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| The Dulais, south Ceredigion |
Not a poetry post!
I don’t keep a regular journal record of my daily ‘lockdown walks’, I usually just post a photo or two of a scene or plant, but today’s was one I feel the need to record. Today’s photos were unremarkable, but the walk was not, nor were the sitings of many birds and animals.
I live on the side of a hill above the little valley of Cwm Dulais in south Ceredigion. There are other Dulais valleys in Wales, notably the one just north of Neath, which features a number of former coal mining communities along its course.
‘My’ Dulais is a small tributary of the Teifi. It starts life just south of Sarnau travels a few miles, mostly through farmland from north to south to join the Ceri (a stunningly beautiful valley) near Brongest. The Ceri then travels on to join the Teifi at Cwm Cou, near Newcastle Emlyn. The farms on this route mostly raise sheep, and there are beef cattle and some dairy. Fields tend to be small sizes and there are many good hedgerows.
During lockdown my daily walks all begin and end at home, so the Dulais has become an important part of my life. Whichever circular route I take I usually cross this stream it at least twice. Today, I went a little further downstream than usual, making a longer route. It’s a quiet Sunday, not too cold, just a breeze from the north west, sunshine coming through thin cloud now and again.
I met a few other walkers, a couple of runners, a woman riding a horse, a car or two, but mostly I saw farmstock, birds and other wildlife, which is the main reason I wanted to make this record. I hope I can remember them all:
In farm fields and yards I saw many sheep (I heard early lambs but didn’t get a sight of them), some horses, donkeys, llama or alpaca (not sure which), goats.
Wild animals I saw included:
Heron, long-tailed tits, many blackbirds, robins and other garden-type birds, such as bluetit and chaffinch. They are starting to get their colours ready for spring. I saw a couple of red kite, heard buzzards call.
We know there are foxes, badgers and otters around this valley too. And in the summer I watched a dipper by the bridge at lower Dulais.
But the true star of my two-hour walk today was a goldcrest. I’d never seen one up close before and as soon as I spotted it flitting about in the woody hedge I stood as still as I could in the lane. It came very close, flew towards me a couple of times, then settled on a nearby branch and we looked at each other. He was only a yard away from me. A tiny bird with stunning markings, and a moment I will never forget.
I know I am lucky to live here in beautiful countryside. By
paying close attention to the area within a two or three mile radius of home I
have discovered so much that I would not have seen before, but for lockdown, even though I have lived here for many years.
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| Goldcrest (regulus regulus) |
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| Early morning mist in the valley |
