@collieryspoil.bsky.social
Nature conservation initiative aiming to raise awareness of the #biodiversity value of #collieryspoil sites (coal tips & former collieries) in South #Wales Valleys and beyond. Posts by @liamolds.bsky.social.
Exploring a coal spoil site near Aberdare today, we found the flat-backed millipede Polydesmus barberii.
This non-native species, first seen in Britain in 1995, has only recently been discovered in Wales. Today's find is just the fourth known site in Wales β and the third in the Cynon Valley!
ππΏ Join us for Blaenavon Biodiversity Day on Sat 20 Sept!
Guided walks with local experts on insects, fungi, birds + more.
Donβt miss @liamolds.bsky.social from @collieryspoil.bsky.social leading an insect/invertebrate walk!
π Blaenavon | ποΈ 20 Sept
Join the Buglife Cymru Coal Spoil Connections team, Lost Peatlands Project - Prosiect Adfer Mawndiroedd, KeyCreate, and others for a WildBlitz at Clydach Vale Country Park!
ποΈ Friday 29 August
π 10:30 - 15:00
π Clydach Vale Country Park
No need to book, just turn up at Cambrian Colliery Memorial.
Hieroglyphic Ladybird (Coccinella hieroglyphica) from heathland at Sirhowy Hill Woodlands, Blaenau Gwent, this morning.
21.08.2025 17:24 β π 22 π 5 π¬ 0 π 0
Last night we visited Gelli Tips and were treated to a beautiful scene β the evening sunlight casting a golden glow over the tips, with the heather in full bloom. ππΏ
We also captured some breathtaking drone footage that will feature in an upcoming video for Buglifeβs Coal Spoil Connections project.
An Evening Of History and Wildlife at Silent Valley - Friday 8th August, 6:30pm start
Join Buglife's Coal Spoil Connections Team and @henebtwa.bsky.social for a guided walk through Silent Valley Nature Reserve.
For further info and booking, visit: www.trybooking.com/uk/events/la...
A few spaces have become available on the 'Bee and butterfly guided walk' at #Mumbles π¦π
Fri 1 August 10.00am β 12.00pm and 1.00pm β 3.00pm
Meeting point: outside Forte's, Mumbles Road, Mumbles, #Swansea SA3 4JT
What3words ///fields.sobered.sharpens
πBooking required: www.trybooking.com/uk/EWZL
π£ Berytinus crassipes & B. montivagus (stilt bugs)
π£ Doratura stylata & Rhopalopyx adumbrata (leafhoppers)
Once again, colliery spoil is proving just how special it is β supporting species you wonβt easily find elsewhere. There's real ecological value in these overlooked landscapes. π
Today's survey was a great success, turning up a number of uncommon invertebrates, including:
π£ Feathered Stem-moth (Ochsenheimeria taurella)
π£ Top-horned Hunchback (Acrocera orbiculus)
π£ Adelphocoris seticornis (plant bug)
This year we've been working with the South Wales Trunk Road Agency to survey roadside verges for invertebrates around Merthyr Tydfil. Today we made our final visit to a very special verge in Dowlais. Comprising colliery spoil, it's proving to be a real hidden gem for biodiversity!
28.07.2025 18:30 β π 5 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
Back to Sirhowy Hill Woodlands today to continue the invertebrate survey. The reserve looked lovely, and great to see the bee hotels in use β even spotted a Wood-carving Leafcutter Bee (Megachile ligniseca) basking on one!
Among today's nice finds was the leafhopper Rhopalopyx adumbrata.
Today's guided walks at Parc Melin Mynach, Gorseinon, explored the former Mountain Colliery site.
Highlights included Marbled White, Six-belted Clearwing, Brown-banded Carder Bee, prowling spider Cheiracanthium virescens, and picture-winged fly Herina palustris.
Great turnout despite the heat! π₯΅
@walesnatureweek.bsky.social @sewbrec.org.uk @wtswwswanseagroup.bsky.social
05.07.2025 08:05 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
It's #WalesNatureWeek π
Join @liamolds on a guided walk at Parc Melin Mynach, Gorseinon, and discover how nature has reclaimed this former colliery site.
