Red Kite, Little Ringed Plover, Garganey, and iridescent Thick-Legged Flower Beetles
Nature is buzzing, blooming, and brimming with life!
The wetlands are crawling with insects this week
Wildlife Sightings at WWT Llanelli from 12th – 18th May 2025
Highlights: Red Kite, Little Ringed Plover, Garganey, Thick-Legged Flower Beetle
This Wednesday, a Red Kite soared over the Freshwater Lagoon, showing off its signature forked tail to those watching from the Observatory and Boardwalk Hides. A less common sighting here, compared to its fellow birds of prey, the Red Kite is an amazing example of how species protection programmes can save our native animals from the threat of national extinction. Today there are more than 300 breeding pairs in Wales, and their ruthless persecution is firmly in the past.
Also visible from the Observatory Hide yesterday was a Little Ringed Plover, fluffing up its feathers for the photographers. Joining it were two Ruff, wading amongst the Knot, living up to their names with messy feathers that looked like they had just gotten out of bed!
On Friday, a male Garganey was spotted from the British Steel Hide, perhaps part of the pair seen two weeks prior. Though a female was not seen, Garganeys are known to be elusive ducks, so we can’t know for certain! What we do know is that Garganey are rare breeders on site, so we are happy to be seeing them here around nesting season.
Our final highlight of the week is not a particularly rare species but an eye-catching find for those admiring the wildflowers around the Millennium Wetlands. The Thick-Legged Flower Beetle is a vibrant metallic green. Often spotted feeding on Oxeye Daisies and Bramble flowers, these pollen-loving beetles are most easily identified by their enlarged hind femora (present only in the male). Joining them are plenty of other intriguing invertebrates, including the Ringed China Mark moth and the Scorpionfly, and our most recent damselfly to emerge, the Large Red.
Daytime Otter activity has been the talk of the town this week, as a pair were seen swimming together on Tuesday, just after the Stone Islands on Deep Water Lake were raided by a paddling Fox! To protect the Black-Headed Gull nests, we have put a floating barrier in place around the island. The barrier poses no issue for the wildfowl, who will happily swim over or under it but should hopefully dissuade the Fox as they don’t like to get their heads wet!
And last but not least for this week, we’ve had some Wild Geranium and Common Columbine popping up around the Grounds, brightening the grass verges with pink, white, and purple hues.
Featured Photo Credit: Chris Faulder
