Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIG
111.
Redshank at Pen-clawdd. (Harold Grenfell)
The short-eared owl
Asio flammeus
, a scarce winter visitor, can often be seen in the late afternoon, in
autumn and winter, hunting over Llanrhidian Marsh. It bred near Pen-clawdd during the nineteenth cen-
tury and there is evidence to suggest that breeding occurred in some of the dunes during the early 1920s,
buttherehavebeennorecentrecords.Therehave,however,beenafewsightingsofbirdsduringthesum-
mer, such as the two individuals seen on Fairwood Common in June 1986, which suggest that it has bred
in the area comparatively recently.
COMMON-LAND GRAZING
The salt marshes have been used as common-land grazing for hundreds of years. A survey of Gower
Anglicana in 1583 stated 'The lord and tenants of this Lordship may enter all commons as Llanrhidian
Marshandanyotherandhavedonetymeoutofminde,withoutcontradictionasfarreasweknowwithout
lett or interruption.' All the grazing marshes are now registered common land and the sea-washed turf
sustains large numbers of sheep as well as ponies and cattle. Currently about 300 Welsh mountain ponies,
6,000 ewes and their lambs and 30 cattle graze the area (Fig. 112). This intensive grazing creates a sward
that is attractive to overwintering wildfowl and waders, while less intensive grazing produces a tussock
structure that is used by breeding waders.
