Rhaeadr Bwa Drain

Today has been wet. not all the time but when it did rain it was intense heading towards deluge levels this evening (and still raining at 9.00).

This afternoon's walk was along Cwm Rheidol and then up to Rhaeadr Bwa Drain [rye-a-dir boo-a drine].

 

There were only four of us on the walk today. I guess that was due to the wet weather and the fact that it is a Bank Holiday weekend and people are either away, at one of many festivals or spending time with their families.

Before setting off on our walk we made a diversion to see the falls. Since I avoid having random people in my photos I had to position myself carefully to hide the family group having a picnic on a rock right in the middle of the river. Just behind us were another family having a picnic on the shore with dogs and children playing in the water.

E and S had other plans. Not to cool their feet or even have a paddle but to stand in the water and let the minnows nibble on their feet. Like those fancy fish pedicures you see on the internet. I would have joined them but my leggings wouldn't roll up high enough.

Instead I busied myself watching the wildlife. There in the middle of the river was a yellow wagtail. Although pied wagtails are common and often seen in car parks, the yellow wagtail is a summer visitor from Africa and the numbers are so low it is on the red list. Not only that but the distribution map from the RSPB site doesn't show it in Wales at all. Update, not a yellow wagtail but a grey or water wagtail. I hadn't realised there was a third species. Excitement over.

The next thing to catch my eye was this female golden ringed dragonfly. I know it was a female because it kept stopping to dip its abdomen below the water's surface to lay eggs.

And then I started seeing splashes as trout jumped out of the water to catch flying insects. Not the best photo but I couldn't spend longer waiting for the perfect shot. S, who lives nearby and is an eco-activist was especially pleased as there haven't been any trout in the river for years. There were certainly plenty today.

As we watched to see the trout jumping S spotted a small bird and using the camera we were able to see it was a dipper. I had always wanted to see one of these birds that hunts underwater for small creatures amongst the stones.

Moving away from the river we climbed the side of the valley into the temperate rain forest that covers the slopes when they aren't manicured into useless conifer plantations.

At first the path was quite easy to walk along but then we diverted into much more overgrown areas where the whole path was on a tilt and the downhill side of the path was often crumbling away. It took a lot of concentration to walk along the path and when I got home my my legs certainly felt the strain.

Eventually we reached our goal, a bridge which gave us a good view of the Bwa Drain waterfall.

While much reduced after the recent dry spell it was still impressive seeing the water flowing down from the top of the hill. We had seen the very first trickles of the waterfall from above on our recent walk to the hillfort of Bwa Drain and it was interesting to see it from a different perspective.

We then had to retrace our steps back through the woods and got caught in a downpour just before reaching S's field and then her house. A welcome cup of tea and cake were had indoors this time, usually we sit outside and watch for the smoke of the steam train on its way to Devil's bridge.