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Iolo's River Valleys - Season 2 Episode 1 - Usk
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00:04The rivers of Wales are among its greatest natural treasures, shaping
00:10breathtaking landscapes for centuries. In this series I'm going to be traveling
00:17along four of Wales' longest river valleys. The Ask, the Towie, the Tivey and the Dee, heading
00:30from tidal shores to mountain streams. I'll get to see the fascinating wildlife living
00:39there.
00:42All four are rich in stories and surrounded by epic scenery. So join me through the seasons
00:50as I uncover the wonders of four great river valleys.
01:05The river Ask is one of the longest rivers to flow solely within Wales. I'm heading up
01:11its 77 miles coast through the heart of the Banner Brychyniog National Park and ending in
01:17the west on the Black Mountain. I'm starting near the industrial docklands
01:24of Newport. And over my right shoulder is Newport's most famous landmark, the Transporter Bridge.
01:31One of only two transporter bridges still working in the whole of the UK. And although it's
01:39home to 160,000 people, there's still plenty of wildlife to be found along the riverside
01:46in the heart of the city.
01:53At low tide, the river Ask reveals its mudflats, attracting different birds to feed on invertebrates
02:00hiding under the surface, while patches of land above the river quietly support their own hidden wildlife.
02:09I've come down now, not far from the bridge, you can hear the traffic in the background.
02:14And the river Ask is about 20 metres over there and there's a housing estate just over here.
02:19And this is what most people would think of just as an abandoned bit of wasteland.
02:23But do you know what, it's not. Just look at the flowers here, common centauri, there's teasel,
02:28there's buddlier plants everywhere as well. And it's a real pollinator's paradise.
02:36There's a red admiral, beautiful red, black and white. And then when it shuts its wings, it just disappears.
02:43It's so well camouflaged. If you come on with me a little bit, just over here is a butterfly
02:51I always associate with woodland, woodland glaze, woodland rice. Here we are, here it is, speckled wood.
02:57It's landed again, this one. And this one's been dancing around, defending its territory, right in the middle of New
03:04Put.
03:05And bees, there are bees, several species of bees here as well.
03:09And I wonder how many people walk along here and really don't appreciate what's all around them.
03:26Every so often you come across a strange looking insect and Graham the cameraman has spotted one.
03:32I can see it, I can see it right on top there. Tell you what, I'll try and get around
03:37it. Here we go.
03:39Wait there, don't go too close. I'll see if I can get around it. It's such a cool insect.
03:43It's called a javelin wasp. Get down here now.
03:48And it's called a javelin wasp because of that ridiculously long ovipositor.
03:55It looks like a sting, but it's not a sting. It uses that to lay its eggs and it targets
04:00solitary bees and solitary wasps.
04:03So it needs to get that right into the burrows to lay the eggs. That is superb.
04:11Amazing looking insect. Look at that. Superb. Superb.
04:16And the Latin name, right, and I didn't make this up right. Genuinely, the Latin name is Gast Eruption Jaeculator.
04:26Seriously.
04:36The lower section of the river Usk is one of the few areas in the UK where sea fish called
04:42shad come to spawn.
04:44And the stretch through Usk town is a hotspot.
04:49During spring, hundreds migrate and gather in calmer fresh water where the Levenci lay their eggs on the gravel riverbed
04:57at night.
05:00As we move upstream towards Abergevenny, the river's current pushes that gravel to the sides, forming shingle banks.
05:08And those quiet patches make perfect nesting spots for a few hardy riverbirds.
05:16There are quite a few birds that will nest on the shingle and right on the edge of the shingle.
05:23So if I stop and scan, just look for any movement because the birds that nest on the floor, they'll
05:28come off the eggs to go and feed every now and again.
05:30And the eggs are so well camouflaged. They're not worried.
05:33And it's a brilliant day to do this because it's nice and warm.
05:36The eggs won't get chilled. They won't get cold.
05:39And it's worth listening as well because some of the birds will feed and display and call.
05:52It's a little ring plover. It's a little ring plover nest.
05:55Wow. Okay.
05:57Now I've got to be careful now with this. It's quite a scarce bird.
06:01I have got a license by the way. I've got a license to find, to monitor, to film the nest.
06:06You've got to have one. Just watch where you put your feet.
06:13Be really careful. See that there?
06:18Look at how well camouflaged those are.
