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CDh6
  • 5/13/2025
Iolo's River Valleys episode 2

Category

🐳
Animals
Transcript
00:00Rivers have carved the face of Wales, and many flow through breathtaking valleys.
00:14Their beautiful landscapes make them popular places to visit.
00:19In this series I'm going to be exploring four river valleys.
00:23The Clwyd, the Conwy, the Dovey and the Rhaidol, going all the way from sea to source.
00:38Now all four of them are stunning, and I'm going to be seeing some of Wales' best wildlife,
00:44including some very special species.
00:47Join me as I explore the hidden stories and
00:54natural wonders of these remarkable Welsh river valleys throughout the year.
01:08The Dovey Valley is one of Wales' most stunning areas.
01:12It has some of the best examples of important wildlife habitats in the UK.
01:20This time, my journey takes me from Unislaas National Nature Reserve,
01:24along the Dovey River's 30 mile course,
01:27up to Craiglin Dovey at the southern edge of the Erruri Mountains.
01:31This is the Dovey Estuary with Cardigan Bay behind me,
01:41and the town of Aberdovey over on the far side over there.
01:46It's Wales' only world biosphere reserve, one of only seven in the whole of the UK,
01:53and that means that from a wildlife point of view, it's probably the most diverse we have in the whole of Wales.
02:04This stretch of coastline is a vital breeding ground for ringed plovers.
02:09But these birds are under threat from changing beach conditions due to more frequent storms,
02:15along with human disturbance.
02:21Pleased to see that they've fenced this area of beach off.
02:24It's for a little weeding bird called a ringed plover.
02:27Smart little bird, and it lays its eggs on the shingle beach.
02:32Really well camouflaged, and then the chicks hatch and they're well camouflaged as well.
02:37But they've declined massively in England and Wales, mainly because of disturbance, people and dogs going onto beaches.
02:45And I remember coming here 10, 15 years ago, one, maybe two pairs, that's all.
02:51But since they've put up this fence, the numbers have increased to six or seven pairs.
02:57Not everybody listens, mind you, but it does keep most people out.
03:00So, simple measures, but very effective measures.
03:07In summer, low-lying areas called slacks come alive with orchids.
03:14Including the marsh hellebarine and pyramidal orchids.
03:20The real highlight is the northern marsh orchid, which can vary in colour.
03:26Some botanists are still debating that the ones found along the West Wales coast are a unique species.
03:33But to me, they look remarkably similar.
03:35Next to Anislas is Corse Fochno, one of the largest lowland-raised bogs in the UK.
03:51Around 8,000 years ago, rising sea levels transformed a forested floodplain into a reed swamp, which later became a peat bog.
04:01Today, it's one of Wales' most important habitats, home to unique plants and animals.
04:11And early summer is a great time to explore it.
04:14What I want to show you is over here, careful where I put my feet, down on one knee.
04:25Over here, the sundew most people are familiar with is the round-leaved or the common sundew.
04:32It grows quite low. This is the greatest sundew. It thrusts its kind of spoons, if you like, these adapted leaves up skywards.
04:43It's quite tall, and you can see little globules of liquid on there.
04:47That's a mixture of kind of sugary solution and enzymes, and it attracts insects in there, so they're carnivorous.
04:55The insects get stuck in there, the leaf will curl in on itself, and it'll send the enzymes into the insect, turns into kind of a soup, if you like, and it sucks that out, and all that's behind is a husk.
05:08But the one thing is they then have a problem, because they produce flowers, and they want to attract pollinating insects.
05:16But what they do, they send the flower up on a tall stalk, so that the pollinating insects can pollinate, but not get stuck in the leaves as well.
05:27Clever, isn't it? Nature thinks of absolutely everything.
05:31This bog is one of the few places I know we're almost certain to see a scarce butterfly known as the large heath during summer.
05:40This one has a chunk missing from its wing, likely from a close call with a bird.
05:46Of the many flowering plants that grow here, bog asphodel is probably my favourite.
