Life Conference: Cors Goch

Day 1 of the Life Conference starts at the amazing Plas Menai in Caernarfon. The first thing to do upon arrival is to get myself a cup of tea, and a question pops into my head... does being a wetlander always require such early mornings?
After an interesting morning of talks from many people who work with the Life Project (and plenty more cups of tea) it was time for lunch, then a short coach trip to the first site...

Cors Goch

The site is owned and managed by the North Wales Wildlife Trust, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) protected under the RAMSAR convention.

Cors Goch is a beautiful patchwork of wetland, heath, meadow and rocky outcrops making it home to a huge variety of species. The wetland at the site is characterised as calcareous fen land, as the supply of water to the fen is calcium rich due to the surrounding limestone rock. The underlying the drier heathland at the site is sandstone rock making it more acidic than the lowland fen.

Looking down at Cors Goch from surrounding limestone

The site was formed thousands of years ago when glacial movement created a basin where a lake once lay. The land surrounding the lake was then colonised by vegetation, which naturally, over time began to decompose and form peat. As the peat continued to accumulate the area of which the lake covered began to decrease until eventually it was filled, which is what we can see at the site today.

Wildlife
Plant species are in abundance at the fen site and include Great pond sedge, Bottle brush sedge, Common Reed, Black bog rush, Blunt-flowered rush and the carnivorous Butterwort, but don't worry it doesn't eat humans (I hope).
The drier heathland areas are inhabited by Hawthorn, Blackthorn and also to the despair of the site manager Bracken which is slowly encroaching down toward the fen.
These plants all provide cover for many vertebrates including numerous species of bird such as Sedge Warblers, Hen Harrier and also the Yellowhammer. Other vertebrates include Foxes and Stoats. The fen site which is supplied by calcium rich water that supplies the fen allows it to become is a perfect environment for a host of invertebrates including species of Frog and Toad, both Palmate and Crested newt species have been spotted at the site. There are species of Dragonfly's and Damselfly's, and the Medicinal Leech inhabits the waterlogged areas of the site.