces and areas which provide small scale wilderness. The ancient looking carr habitat of willows and alder growing in the waterlogged areas show how much of primeval Anglesey must have looked.

This photo shows alder and willow carr, both these tree species are tolerant of water.

Although not strictly native to North Wales the beeches provide lovely leaf colours and blend with Wych Elm, English elm, oak, sycamore, ash and sweet chestnut. Nigel explained how the leaf colours ad the different reds, oranges and yellows are due to different levels of anthocyanins in the leaves!

Higher up the Dingle we were treated to perfect views of our colourful native red squirrel, first high in the trees, then posing perfectly at one of the feeding stations.

Even higher up the Dingle towards the Cefni reservoir the area opens out into a grassy river valley with an old mill bridge.

Before reaching an open basin like area created by a previous meander of the river. Here the bracken line shows the break between wet area and dry valley slope (bracken hates wet soil).

Even higher up the walk moves to a hanging boardwalk over the rushing river which with these high water-levels is truly spectacular!

On the walk back there were more wildlife discoveries including this stunning blushing bracket fungus,

A bloody nosed beetle!

There was so much more we learnt about but to put it all down would be like writing a small book. More walks are planned courtesy of Nigel Brown being willing to share his knowledge and expertise with North Wales Wildlife Trust. Look out for a Cefni Reservoir birdwatching walk in February/ March time and a guided flower and butterfly walk at a brand new nature reserve near Bryngwran on Anglesey on our events page.

The Dingle a fabulously accessible nature space for the people of Llangefni with several footpaths accessing it from different parts of the town. Parts of it are buggy and wheelchair friendly making it a truly accessible place for all people to get close to amazingly diverse nature.