06:20What the bird does, it remembers where some of these key stones are, so it can make its way back
06:26to those eggs, to incubate those eggs.
06:29Four eggs is a full clutch. Just hope we don't get any high water now for the next few weeks
06:34until these eggs hatch.
06:35But that is absolutely brilliant. Right, let's back off.
06:41We stuck Graham the cameraman hidden under a nearby tree to film the bird coming back to the nest, and
06:47I'll watch from further back.
06:53I've only just had time to settle down here, well away from the nest.
06:57And one of the birds has come back straight away. Straight away.
07:00She landed on the shingle and is making its way back up to the nest now.
07:07Oh, it's lovely walking through.
07:09Oh, there's another bird. The partner's already incubating the eggs.
07:15Where did that bird come from? I didn't see the other bird coming in at all.
07:18It shows you just how tolerant they are. There'll be fishermen making their way up and down.
07:23And the birds are used to coming off the nest, going back on the nest all the time.
07:30They'll be feeding on insects, and it's a good river for insects.
07:34And there's not a single Welsh river, I think, that's in great condition these days.
07:40But the usk, comparatively speaking, is one of the better ones.
07:46The river usk is also known for having a good brown trout population, partly down to the abundant insect life
07:53that it supports.
07:54Warm spring weather is a good time to see newly hatched food sources for all sorts of wildlife.
08:02What's interesting is that you get all kinds of flies.
08:05You get your mayflies, you get your stoneflies, your caddyflies, your alderflies, all these different flies.
08:12But they'll emerge, not just at different times of the year, all the way through from late winter,
08:17right through spring, summer, autumn, again into early winter.
08:22But at different times of the day as well.
08:28Here we go. Here's one of them.
08:31Lovely old insect, member of the mayfly family.
08:34It's called the medium olive.
08:37See the yellowy body and the yellowy wings and the big, big black eyes.
08:42Right, I better let that one go. We'll see if we can get some more now.
08:49Oh, look at this. This is a big one.
08:51Look at that. Large brook dun, this one's called.
08:54And it's a sizable mayfly, this one.
08:57Imagine being a brown trout, jumping up to catch one of these.
09:01That is a fair old meal in itself.
09:03And these are like the fast flowing areas of river, just like this one behind me.
09:08And they'll emerge from the shore, from the bank here.
09:11And the reason they all hatch at once is because it's much safer for you as a fly
09:18if you are emerging one in 10,000, one in a million.
09:22If you emerge just one or two of you, you're all going to get eaten.
09:25But if you're in a mass of other mayflies, then the chances are you'll live long enough to mate and
09:32to lay eggs again.
09:46The Usk Valley is scattered with remnants of its industrial past,
09:50many of which have since been transformed into peaceful areas for recreation.
09:55And the canal at Llanvoist is one of the prettiest.
10:13I've left the valley bottom to come and have a look at another significant waterway
10:19that actually follows the river Usk for much of its course.
10:22It's the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal that was built during the Industrial Revolution
10:28to transport coal and iron.
10:31It would be brought to the canal by railways and tramways and taken to the docks down at Newport.
10:39It closed in 1962, but a section 35 miles of it has now reopened.
10:45And in the summer, it can be very busy here with tourists.
10:51Not so busy now, of course, but I think it's at its very best in the autumn, at its beautiful
10:57best.
10:59But I'm not here for the canal, actually. I'm going looking for a special spider.
11:12Once a route for workers and trams, this dark and damp tunnel is ideal habitat for a large spider,
11:19perfectly adapted for these conditions.
11:27Oh, here we are, girl. Here we are.
11:30Right. I'll hold the light. I don't want to put it too close.
11:33It's about six inches above my finger.
11:37Yeah, yeah, I do.
11:39It's a European cave spider, and they live in caves, as the name suggests, and dark tunnels like this.
11:46And of course, usually, it's dark here, 24-7.
11:50And you might wonder, how do they survive here?
11:53Well, there is a slight wind.
11:54This is the old walkway that was right underneath the canal.
11:58You can hear the water dripping behind me here.
12:00And there is a slight breeze blowing through, so you will get the odd insect coming through and being blown
12:07into the web.
12:08But the main food source is that, around here, you've got midges.
12:13These are the midges that will bite you in the summer.
12:16But it's the females that bite.
12:18And they'll overwinter in caves and in tunnels like this.
12:22And that provides the spider with its main food source.
12:26I tell you what's really cool about them as well, is that the adults, they don't like light.