06:02The Latin name is interesting. It's ossifraga, which means bone breaker.
06:07That's because the early farmers, they would graze their cattle in areas like this, and those cattle would often break their bones.
06:14They had brittle bones, and the farmers blamed this plant.
06:19But it's got nothing to do with this, it's because of a lack of minerals.
06:23It's very nutrient poor here. And the Welsh name is also interesting too.
06:28In Welsh we call it llafn y bladyr, the blade of a scythe. You've got to look at the leaves for that. They're long, pointed end, and they're also scimitar-shaped.
06:39But a lot of the early Welsh botanists that named these were shepherds, they were landowners, and they were on the land all year round.
06:49And of course what they would see for most of the year would be the leaves.
06:53You only see the flower for about a month, and that's why a lot of the Welsh names for plants in particular are very descriptive and refer not to the flower, but to the leaves.
07:04Moths and other insects thrive in these wet conditions, making the bog ideal for a nocturnal bird that feeds on them.
07:17About 15 metres ahead of me, in the bend, in the path, is a nature. A crepuscular bird usually comes out late in the evening, early morning, and it's just perched there.
07:31It's beautifully camouflaged, but little does it know that it's really standing out on the boardwalk.
07:38And they'll usually nest in the bracken-y areas around the side there, but it's the first time I've ever come across one.
07:44in the middle of the day, right on the edge of the path.
07:49It's got a huge eye, and it's just opened just a little, little bit like that, just that it can keep an eye on me.
07:56I'm not going to go any nearer, I don't want to put it up now.
08:04It's heating up now, going towards the middle of the day.
08:07For these areas of open water here, these are quite cool.
08:11They maintain these, well, some for the rare plants, but also for dragonflies and damselflies.
08:18Here we are, if we go on just a little bit again.
08:22We've got four spotted chasers.
08:25When it heats up like this, they're very aerial, they hunt on the wing, they'll catch other insects, they'll chase each other, they're territorial.
08:33Oh, there we are, there's a four spotted chaser just landed on here now.
08:40But the master of the air is the emperor.
08:43That's a biggie, that's a big one.
08:46Lovely things, they're really huge, big eyes.
08:49Their vision is superb, absolutely superb.
08:51Oh, I tell you what, there's an emperor.
08:54Come on, just a little bit.
08:55There's a female emperor.
08:57Yeah, she's eggling.
08:58She's landed on some vegetation there, and then she's backed her abdomen right down to the water.
09:04And she lays her eggs individually, she'll curl her abdomen, and lay the eggs on the vegetation under the water.
09:14And then that egg will hatch out, and the various nymphs, they can be in the water here for about four years,
09:21before they eventually emerge up the vegetation.
09:24It'll dry out, the back will split, and out will come an adult dragonfly.
09:29And these that we see, they're only on the wing for a few weeks.
09:33That's it, for the rest of the time, they're underwater.
09:36Even though this is peaty, nutrient poor, there's enough there to sustain these dragonflies and damselflies.
09:50The Dovey River is often viewed as the natural boundary between North and South Wales.
09:55As well as the saltmarsh, the unique mix of habitats at Unnysir Nature Reserve make this area a wildlife haven.
10:05And a springtime visit is an absolute must.
10:14The ditches here are good places to look for a species of reptile that's often elusive.
10:19Luckily, our cameraman, Graham, has spotted movement.
10:28We've got a female grass snake.
10:31I'm keeping my voice down, keeping my movements to a minimum, because they can see pretty well.
10:38Under any sudden movement, she'll see it.
10:41I would say she's at least a metre long.
10:46Yeah, she's a sizeable individual.
10:50Beautifully marked.
10:51Grass snake's a lovely thing.
10:52They're sort of olive green with a yellow collar here, you know.
10:59Yeah, there's a second one just coming in.
11:01Probably from the water up onto the platform.
11:03Somebody tolerant obviously appears to be kind of chasing it away.
11:08They have their areas, their favoured basking sites, areas where they like to sunbathe.
11:14And then when they warm up enough, they'll go off on hand.
