Nature and Wildlife

We have a lot to talk about. For starters there’s the Snowdonia National Park, at 840 square miles one of the biggest in Britain. It also gives you a big high – Snowdon, at 3,560ft/1085m, is the highest summit in Wales and England. If you’re more of a sand-between-your-toes kind of person there’s coastline too – hundreds of miles of it along Cardigan Bay (part of the Snowdonia National Park) and the Llŷn Peninsula, designated an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. So we don’t just serve up rocky mountains. You’ll also find green hills, rushing rivers and valleys clothed in ancient oakwoods, and a coastline of sublime estuaries and secluded bays, dizzy headlands and big beaches. The wildlife seems to like it. We’re a sanctuary for countless plants and animals – from the crags of Cwm Idwal, home of the exquisite Snowdon lily, all the way to Bardsey Island off Snowdonia’s ‘Land’s End’ and its teeming colonies of Manx shearwater. So pack your binoculars. Bring your camera. To get you going here are some snapshots from our wildlife album.

Craig-Yr-Aderyn

Craig-yr-Aderyn, ger Tywyn. Efallai y byddwch yn fwy cyfarwydd gyda’r enw Saesneg - ‘Bird Rock’. Arferai’r dyffryn islaw fod o dan dŵr Bae Ceredigion. Bellach mae’r môr filltiroedd i ffwrdd ond mae’n parhau i fod yn fan gwych i weld adar y môr. Nid yw’n anghyffredin gweld Bilidowcar yma, maent yn hoff o nythu ar yr hen glogwyn môr, dim ond mewn un man arall ym Mhrydain y gwelir hyn ar dir. Mae gan y graig hon bwysigrwydd Ewropeaidd, diolch i’w safle fel man cenhedlu a chlwydo Brân Goesgoch. Cadwch lygad hefyd am y geifr gwyllt sydd yn crwydro ar hyd yr adareg wahanol hon.

Coed-y-Brenin

Coed-y-Brenin, ger Dolgellau. Caiff ei adnabod oherwydd ei gymysgedd urddasol o goedwigoedd godidog coniffer a choed llydanddail, sydd yn gyfoethog mewn hanes a phrydferthwch naturiol. Mae’r amrywiaeth syfrdanol mewn bywyd gwyllt yn cynnwys ceirw, grugiar ddu, barcud goch, bele pîn a phryfyn fel pili pala brith perlog. Wrth siarad am berlau, mae afon Coed-y-Brenin yn cynnwys misglen perl prin iawn - a hyd yn oed darnau man o aur Cymreig. Ceir rhwydwaith o lwybrau sydd wedi eu cyferbwyntio yng Nghoed-y-Brenin, yn gynwysedig mae Llwybr Darganfod Gardd Goedwig, ble ceir arddangosfa sy’n dangos enghreifftiau o goed amrywiol.

700 536 (196x150) Traeth Aberdaron Beach

Llŷn Peninsula

Mae modd mynd yn wyllt ym Mhen Llŷn - mae harddwch naturiol Pen Llŷn mor chwedlonol â’i hetifeddiaeth Geltaidd. Mae llawer o’i morlin yn cael ei warchod gan yr Ymddiriedolaeth Genedlaethol. Ewch i chwilio am ddolffiniaid ar y pentir ger Aberdaron. Ceir golygfeydd anfarwol tuag at Ynys Enlli, ynys sydd yn cael ei rheoli gan ymddiriedolaeth elusennol. Heb os, mae’n baradwys i wylwyr adar. Yn gynwysedig gyda thorf o Pâl Manaw, mae’r clogwyni hyn yn gartref i wylanod coesddu, gwylogod, llurs a mulfrain copog, tra bod y morloi yn torheulo’n ddigyffro ar y lan. Ewch ar y gwch o Borth Meudwy, Aberdaron i ddarganfod ei bywyd gwyllt a golygfeydd godidog.

Our natural heritage can be seen at its very best at National Nature Reserves (NNRs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest, mostly cared for by the Countryside Council for Wales. We have more NNRs than any other National Park in Britain. Go right to the top on Snowdon, the highest nature reserve in Wales, where birds of prey such as peregrine falcon and raven nest amongst the jagged cliffs, and the Snowdon lily and other hardy arctic-alpine plants have evolved to cope with extreme conditions. Lower down, the mountain is fringed by beautiful woodlands of oak, alder and wych elm.

Betws y Coed is encircled with thick woodland. Gwydir, like Coed-y-Brenin, is a mixed forest. Here you’ll find Douglas fir and Norway spruce as well as some of Wales’s finest oak glades, and – hidden away amongst the trees – the secret mountain lakes of Llyn Geirionydd and Llyn Crafnant. Follow paths and old miners’ tracks through the woods, looking out for buzzards, peregrines, merlins, goshawks and black grouse.

700 408 (400x233) Gweilch Glaslyn Osprey Eleanor Bentall (rspb-images.com)

Guess who’s the star at the Glaslyn Osprey Project near Porthmadog? These extremely rare birds have been nesting and breeding here for some time. You can keep an eye on them thanks to a viewing scheme run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in conjunction with the Forestry Commission.