KEY POINTS

1 Bog Wood – despite its name, there is no need to worry about wet feet as a boardwalk provides access throughout. What chance a sighting of Tree Sparrows, a small population of which occurs in the Twyi Valley? The grassland slope in the park is dominated by domes of Yellow Meadow Ant nests, a source of food for Green Woodpeckers. 2 Just beyond the pond, leave the park to view the oxbow lake and wintering wildfowl, Wigeon being most numerous. Whooper Swans are regular a short distance along the river, while a Great White Egret seems almost resident. 3 The ancient trees provide superb nesting and feeding sites for woodland birds including Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, a rare bird hereabouts. Another declining county resident is the Willow Tit. Might the provision of appropriate nest boxes here and in Castle Woods prove beneficial? More obvious are wintering finches and thrushes, including Brambling, Fieldfare and Redwing. 4 No woodland in these parts is without Red Kites and Dinefwr is no exception, Sparrowhawks also, while look ahead to balmy summer days and hearing the magical calls of juvenile Buzzards making their first soaring flights above the ancient oaks.