12:31That's why I don't want to put the light too close, because it'll shy away.
12:34It'll go up into one of the cracks up in there.
12:38But the egg sack, let me show you an egg sack.
12:42Egg sack is up here, hanging down like a small ball of cotton wool.
12:48That's where the eggs are.
12:49And you might have maybe a couple of hundred eggs in there when they hatch out the spiderlings.
12:54Well, after they've molted for the first time, the spiderlings are then attracted to light.
13:01So they'll walk to the entrance of the tunnel.
13:05They'll provide some silk, a long line of silk, and that'll act like a parachute to carry them away
13:11in the hope that at least one or two of them will land by another cave.
13:16And that's how they spread from one place to another.
13:19And of course, once they land, they then go into the cave.
13:22They're then attracted to the dark rather than the light, just like the adults are.
13:27It's cool. Nature thinks of absolutely everything.
13:30Fantastic spiders. I really like them.
13:37Overlooking the valley south of Crick Howell stands a dramatic wall of rock that defines the landscape.
13:45This was once a huge limestone quarry during the Industrial Revolution and used to make fertilizer, whitewash, and as a
13:53vital part of the iron making process.
13:57These days, the rock faces are mostly visited by organized groups here to climb them.
14:02But I'm here to explore the slopes underneath.
14:06I couldn't walk up the Esk Valley without bringing you here.
14:10This is Crigachilliae.
14:13Now, it's limestone, so it was quarried for hundreds of years.
14:17But today, it's a national nature reserve, and that's mainly because it's got some pretty rare plants here.
14:24Whilst most of the rare flowers cling to the crag's inaccessible ledges, there is a scarce Arctic alpine plant that
14:31grows beneath the cliffs.
14:32It's amazing, you know, it's so heavily grazed here, but one flower that's surviving somehow, and I don't know how,
14:43is mossy saxifrate.
14:45It's quite a rare one, scattered all around this rocky area here.
14:51Lovely little white flowers in the carpets areas of the floor.
14:57And also, there's a bird chak-chak in up here.
15:04Let's tuck in here for a minute.
15:06It's, erm, it's a wheat year.
15:08There's a bird you'd expect in an area like this.
15:10They like it well grazed, but rocky, the Welsh name is excellent.
15:15Tinwen a Garn, the white bum of the rock.
15:18It's got this bright white bottom, but it nests in scurri like this.
15:23Here we are.
15:24Here we are.
15:25Let's have a look.
15:27Oh, that's nice.
15:28It's the male.
15:31And there's some grubs in his beak.
15:34Go on boy, go on, go on.
15:37Yeah, there'll be a nest here somewhere for you.
15:40He's quite nervous.
15:41He knows I'm here.
15:43But I think, here we go.
15:45Yeah.
15:47He's just disappeared into the rocks there.
15:50See if he comes back with an empty beak.
15:54Yeah, yeah, there we are.
15:56Back chuck, chucking at me, telling me off again now.
15:59The nest is obviously tucked out the way in that area of scree there.
16:03It'll be really nice and safe somewhere.
16:05They'll have tunnels in there.
16:07They'll nest right against the floor, so it'll be nice and cool.
16:11The chicks will be protected.
16:13Here comes the female.
16:14The female's coming in now.
16:16Yeah, she's got a beak full again.
16:18Oh, nice to see.
16:19But it's a bird you'd expect.
16:20They're like these over-grazed areas, because they can find beetles and grubs on the surface.
16:26But I'm going to back off and let them be.
16:31One bird I wasn't expecting to see here is the redstat, a migrant from Africa that's usually found along woodland
16:38edges and glades.
16:39Since it's carrying insects, there'll be a nest nearby.
16:44So, to avoid disturbing this busy parent, we turn our cameraman, Graham, into a bush by covering him in camo
16:52netting.
16:55There's a male redstat.
16:57There he goes, look, just flying along.
16:59Bear in mind they usually nest in holes in trees, in holes in walls.
17:03I've seen them in holes in houses.
17:04But the nest is in the ground.
17:07There's a small shrub and the male and the female occasionally keeps disappearing with food into that hole there.
17:16Does the same thing every time.
17:18Goes to the tree at the back, then flies to the tree at the front, the small tree.
17:23Looks around, makes sure everything's okay.
17:25And then he drops into the hole, stays for maybe 10, 20 seconds.
