Malltraeth Marsh Ynys Mon

Malltraeth (Cors Ddyga) wetlands on Ynys Mon
Co-ordinates 53.216N 4.333W
A short afternoon visit on the 4th November 2013 to the Malltraeth wetland to identify wetland plants and also to watch starlings coming into roost for the night
This visit had been proceeded with a visit to the botany labs at Treborth where plants from the ponds and  wetland areas were collected and taken into the labs for visual identification using loupes and microscopes.

Site conditions: this site  has SSSI citation
Time & Date: 3pm - 5pm 04/11/2013
Weather was changeable being very cold and cloudy however there were times of both rain and sun.
Land was very wet and soft underfoot with areas of the path that were both water logged (deep puddles)  and heavy mud.
The area that the wetland stands is on a former colliery and several of the buildings are still on the site however they are in a state of neglect.
The site has become popular with bird watchers as it has spectacular displays from the roosting starlings,  starlings at this site do not display the normal roosting flight patterns however they do come into roost en mass but once they are at the site they just seem to fall from the sky straight from flight to the area they are spending the night, mostly on the reeds or other plants that are in or round the water.

The map from http://angleseynature.co.uk/webmaps/malltraeth.html outlines the area of the marsh

The site was reclaimed estuarine marsh in 1824 when the Malltraeth Cob embankment which is a mile long, was constructed and the river (Afon) Cefni was canalized, the marsh is situated on the western side of Ynys Mon.

Malltraeth Marsh covers over 270ha and includes small pools and lakes, marshes, wet grassland and reedbeds. many of the lakes and pools are made from collapsed mine working that have been filled with river water and water from precipitation Llynnau Gwaith-glo is the largest of these lakes

Llynnau Gwaith-glo one 27 lakes that the RSBP created at Malltraeth marsh in 2012
photo from RSBP website 

the marsh has a large following in the bird watching community and is one of the only sites where the birds come into roost without doing an arial display the birds gather together and fly round the perimeter of the site and then come into land on the reeds



these are both images of the different ways in which the starlings come into roost(murmuration) as can be seen both of these are over reed beds but there is a distinct difference in the way they enter their roosting area.
both of the above photos of the murmuration are from  Somerset Levels

male female and Juvenal starling
by Roger Tory Peterson 

Starlings are medium sized birds look black from a distance but up close purples and greens can be seen in their feather similar to the rainbowing in oil on water. they are confident birds in both their ground walking and flight. They are very social and spend many years in one flock, they are very noisy.they are a very common bird in the UK and are resident throughout the year. It is only in the autumn that they can be seen to murmurate.
another bird that is present on the marsh is:
Lapwing

as can be seen lapwings have similar colouring on the black feathers as the starlings
picture from WSBRC website

these birds are recognized by their long head crest and the black and white patterning, they are found in both wetlands and farm land. the male of the species can be seen doing death defying arial displays where they seem to fall out of the sky. they have a peewit call and this gives them their common name.These birds are a conservation concern as they are on the red list, it is thought that there is only 500 breeding pairs in the whole of Wales with Malltraeth marsh having about 3% of the Welsh population.

The famous artist Charles Tunnicliff who lived in the village of Malltraeth until his death used the wildlife of the Malltraeth marsh as his inspiration for his paintings and below is one of wading birds.

Water Reflections      

Plants 

Malltraeth marsh has a large variety of plant life although unfortunately November is not the best time to visit any areas in Britain if you are looking at the plant life as most plants are identified by their flower.
however plants that were identifiable mainly due to the experience with Nigel Brown from Treborth were:
Common duckweed, water violet,wild angelica, phragmites, several species of Juncus, yellow flag iris, bog-bean (this plant was used as a cure for scurvy)  and grey willow.
The grey willow had a variety of lichens growing on the branches and looked similar to the following photo

from RHS website 

 Lichens are important in the use of gauging the nitrogen air quality, as lichens are comprised of a fungus and one or more species of algae and therefore have no root system so get their nutrients from the atmosphere they are sensitive to changes in atmospheric chemistry. It has been found that different lichens respond differently to the level of nitrogen in the atmosphere this means that the level of nitrogenous pollutants can be measures by the absence or decrease in the N-sensitive lichens and the increase of the N-tolerant lichens in an area.

Juncus from the family juncaceae and are commonly know as rushes are a genus of the monocotyledonous (having one seed leaf) flowering plants. there are about 300 species. this plant is difficult to identify as it has a high propensity to hybridize

http://www.biolib.de/
A: Juncus trifidus subsp. hostii Hartm., syn. Juncus hostii Tausch
B: Juncus effusus L.

 Thank you for reading my blog and if you know of any other wetlands in the UK that you think may be of interest please feel free to contact me with the address or co-ordinates.