NEWS AND EVENTS
OCTOBER is when we start our winter maintenance work on the reserve. Denise, our warden, and our volunteers are now busy working on our farmland at Pen y Bonc and Gors Goch to keep our sheep and cattle safe when they’re not grazing on Holyhead Mountain and the Range.
This involves the maintenance of miles of dry-stone walls, Cloddiau (an earth bank with stone face), fencing and wet walls as well as replacing wooden fence posts that have rotted and rebuilding collapsed walls
Cloddiau create amazing homes for plants like wild thyme and sheep’s-bit, insects and even birds like pied-wagtail and wrens.
This is also the time when we prepare our annual heathland management plan, part of the reserve’s main management plan. Management Plans are an essential part of our work as they provide the license to operate and ensure that we are aligned with RSPB national priorities.
The management plan contains lots of things that we need to do to protect the wildlife at South Stack, as well as providing visitors with the best wildlife experiences. This includes maintenance of the trails and paths around the reserve, the upkeep of the interactive information panels and live cliff cameras.
Once our plan has been approved internally, it is then sent to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) – Welsh Government’s statutory body which ensures the environment and natural resources of Wales are sustainably maintained and used.
As South Stack is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) it is a legal requirement that we have written consent to operate in a SSSI from NRW.
One of the areas we manage is Holyhead mountain, home to the South Stack fleawort, spotted rockrose, pale heath violet, golden samphire, rock sea-lavender, chough and silver-studded blue butterfly.
Lowland coastal heathland is mainly made up of heather and gorse and is a rare and threatened habitat. It generally develops on soil with poor nutrients, rocky areas and the ground has wet and dry areas.
Our cliff face has different plants to the cliff tops, which have maritime grass land. The plants that grow here are spring squill, thrift and South Stack fleawort. To manage this area, we graze sheep to open up the grass and allow plants like the spring squill to grow through.
Further back the heather and gorse are known as maritime heathland. In this area the wind and sea spray dwarf the plants. We use grazing and, in some areas, cut small patches for the silver-studded blue butterflies.
Behind the maritime heathland, we have wet, and dry heath and these areas are either cut with a machine or are burnt. We have volunteers and staff that help control the burn.
Before we carry out this work Denise will contact NRW and provide them with a map marking exactly which areas of the heathland we will be grazing, cutting and burning. We also liaise with the fire brigade and our neighbours.
If we did not undertake any management of this precious heathland habitat we would lose this mix of habitats and the heather would lose most of its intrinsic beauty and value for wildlife.
We usually carry out our heathland management work between October and March. If you visit the reserve when this work is being done, please take extra care and keep clear of working machinery. Please keep dogs under control especially around grazing livestock. WHAT’S ABOUT?
Choughs; peregrine falcon; fulmars; ravens; skylarks; meadow pipits; rock pipits; stonechats; wheatears; gannets; Manx shearwaters; finches; porpoise; linnets; curlew; Seals and pups ONE of our residential volunteers saw 28 different species during our monthly survey. These included curlew, goldcrest, linnet, redwing and sparrow hawk. Fourteen seal pups have now been spotted in the bay below Gors Goch and Parliament cave, the highest number recorded on the reserve in the last four years. Watch the video on our facebook page @RSPBNorthWales EXPERIENCE THE LIFE OF A SHEPHERD COME and spend a morning with Pete as he looks after our herd of Hebridean sheep on the reserve. Laura Kudelska You can help drive the sheep and meet the hardworking sheepdogs After all that hard work you can relax and enjoy a complimentary bowl of soup or sandwich. Monday – Friday until November 30; 9.30am - noon; £25 adults, £10 children. Booking essential HALLOWE’EN TREASURE HUNT COME and join us over the October half term and take part in our Hallowe’en treasure hunt – every day from Saturday October 27 – Sunday, November 4. SUNDAY LUNCH PREPARED on site with fresh veg, locally-sourced meat and homemade puddings, £9.50 for two courses from November 11 to December 16, booking essential. CHRISTMAS DINNER GREAT food, stunning scenery, spectacular cliffs and wild Welsh winter seas combined with a warm welcome from Eluned and her staff make RSPB South Stack the ideal location for Christmas lunch or parties. Enjoy a threecourse Christmas dinner for only £16. Booking essential. Available from December 1 to 16. SHARE YOUR STORIES WE would love to hear your stories, experiences and local knowledge of South Stack. Visit us at the reserve, give us a call or send us an email: RSPB South Stack, South Stack, Holyhead, Anglesey LL65 1YH; 01407 762100; south.stack@rspb.org. uk; rspb.org.uk/southstack Visitor centre, shop and café open daily from 10am - 5pm.