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Dune
Posted by Graeme Lyons , Wednesday, 5 May 2010 18:23
I spent a pretty dull day in the office today so I have a brief trip report from Anglesey to fill the gap. Jo and I went to Tywyn Trewan dunes at Rhosneigr on the 20th April, I lived there for a summer in 2002 whilst looking after a colony of terns on the offshore islands shown in the central photo. The nearby dunes have some interesting plants including Britain's smallest grass, Early Sand-grass. The plant is in full flower in the photo so you can see how ridiculously small it is next to a penny. There is a large area of Black Bog-rush in the dunes which is usually a sign that there are other interesting plants about. The spider is Arctosa perita, a specialist of sand dunes and heaths. The spider has a remarkable strategy in that it almost disappears when it stops moving, so convincing is it's camouflage. Other interesting species included a Merlin chasing hirundines unsuccessfully (get a Hobby) and large areas of Heath Dog-violet and Dune Pansy. Nearly eight years have gone since I spent a summer there living partly in a shed on an island and partly in a caravan at the end of an RAF training runway. My most endearing memory was tying my dreads up to stop the terns pecking my forehead when I walked through the colony (they started dive bombing my hair instead) which made me feel really clever...only to have one shit in my mouth. Mm, I will never forget the taste of tern processed sand eels!
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