Penllergare Valley Woods is a really popular place to walk, to get away from our troubles and to get close to nature. In fact, we’re seeing over 100,000 visits per year to the Woods. Dog walkers have always loved Penllergare and we know that about 40% of British households have a pet dog, so we can be pretty sure that we have at least 40,000 dog visits every year!
People love their pets and dogs provide some great benefits to their owners such as loyalty and companionship as well as getting us out to exercise.
But Penllergare isn’t just about us humans and our pets! There’s a great diversity of wildlife within the Woods too, which the Penllergare Trust is committed to protect. In fact, the Valley Woods is one of the three great ”green lungs” of Swansea, the others being Kilvey Hill and the Clyne Valley. We all know that the natural world is under huge pressure and that many species are in steep decline. So doing everything we can to protect the wildlife of Penllergare is vitally important.
It’s winter now, but as we move into spring we’ll see increasing activity in the birds as they prepare for nesting season. Initially, the males will be singing lustily to stake out a territory and to attract a mate while later on the parents will be working flat out to first incubate the eggs and then feed some very hungry chicks. This is an immensely demanding period for breeding birds when every daylight hour is devoted to foraging for food and tending to the young.
We can do our bit to help the birds through this tough period by doing our best to disturb them as little as possible.
So, we’re asking our visitors, during Bird Nesting Season (1st March – 31st July) to keep to the main paths and, dog walkers, please keep your pet on a lead.
Ciaran O’Brien – Trustee
The Penllergare Trust