New turlough ??

Reading Georges blog on his trip to the Alun Valley I remembered I had also come across a large area of Marchesinia mackaii (MacKays Pouncewort) on a wooded Carboniferous Limestone outcrop on the western margin of the Nedern Brook Wetland, nr Caldicot (ST 48259 89508).

Marchesinia mackaii...I think !

That in itself is perhaps not that interesting, however the site in question certainly is !

I’ll keep it short: The Nedern Brook Wetland, is quite unusual, it is for all intents and purposes a ‘turlough’, however I don’t really like using that name in Wales.  It is dry in the summer and in the winter groundwater flooding creates a lake 1.5km long and up to 2m deep (report being finalised for NRW as we speak).  As you will know this is a very rare habitat in the UK, only one site in Wales, Pant-y-llyn nr Crosshands, currently fits the description, and there are only three very small ones in Northern Ireland completing the UK habitat.

Nedern Brook Dry (with Egret in shot too!)

Nedern Brook full of water 

‘Why have I never heard of this site?’ I hear you cry….well good question, I really don’t know, and I am convinced it deserves a higher profile, if only for its hydrology.

Hydrologically the site fits the turlough description however I would love to find some of the bryos that are associated with this habitat, namely: Fontinalis antipyretica and Drepanocladus aduncus and others, across the margins where seasonal flooding occurs.  I had a trip to the site with Julian Woodman looking for water peppers but we didn’t really attack the bryos on the seasonally flooded margin.

If anyone finds themselves near Caldicot and fancies a look let me know!