17:30Comes out and then off he goes again.
17:32Really confiding bird.
17:34And I think, I think it's the first time I've ever seen a redstat nesting in the ground.
17:49The middle section of the Usk Valley is an important area for one of our rarest mammals.
17:55The lesser horseshoe bat.
17:58After they emerge from their winter hibernation sites in spring,
18:01they spread out to nearby areas looking for good feeding sites and gather at different maternity roosts to raise their
18:09young.
18:10One of them on the outskirts of Brecon is an old manor stable block dating back to the 1600s.
18:19Carys Piotto from the Vincent Wildlife Trust monitors this site and I'm tagging along this evening.
18:26So this was part of the stable block of the old manor and it's just excellent for horseshoe bats.
18:32Oh wow. And where do the bats come out? Is it this archway here?
18:37Yeah, so they've got two main exit points.
18:39Their favourite is this one here in this arch and then there's another one round the back near vegetation.
18:45The bats emerge just after sunset so we get our gadgets out including infrared light, camera and thermal scope.
18:55We're all set up now. All we're going to do is wait for it to get a little bit darker,
18:58wait for the bats to come out and then we'll go over to infrared.
19:05So here's some footage that we've recorded and this is inside the building.
19:10And you see why they get the name Lesser Horseshoes because of this, the nose area and it looks like
19:15a mini horseshoe kind of thing.
19:17Absolutely, yeah. And they echolocate through their nose.
19:19Oh, do they? Yeah.
19:20So they emit the noise and then it comes back in their ears obviously.
19:23Absolutely, yeah. And those satellite ears are constantly moving to pick up all of those echoes and pick up all
19:29the detail.
19:29They're quite stunning. Some people say they're ugly but I really like them.
19:32They love beautiful in their own way.
19:34I do, yeah, I do.
19:34Have these got youngsters?
19:36Yeah, absolutely. You can just see.
19:38Oh, look at that.
19:38They're actually upside down here.
19:41So you'll see in the back of the baby there, that's the tail and just the end of their wings.
19:47There are what, 30, 40, maybe a few more bats there in that scene now.
19:52How many have you got in the rooster?
19:54Probably around about 500 adults.
19:57Majority will be females, that's not including pups.
20:00500 is a big roosh, isn't it?
20:02Really good, yeah.
20:03This whole area is a bit of a stronghold for lesser horseshoes.
20:06It's just lovely landscape.
20:07If you look at a satellite image, you've got great quality woodland, lovely connected hedgerows,
20:13lovely sheltered valleys, everything that a lesser horseshoe needs to be happy.
20:16I don't want to panic you, I'll take that.
20:18Look, there's quite a bit of activity going on now, so what exactly is happening?
20:22Let's get the bat detector on.
20:25This behaviour you can see of them coming out and coming back in again is called light sampling.
20:30Right.
20:30A couple of different theories why they do this.
20:32They're obviously nocturnal, so perhaps it's to reset their circadian rhythm.
20:36So when the days are getting shorter, it helps them adjust to those alterations,
20:41as well as seeing what the conditions are like when they pop out of their roost for the first time,
20:45because they're quite shy bats.
20:48They are our highest accolocated bat in the UK, so about 108 to 114 frequency.
20:54Human hearing is, at best, about 20 kilohertz.
20:57Wow.
21:02There's a lot of activity now, and they're actually coming out a bit more now as well, over our heads.
21:06Yeah, getting a bit braver now, as it's getting a bit darker as well.
21:10It's actually very hypnotic, watching them here, you know.
21:13It really is, it's hard to start off.
21:13This is brilliant.
21:19So these are probably mostly mums bats that have given birth recently,
21:23and their pups are either old enough to just hang them up inside
21:26and leave them when they go out and hunt for some of their favourite foods,
21:29which would be sort of crane flies, moths and midges, that sort of thing.
21:33It's amazing, isn't it?
21:34I mean, I would look up there now, I can't see a thing.
21:37I can't see anything up there, but it's only by looking at this
21:40that I can see how many there are, how they're whizzing around.
21:44They're just phenomenal mammals.
21:47Yeah, absolutely, and with the detector off as well, it'd be completely silent,
21:50and it's just a whole world that you wouldn't know is there.
22:01Brecon and the surrounding area is a magnet for visitors,
22:05heading to explore Banai Berchenyog National Park.
22:10But I prefer the quieter spots that are off the beaten tracks.