Friday 11th July
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
For booking, visit www.trybooking.com/uk/events/la...
One day for sure π
24.06.2025 12:10 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
π Exciting Discovery Alert! π
Back in January we teased some big newsβ¦and here it is!
π Semilimax pyrenaicus (Pyrenean Semi-slug) has been recorded in Britain for the first time, found at a colliery spoil site in Cwmaman, S. Wales.
Read more: doi.org/10.61733/jco...
#SemiSlug #WildlifeDiscovery
Last week, @olds_liam led a guided walk for staff & students from University of Bristol at Coity Tips, Blaenavon.
We explored the unique habitats and species of colliery spoil β which included sightings of iconic species such as Bilberry Bumblebee, Mottled Grasshopper, Fairy-flax & Bee Orchid.
Incredible tufa springs seen at the former Pentremawr Colliery, Pontyberem, Carmarthenshire, today - clearly decades of tufa deposits! Around the springs was Delicate Soldierfly (Oxycera nigricornis) and Giant Lacewing (Osmylus fulvicephalus), as well as caddisflies and craneflies.
19.06.2025 18:55 β π 25 π 4 π¬ 1 π 0
Hidden Life of Colliery Spoil: Biodiversity Guided Walk (FREE)
Discover the surprising wildlife of Parc Melin Mynach, Gorseinon, on a guided walk led by entomologist Liam Olds. Explore how nature has reclaimed this former colliery site.
Friday 11th July
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
First piece about the new #LostPeatlands project. If those on the peatlands feed or working on other conservation projects could give it a repost it would be much appreciated!
If youβve got things you want to see us develop, deliver or evidence, let us know.
businessnewswales.com/new-funding-...
How lovely is this male White-jawed Yellow-face Bee (Hylaeua confusus) found at Ogmore Washeries, Bridgend, this week!?
This bee was one of two bees to be added to the former coal washery's ever-growing species list this week (the other bee was the Small-flecked Mining Bee, Andrena coitana).
Our suggested event this week is our #BioBlitz at Penllergare Valley Woods in #Swansea on Saturday! Help us to explore the wildlife of this fascinating Victorian estate. Join us on one of our guided walks (schedule below).
Book here or come and find us on the day: penllergarebb.eventbrite.co.uk
Absolutely delighted to come across Bilberry Bumblebee (Bombus monticola) workers foraging on bird's-foot-trefoils at the former International Colliery, Blaengarw, this afternoon. We're so fortunate to have these beautiful bumblebees in the South Wales Valleys!
@bumblebeetrust.bsky.social
Three-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), Horse Leech (Haemopis sanguisuga) and the clown beetle Margarinotus neglectus among some of the finds at Sirhowy Hill Woodlands, Tredegar, today.
09.05.2025 18:39 β π 5 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
A few sightings from a quick visit to Darren Fawr Tip, Garw Valley, today: Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages), Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris), and American Blue-eyed-grass (Sisyrinchium montanum). The latter appears to be doing well there.
06.05.2025 14:49 β π 8 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0Thanks π
03.05.2025 15:50 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
The treehopper Centrotus cornutus from Pentremawr Colliery, Pontyberem, Carmarthenshire, today. This is one of only two species of treehopper in the UK and is typically found in woodland rides, as this one was.
03.05.2025 15:49 β π 7 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Butterfly heaven this morning at Cwm Tips, Beddau, with Small Blue (Cupido minimus) and Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages) both on the wing π¦ Brown-banded Carder Bee (Bombus humilis) queens were also seen foraging on Kidney Vetch flowers in the grasslands.
30.04.2025 16:36 β π 11 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Perfect weather for Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris) today! This male was seen at Cwm Tips, near Beddau, this morning. Just look at those fearsome jaws!
30.04.2025 11:17 β π 17 π 3 π¬ 1 π 0
Enjoyable day spent exploring tips in the Cynon Valley around Abernant and Cwmbach with friends. Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva) seen foraging on Whinberry on one tip. A surprise find was the millipede Polydesmus barberii, which is endemic to southern Europe (along the French and Italian Rivieras).
13.04.2025 19:19 β π 10 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