11:18Unnysir, this area has always been really good for them.
11:22I used to see them all the time, but they've declined a lot in the last maybe 10, 12 years.
11:27They like water, they really like water.
11:31They will take mice and bulls, but more often than not, they'll hunt things like frogs, toads, newts, even small fish.
11:39They're really fast, really fast snakes.
11:43Yeah, she's heading off.
11:50You can easily spend hours at Unnysir.
11:52It's a fascinating place.
11:54In May, the Welsh Oakwoods come alive as migrant birds like wood warblers return to nest.
12:03And the carpet of bluebells onshore are stunning.
12:07Standing dead trees, left untouched, draw in great spotted woodpeckers.
12:14But it's the wetlands, teeming with breeding waders, that I'm heading to next.
12:24This is the Unnys Edwin part of the RSVB's Unnysir Reserve.
12:33It's cut off from the estuary by the embankment you see there, that's where the railway line goes along.
12:38And because of that embankment, they're able to hold back water when it's dry.
12:44And if it gets too wet, they're able to open the gates there and let some of the water flow out.
12:49And because of that, you have good numbers of red shank here.
12:54Red shank is a bird, I remember, nesting in sort of wetland areas.
12:58You know, right across even land whales.
13:00Every single one of those has now gone. They're confined to areas like this.
13:04And it's home now to, well this year, 42 pairs of lapwing, which is double what they had just a couple of years ago.
13:12What's lovely is that you can see there's a female lapwing there that's brooding its chicks.
13:19It was quite warm early, it's got a little bit nippy, so they've all tucked in under her wings.
13:24She's just keeping them warm there.
13:27And there they are, they're back out again now.
13:30One, yes, four chicks, four chicks, she's got, she's done really, really well.
13:37Hopefully, they'll have a really successful breeding season and we'll start to see lapwing spread out of these nature reserves,
13:47back to the farmland, wet farmland where they belong again.
13:51And it's great news, it's brilliant news, of course it is.
13:54But what's quite sad is that to make sure that they succeed now, you've got to put an electric fence like this all the way around this wetland area.
14:03You know, for someone like me who remembers lapwings being common farmland birds, that's quite sad really.
14:18By July, most of the breeding birds in the Dovey Valley will have finished nesting.
14:24Yet, a pair of well-known summer visitors are still tending to their young.
14:33I'm on my way to see the Dovey Valley's most famous residence.
14:37Now, the, the ospreys here at Corse Dovey, the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust Reserve.
14:43But, er, it's a beautiful morning.
14:45There's dew lying everywhere, spiders' webs.
14:48And as you make your way along the boardwalk to the observation tower, it's worth taking time.
14:53Don't rush, just have a look around you, you know, because there's dragonflies, there's lizards, there's all kinds of things to see as you walk along.
15:02The observation tower here gives you a great view of the osprey nest at eye level.
15:20Even though the chicks have already fledged, they'll be hanging around for a few more weeks.
15:26They came back 2011.
15:28So they've been here for, what, nearly 15 years, not far off, 15 years now.
15:33But before that, well, they hadn't nested in Wales for about, for about 400 years.
15:43What are they now? They've been eight weeks, eight weeks old now.
15:46They've fledged in the last few days, one of them's just launched off now.
15:50Two of them are launched off.
15:52There they go, flying around.
15:54This is what they'll do now.
15:56They'll have to perfect the art of flying there.
15:59They're chasing each other through the air.
16:01It hasn't quite perfected the art of landing yet. Not quite.
16:14The female, she will leave now in the next probably week, 10 days or so.
16:19She'll head down to Africa.
16:21Her work here is done.
16:23And then the male will stay.
16:25He'll teach the chicks how to hunt for a while.
16:27Then he'll go.
16:28Then the chicks, they'll hang around for a few days, maybe a week or two.
16:33And then they will head off as well.
16:39Oh, there's one of the Addlebirds coming in.
16:41Oh, he's got a fish.
16:42He's got a fish.