22:24It's an amazing spot, this is called Panthaskathog, not far from Senny Bridge.
22:30And it's privately owned, but I have got landowner's permission to be here.
22:34And it's one of those places where you can just stand and just soak in the view.
22:40Lovely place, really nice.
22:43It's one of the many little hidden gems all along the usk.
22:49And talking of little gems, I'm going to make a bit of a detour,
22:53go to a privately owned woodland nearby in search of one of Wales' rarest and smallest birds.
23:18Just come up to some conifer woodlands above the floor of the usk valley now.
23:24We're looking for quite a scarce bird, quite a scarce breeder.
23:28It's called a firecrest. It's kind of a close cousin of the goldcrest.
23:32But it's got white and black stripes across the eye and just a bright orange cap here.
23:40I suspect there are more around than people know,
23:43but it's not an easy one to pin down and certainly not an easy bird to film.
23:47So we're going to have to just sit and watch and wait and hope we see something
23:52flitting around amongst the top branches of these trees here.
24:20They keep still for very long, don't they?
24:21No, no, no. I did warn you.
24:35Oh, we've hit gold dust. We really have hit gold dust here.
24:39We've hit the edge of a territory between two firecrests.
24:43There are two males here, one on the left, one on the right.
24:47And they're so vocal. They're calling.
24:50It's really hard to hear. It's high pitch, but they're calling constantly.
24:54And the one on the left, he's quite nervous, I think.
24:57But the one on the right here, he's got a flame orangey, flame-coloured feathers on top of his head.
25:04And he's flaring that out as a threat to this other male over here going boom, boom, boom, like that.
25:10Beautiful birds. Beautiful. Best views I've ever had of a firecrest.
25:15Honestly, it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
25:19And he's still singing away. He's up.
25:22Have you got him, Bray? Have you got him?
25:24You've still got him, Bray? He's still there. He's still there.
25:35Just amazing. Usually you get just a stalking little bird.
25:40Hard to see. Hard to get the binocs on.
25:42But this one... Yeah, he's up. Yeah, he's up. He's still there.
25:45This one is just brilliant.
25:48And it's as if he's holding a torch on top of his head.
25:51It's an amazing bird. It really is.
25:59We've got a fox. Green fox. We've got a fox.
26:06To cap it off. Just let the fox walk right out and down the middle of the path.
26:13In the middle of the day. What a place. Is that brilliant? Is that brilliant?
26:29The Usk Reservoir is fairly remote.
26:32About 280 acres of water surrounded by the Glasfwnydd Forest.
26:39It's the main supply for Swansea and Cardiff.
26:42And is fed by the rain that falls on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain range.
26:47This is where my journey ends.
26:54It's well worth checking out any wet flushes you come across because there's a greater diversity of flowers and more
27:01insects.
27:02These are mating six spot burnet moths.
27:07And everyone thinks moths say you're boring and brown and fly at night.
27:10But look at these. These are day flying and they're beautiful.
27:14Just black, bright black with red spots on them.
27:18Now they're mating so I don't really want to disturb them.
27:21I'll just let them get on with it.
27:39This is the perfect place to end my journey up the Usk Valley in the shadow of some of the
27:45high peaks here.
27:46You've got Van Brachyniog on the left and then you've got Van Voel.
27:51And then the start of that long ridge there.
27:54That's Picos D.
27:56And the Usk I always think is one of our most varied rivers from a point of view of wildlife.
28:01You start in the industrial estuary around Newport there.
28:05Then you meander up the lowlands past Abergyvenny and Crick Howell.
28:10And it's been an eye opener for me to see ground nesting red starts.
28:15Then you carry on towards Brecon, a vitally important area for lesser horseshoe bats.
28:20There are hundreds of them there.
28:22And then you reach Banner Brachyniog, the Brecon beacons itself.
28:25And I'm going to carry on following the river because this is one of the least visited parts of the
28:31Brecon beacons.
28:32One of its major attractions for me.
28:37Next time I'm heading up the Tawi Valley where I look for fallow deer during the rutting season.
28:45Find different birds living on an ancient site.
28:48I'll get to see juvenile salmon in a tributary.
28:51And they explore a stunning oak woodland.
28:56Next time, we'll get to see Tape Vajon.
28:56No.
29:01No.
29:10No.
29:10Not.
29:10No.
29:10No.
29:11No.
29:11No.
29:11You
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