Cordinates 53.22940N 4.44804W
National grid reference SH363727
A visit to 3 different wetland types around Llyn Padrig on the 24th October 2013
Marginal wetland round the lake
Floating bog
Site conditions:
This site has a SSSI citation
Weather: warm and sunny some cloud, south easterly wind
Land was mostly dry and solid however there were areas that had soft mud these areas are mainly at the gate between the fields. The wetland area that ringed the llyn was tussocky and marshy.
This area is privately owned and is used for grazing cattle and for snipe shoot and permission had to be granted by the land owner to enter the land this was mainly due to health and safety reasons as this land is used for the bird shoots so has to be closed to the public.
Across from the lake is a small chapel of St Marys
the lake got its name from the Irish saint St Patrick (Llyn- lake Padrig-Patrick) there is a local legend that states that Patrick was shipwrecked on the small island of middle mouse, Patrick then founded(440CE) the Church on the North eastern side of Ynys Mon. Due to St Patrick's influence on the island of Ynys Mon there are several places throughout the island that have his name associated with them.
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| Chapel of St Marys across from Llyn Padrig |
species include bottle sedge (Carex rostrata), common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium), marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris), moss (Calliergon cuspidatum), greater spearwort (Ranunculus lingua). There is also areas of sphagnum lawn
the woody species present in the scrub round the lake are Alder (Alnus glutinosa) and grey willow (Salix cinerea) as well as bramble and gorse
This is a special site as it has a number of plants that are either nationally scarce or uncommon these include, hair-like-pondweed, waterwort, slender spikerush and Autumnal water starwort (callitiche hermaphroditica) these have been recorded in both the larger lake and the smaller ponds.
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| Alder was planted in farm lands in order to give protection for the livestock in winter as it did not impact on the ability of the grass to flourish |
Water starwort
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| the presents of this plant in Llynpadrig shows that no inorganic fertilizers are used on the land as this plant is sensitive to inorganic fertilizers |
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| A pretty flower and the seeds of this plant look like a strawberry |
Animal life
Cattle are allowed to graze this land as this helps in inhibiting succession to woodland, the cattle are only permitted at certain times of the year and no supplementary feeding with silage is allowed as this could increase nutrient levels in the soil. However in severe weather (heavy snow and frost) the cattle are fed hay and mineral licks(these help the cows digest woody and coarse material).
The addition of the cow pats on the land are important food source to invertebrates.
due to the scrub area there is ample sites for nesting birds as well as shelter for other animals such as rabbits and fox, however this needs to be kept in check or it will smother the sphagnum lawn.
there are a number of different birds that use this area along with the snipe (for the shoot) there has also been sightings of wide duck including teal duck, swans, and herons.
Thank you for reading my blog if you have any site of interest in the UK please let me know
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