16:43And I was expecting him to feed it to the young, but he's not.
16:49Helping himself to the fish while the chicks look on.
16:54They call every now and again.
16:57I suspect what he'll do is he'll feed up what he wants.
17:00He's eating the head.
17:01And then he'll probably give what's left to the chicks, I would imagine.
17:08Beautiful, beautiful birds.
17:10Gwalch a Piscod in Welsh.
17:12The fish hawk.
17:14That sums them up, doesn't it really?
17:19Ospreys usually make their way back to the UK when they're about two years old.
17:23And fingers crossed, these chicks will pick whales as their home when they return.
17:28The Dovey's shallow basin means the tide reaches all the way up to the village of Derwyn Lass on its south bank.
17:43From there, the valley starts to narrow, with wooded hills closing in on either side.
17:49I've come now up a hill called Mynydd Cynfyrch, really just to show you the view.
17:58Have a look at this.
18:07The whole nature of the river has changed now.
18:10It's meandering up a very broad, flat bottom, agricultural land.
18:16And in the distance there is Mychynlleth.
18:19And down there is a wild animal.
18:22A very special wild animal that I have never ever seen in the wilding whales before.
18:36This is the old bridge at Mychynlleth.
18:39And I'm actually here to look for a beaver.
18:42Usually, with a mammal this rare, we'd keep the location secret.
18:47But so many of the locals in the area know that it's been seen regularly on this stretch.
18:54It's been here for at least 18 months, maybe more than that.
18:59It's not always around.
19:02It usually comes out early evening.
19:04But I'm just going to sit and watch and just hope that I'm lucky tonight.
19:11Beaver.
19:12We've got wild beaver.
19:13It's one on the far shore over there.
19:14About 20 metres away from me.
19:15How fantastic is that?
19:16You know, the last wild beaver in Wales were hundreds, hundreds of years ago.
19:21But it's over there.
19:22It's quite cool, quite calm.
19:25It's eating Japanese knotweed of all things.
19:26It's eating Japanese knotweed of all things.
19:28It's coming out onto the water.
19:30It's coming out onto the water.
19:31is that it's you know the last wild beaver in wales were hundreds hundreds of years ago
19:38but it's over there it's quite cool quite calm it's eating japanese knotweed of all things
19:46it's coming out onto the water it's coming out onto the water
19:48and it's dived down now there's a very well wooded bank over there a lot of japanese knotweed
20:04and i think it's disappeared into the back there
20:10yeah he's gone back up on the bank he's dragging some more japanese knotweed i think with him
20:15this is phenomenal honestly this is one of the best wild things i've ever seen in wales ever
20:24what an animal it's just happily quietly nibbling away over on the far side there
20:37the riverside path is regularly used by locals and i got talking to glenn howard during his evening
20:44stroll how long have you known he's here then he's been here for a good two years has he
20:49oh yeah do you know what you're about the third or fourth local person walking by saying have you
20:55seen him yet i wouldn't say everybody in my hunter knows but it's pretty common knowledge that he's
20:59down here and there's quite a few people that do know yeah people was very skeptical and they were
21:05knowing away the trees yeah and it was definitely beaver we think there's more than one here actually
21:11we think there's two there because one was here and there's another one up there and it can't be
21:15the same one can i well it might be the same one it might be fast one it might be a hell of a fast one
21:20you're right there
21:23i can't tell you how made up i am i bet you are honestly i never thought i'd be standing here talking
21:28somewhere from my chandes in all here's a wild beaver over there lovely to meet you anyway thank you
21:34very much you're welcome thank you take care it's making its way down river slowly on the far shore
21:43there is a little bit of controversy i know on the news they've had one or two landowners one two
21:48fishermen saying they don't want them you know they're going to block the river up it's going to cause
21:53flooding but actually the opposite is true really because if they do build the dam it's not going to
21:59be here it's going to be higher up on some of the tributaries they're going to hold back water
22:04that will help during floods it'll help during drought as well and that's going to create habitat
22:09for all kinds of things from invertebrates to plants to amphibians to fish so the you know the beaver's
