By Steve Docker 9th June 2025

Steve Docker is a Resource Development Officer with Field Studies Council Publications. Here he describes some wildlife highlights from a two-week holiday exploring the Pembrokeshire Coast and the Gower Peninsula.

A recent two-week holiday exploring the stunning landscapes and seascapes of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and the Gower National Landscape provided a much-needed break, a host of wildlife highlights and a chance for some biological recording.

Marloes Peninsula

Base camp was Camrose, near Haverfordwest. From there, the first major outing took my wife and me to Martin’s Haven Deer Park on the Marloes Peninsula in Pembrokeshire. The name is misleading, as there are no deer, but the coastal views are spectacular.

Coastal view from the Lookout Station at Martin's Haven Deer Park, Pembrokeshire
Coastal view from the Lookout Station at Martin’s Haven Deer Park

We were treated to close views of an adult male Linnet in full breeding colours, with stunning red breast and forehead, and the charismatic Chough (pronounced ‘chuff’), with its down curved, red bill and red legs. There was also a very smart adult male Wheatear, with its white eyebrows (supercilium) and black eye-mask, doing a very good impression of the cartoon ‘Road Runner’, speeding across the ground between cliff top boulders. In the background were black St Mark’s Flies Bibio marci, with their dangling legs.

Skomer and Skokholm Islands

A boat trip around the islands of Skomer and Skokholm offered auks galore. The strong tidal currents that rush between the islands and the mainland keep land predators away. Large numbers of Guillemots, Puffins and Razorbills were visible at close range, both inflight and on the water surface. Kittiwakes, with their distinctive black wing tips, circled and their onomatopoeic ‘kittiwake’ cries echoed around the cliffs.

Puffins on Skomer island, Pembrokeshire
Puffins on Skomer island

Lawrenny Wood and Garron Pill

A walk from Lawrenny Quay revealed the peaceful beauty of ancient oak woodland clinging to steep sided estuarine slopes. Whilst having our picnic lunch at a vantage point at the confluence between the Daugleddau River and Garron Pill, a flash of blue and orange betrayed the presence of a Kingfisher. It hovered above the shallows, dived into the water and then settled on a nearby exposed rock to down a small fish. Further along the tidal Garron Pill, an adult female Stonechat, with dusky brown throat patch, perched in a nearby oak.

Stonechat just above the high tide line at Garron Pill, Pembrokeshire
Stonechat just above the high tide line at Garron Pill

St David’s Head

Another day brought us the rugged Pembrokeshire coast of St David’s Head, where, barely out of the car park, I spotted a metallic jewel. The Ruby-tailed ‘Cuckoo’ Wasp Chrysis sp. shimmering blue-green and ruby-red.

Ruby-tailed ‘Cuckoo’ Wasp Chrysis sp. There are a number of very similar species which are extremely difficult to tell apart. Examined using the 'Beehave spypot' by Richard Dawson.
Ruby-tailed ‘Cuckoo’ Wasp Chrysis sp. There are a number of very similar species which are extremely difficult to tell apart. Examined using the ‘Beehave spypot’ by Richard Dawson.

It proved a good day for finding invertebrates with numerous species of butterflies and beetles, as well as the aptly named Blue Shieldbug Zicrona caerulea.

Bosherston Lakes

The lily covered lakes at Bosherston offer freshwater habitats and are said to be home to Otters. Although we did not encounter them, we did hear the explosive song of a Cetti’s Warbler, and I discovered a slow-moving Lesser Stag Beetle Dorcus parallelipipedus close to the pathway.

Lesser Stag Beetle at Bosherston Lakes, Pembrokeshire
Lesser Stag Beetle at Bosherston Lakes

Marloes Mere

A short visit to the Field Studies Centre at Dale Fort brought more beetle interest in the form of the metallic green Thick-legged Flower Beetle Oedemera nobilis. This sun-loving pollinator was visiting flowers in an adjacent meadow. The thickened hind legs (femora) of the male and slightly parted wing cases (elytra) were clearly visible.

This was followed by a walk around Marloes Mere. Here, we had a close encounter with a female Broad-bodied Chaser Libellula depressa. The dragonfly, with olive-brown abdomen edged in gold, landed close to us in the vegetation. It then teased us, repeatedly taking flight and returning to its basking spot. A pair of Chough fed in the stubble of a field alongside Jackdaws and Carrion Crows, offering a useful corvid comparison.

Marloes Mere, Pembrokeshire
Marloes Mere

Ty Canol Woodland

Our final Pembrokeshire desination was Ty Canol National Nature Reserve which was recommended to us by the Dale Fort centre manager. This proved to be a mystical place with atmospheric oaks and boulders draped in mosses, lichens and ferns. Dor and Click Beetles wandered the woodland floor.

Ty Canol Woodland, Pembrokeshire
Ty Canol Woodland

Rhossili Headland

The final leg took us east, to the very tip of the Gower Peninsula. We followed a coastal path that looped from Middleton around the Rhossili headland. This walk included Skylarks in full song, House Martins, their white rumps clearly visible, swooping below the cliffs and more Choughs. We paused to proactively scan the gorse filled slopes above Fall Bay and we were rewarded with a special find. A pair of elusive Dartford Warbler, the male with wine-red belly and red ring around each eye. The song of a Yellowhammer “a little bit of bread and NO cheese” rounded off the walk beautifully.

Gorse slopes above Fall Bay, Pembrokeshire, home to Dartford Warbler
Gorse slopes above Fall Bay, home to Dartford Warbler

All in all, a wonderfully varied fortnight, with plenty of wildlife and striking coastal landscapes to savour.

Biological Recording

During each day out I like to jot down my biological records in my field notebook. I also use my mobile phone to take photographs, obtain location information and help with initial species identifications. However, it is important to not let these activities distract you from making observations and the sheer enjoyment of nature all around.

I am rarely parted from my binoculars, and I also find a ‘spypot’ extremely useful. This enables me to safely restrain small organisms, especially beetles, examine them with a hand lens, take photographs and release them unharmed.

After each day out, before our evening meal, I like to sort through the biological records and photographs collected during the day to make sure that they are accurately labelled. After the holiday, I double-check the identifications and then enter them into the iRecord on-line system. I was quite surprised to find that 184 biological records (89 species) had been added.

If you would like to know more about biological recording, why not check out my Blog.

Want to learn more?

The Field Studies Council run a range of identification courses, both on-line and at study centres. In addition, there are a range of resources available at eclectic-ecologist.

To help us all appreciate and enjoy biodiversity and better understand the changing state of nature the Field Studies Council has produced a wide range of high-quality identification resources such as the WildID fold-out guides and Aids to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals & Plants (AIDGAP). The guides are available from the Field Studies Council online shop.