John Lloyd

Farmer, Ecologist, Ornithologist, Grandfather, holiday cottage owner

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@powell_peter Cut off close to ground next winter, plant the gaps with new young plants and essentially start again. The stumps will regrow. I've done a few of these over the years and any other approach results in a mess.

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@TomCadwallender I rowed there many decades ago, Tom. From what I remember, a rather sterile environment, concrete sides etc. And a 500m course on a 520m long reservoir so sprint to the line and jam the anchors on hard.....

Good to see some wildlife on it.

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@cat_frampton Because politicians, the majority of whom dropped science as soon as they could as a school pupil, see a tree as a stick of carbon. They don't understand about diversity of habitats and carbon storage in soils.

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@powell_peter @ArfonWilliams4 (Llandrindod office)... so many problems with this approach by WG. Sends a dangerous message to my fellow farmers who are less environmentally aware: forces me to lie that it is actually another habitat: separates the river from it's surrounding land ecologically etc. etc..

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

Finished my habitat registration for the SFS last night. A complete nightmare of a job with a visit to the Llandovery WG office for reassurance. No water habitats allowed though so this river doesn't exist as a habitat🤔. If it doesn't exist as a habitat, I can't improve it.

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@tommlancaster @vickihird @LinesMartin @MilesKing10 @nvonwestenholz @Tom_Clarke @herdyshepherd1 @AliceGroom2 @LydiaCollas @georgewdunn @emilymnorton Add into that in Wales, at least.
Removal of "habitat land" from APR( already delineated) to encourage more if it. Acknowledge that removal of APR is deeply damaging to the future of the Welsh language.

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@cat_frampton And a messy job: rails not cut back flush with the strainer; strainer top not re-protected with creosote or substitute; wire ends left sticking out in all directions..... And that's what I can see.... ( rails look very flimsy for cattle)...

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

It's also bad news for the rural economy in Wales, further ensuring a concentration of all efforts, resources and services in urban areas. Whatever the Chancellor said this morning, we in rural Wales are entering a period of ice-cold austerity.

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

I find this really dispiriting, a real kick in the teeth and thumbs down for the 50 years of bird recording I've done
BBC News - Natural Resources Wales job cuts put nature at risk, campaigners warn - BBC News
https://t.co/lzS622AWmh

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@sambbryo An important question...a partial way in might be the red/amber lists. Particularly as common species would never be a concern.

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@cat_frampton NRW have done exactly that to me- twice. My sympathies...
But it's not community engagement that's lacking, it's neighbourly good manners.

(I asked for, and got, compensation for the inconvenience caused.)

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@powell_peter @North_Wales_WT In our catchment, (the Cynghordy Brân) a new road so timber lorries don't have to go through Rhandirmwyn is heavily implicated. Since it's opening, Balsam, Knotweed and- considerably more positively- Greater Tufted Sedge have all become established on several tributaries.

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

@powell_peter @North_Wales_WT Introducing a non-native species to control a non-native species? That can (and has elsewhere) go terribly wrong.
West Wales RT came through my farm in June and pulled about 80%- I did about half the rest but it's a waste of time as the Balsam is still thick upstream.

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

A day @royalwelshshow which amongst so many other things is a massive, if temporary, shopping centre and all I come home with is 2 flock books and a bundle of movement licences
😒

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

If you're good enough, age is irrelevant. There's more than 70 years age difference between the two handlers in first and second place. @nc_cheviot

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

I try to do as much bird recording in the Elenydd as I can. Four @BirdTrack lists this afternoon filling in a black hole. And a view down Llyn Brianne to my most productive Pied Flycatcher site this year. Inspite of being north facing and @ 300m

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

Above the Usk Resr this afternoon turned from a bird trip (though Willow Tit, Common Sandpiper Sand Martin were all there) into a botany walk. Southern Marsh Orchid, Ragged Robin and Bitter Vetch amongst alot else. Conifer forests often have lopsided biodiversity but not here

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

There's still some "mistress" nests hatching. Past experience does not lead to optimism about the survival of these chicks but even 1 surviving makes Mum's journey north worthwhile. @piedflynet @PiedflyWales

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

Allt rhyd y groes NNR is a beautiful place with a sessile oak wood and it ought to be great for woodland birds. But when northerly winds whistle down the valley Blue Tits and Pied Flys suffer high chick mortality. This year particularly. 2 Wood Warbler nests with young was nice

[John Lloyd @johnvlloyd2000]

I did an @BBS_birds survey this morning in mist and mizzle when the forecast said it was going to be sunny.😂 Not surprised, I was on Drygarn, Wales' boggiest and most forgotten mountain. At least I know I've got 142m to go and I'm only 1m off the transect. Best bird Ring Ousel