15th: Melincourt Falls – South and West Wales

There can be no doubt that the short walk up to Melincourt Falls, is an absolutely stunning way to spend 15 minutes. It hugs a bank with the river (better known as Melincourt brook) on your left. The woodland all around you is just as stunning as were all the glorious flora, especially the various species of ferns we walked past. That’s even before we got to the falls themselves, which are also stunningly beautiful, with a sense of the forest continuing on 2 levels, at the base and the top of the falls. As you looked up over the thundering waterfall, you could see what looked like full grown oak trees up there.

Mind you, there is always so much more than the scenery to take in (if you’re lucky) and we were in for a treat. The walk up to the falls took us about 45 minutes as early on we heard the unmistakable high call of the greater-spotted woodpecker. Wherever it was, it was really going for it and we thought it must be a youngster, making that much of a racket and we finally spotted it. The youngster was at the entrance to its nest hole crying out to be fed, constantly.

We then spent about half an hour watching, photographing and filming the youngster and its parents as they visited to feed it. A true blessing and an exciting encounter, that once again will, I think, become a painting. There is an open question though about whether to make it the main feature, or part of a picture that tries to capture the whole falls.

The wildlife encounters didn’t stop there though. We had lunch at the falls and had noticed that there was a bee that kept flying around, until suddenly there were about 7 or 8 of them. We quickly retreated and discovered that we’d put our bag on top of the entrance to their nest. We then spent the next 20 minutes watching them flying in and out on a regular basis. You always have to be careful where you tread and sit, you never know whose home or life you’re disrupting!