I got back yesterday after a week in north-east Essex, a land of big skies, big fields, cereals and livestock and the common sight of tall, dense hedgerows and I saw none that had been trimmed (except alongside roads by the Council for safety reasons). I do like the Dyfi estuary but the Blackwater is something else and it has adjacent reserves such as the splendid RSPB Old Hall Marshes.
I noticed that Chris had seen a couple more colour-ringed Med. Gulls. (See below.) Unusually they did not have much of a history:
White 3ALK had been ringed prior to fledging at a site near Antwerp, Belgium in June 2013 and was not seen again until Chris saw it the other day (no doubt from the comfort of his car).
Green RU93 was similarly ringed in the Vendee region of France, by the Bay of Biscay in June 2014 and only subsequently seen by Chris; at Aberystwyth in August last year and again the other day.
What do I see yesterday as I approached home, another neatly cut stretch of hedgerow, away from the road, top and sides. Nearer the start of July there were two more freshly cut stretches elsewhere which I had to pass several times.
So, further to Arfon's recent piece on such matters, here is how to notify such out of season (ie before the end of August) hedge cutting: contact Rural Payments Wales, Agriculture, Food and Marine and Sustainable Futures, Welsh Govmt., via e-mail: RPWOnline@wales.gsi.gov.uk