Wales: Land of the Wild

It’s the first day of spring, but winter has a sting in its tail as the country is blanketed with snow. As the sun returns, the breeding season finally gets underway.

It is the middle of spring and the brightest time of year in Wales. The race is on to breed, but predators are on the hunt.

It is June and Wales is at the start of one of the hottest – and driest – summers in a generation. This should be the most bountiful time of year, but for wildlife this summer proves to be more challenging than most. Gronant beach in north Wales is home to Wales’s last colony of 350 little terns. The females spread out across the beach, choosing isolated patches of sand in which to lay perfectly camouflaged eggs, but June’s highest tide presents a threat and one tern family has a narrow escape when they are caught unawares, while the warm, sheltered waters of west Wales play host to a gathering of tens of thousands of crabs as they prepare to moult.

It is autumn, the season of change. Wildlife is on the move, and there are battles to be fought to win mates and secure the right to breed. But time is short as winter is coming.