22:16only going to bring good things to wales and i'm just delighted absolutely delighted that they're
22:23here back where they should be with rumors of several beavers living along the dovey and possibly
22:31breeding it's clear these remarkable animals can survive in wales after centuries of absence
22:38bringing benefits to both nature and people alike my next stop is at mynllyn near the village of dynas
22:54mawdwy it's always been an important crossing point over the river dovey and one ancient example still
23:01stands today most people zooming past on the a470 are unaware of this hidden gem
23:11for years they would build wooden bridges that would get washed away during the floods and then in the
23:17early 1600s a local eminent welsh scholar dr john davis also an architect he designed this bridge here
23:26pont mynllyn in welsh the pack horse bridge in english and look how narrow it is but it was designed to
23:33accommodate pack horses horses people walking and it served its purpose because it's still there 400
23:42years later but of course the stagecoach larger cart and horses came and he wouldn't accommodate those so
23:50they had to build another bridge and this one i'm stood on here this was built in 1845 but times move on
23:59lorries get bigger buses get bigger and then this bridge here was built now i've got to be honest i prefer
24:07the architecture of the 17th century to the 20th but it fulfills its purpose this is the a470 it's a busy busy
24:18main road but so what i really like about it is that a pair of dippers is building a nest in one of
24:25the pipes in the wall there there must be a chamber or something i've watched the dippers come carrying
24:32leaves carrying bits of moss and then flying in with it and it's something i haven't seen before all
24:38the other dipper nests i've ever seen have been big balls of moss hanging out over the water on a wall or
24:45on the bank or under a bridge but this one is tucked right into the pipe isn't that fantastic
24:59beyond the tourist hub further down the valley lies the quieter yet dramatic landscape north of
25:05dynas mildewy and it's worth exploring especially in autumn just to see the colors
25:16i'm leaving the valley floor and heading to the upper reaches of the river for my penultimate stop
25:25i've come off the track just a short way now to have a look at this section of the w
25:30valley stampeding over these rocks on its way down to the valley bottom below me
25:42because we've had a cold weather cold snap the bracken has turned color so have some of the leaves
25:50it's absolutely beautiful here
25:52i'm actually going to have a quick stop here a cup of tea there are a few birds of prey around so i'll
26:00see what comes
26:03scattered trees along the hillside are ideal perching posts for this kestrel looking for prey
26:10while other birds prefer to glide up above
26:13the wind whistles up the valley here and then it hits this hillside and i've had a couple of buzzards
26:23knocking about oh hang on there's something up there now peregrine falcon oh look at that
26:30i tell you i've barely had time to drink my tea i'm going to put this down otherwise i'm going to spill it
26:35it's just patrolling i can see the black mask and everything beautiful birds you'll probably gain
26:44height if he sees anything down the valley a pigeon or one of the wintering thrushes
26:49he may well just stoop and go for it what a place this is
26:55a mile or two further up from here is where my journey ends it's a really peaceful place
27:14this is craiglin dovey the source of the avon dovey the source of the river
27:19and it lies in the shadow of the very imposing and the magnificent aran vowedwy and that so often
27:28happens up here as i was walking up i could see the peak and look at it it's suddenly closed in
27:35the weather's so unpredictable but i like the dovey i do like the dovey used to come here
27:42in my teens and in my 20s used to bike over eight miles then walk the other three or four miles
27:48up to the lake here sometimes we'll have a dip on a hot day i like the fact that the dovey so much
27:54of the lower reaches is now protected it's a biosphere reserve national nature reserve local nature
28:00reserves then it winds its way up through farmland a whole host of wildlife beaver of course beaver in
28:08wales you know that's magnificent that would have been thought impossible just 30 years ago and then you
28:13end up in this magnificent place very isolated but very very beautiful
28:30next time i'll be traveling up the stunning conway valley exploring the hidden gems along the valley sides
28:38i also get to see a curlew chick up close and i watch a hen harrier hunting a moorland
28:56so
29:08so