Piers Meynell

@pmeynell

NHS lab tech, ex student nurse and web dev, vasculitis.

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Piers Meynell@pmeynell· 4d

The Moorhen family on the little pond at the @swanseauni.bsky.social Singleton campus.

A photo of four Moorhens, two parents with their almost fledged chicks walking across the pond weed on the drought lowered pond at the Singleton campus of Swansea University.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Apr 8

I have been monitoring the wildlife with trailcams for @badgertrust.bsky.social Brockwatch. Its perhaps not unsurprising that beyond a fox and badger trail, there's very little activity in the exposed area in the middle of a field between wood and hedge. Hoping that establishing a hedge will help.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Apr 8

The Woodland Trust's Native Tree mix pack comes with hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, crab apple, and Elder for the shrubs and I picked Silver Birch for the trees to be intermixed every 2m or so. I also picked up some goat willow and alder to swap in where it's boggy.

A photo looking down on a mossy grassy lawn. In a row stretching from the bottom left towards the top right three large black plastic corrugated trays can be seen. The trays are filled with approximately 500 tree and shrub saplings ready to be planted.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Apr 8

This is the starting ground. Quite reedy and a little boggy initially before drying out beyond the line of Silver Birch. The reeds and grass have been strimmed back to create a 3m or so wide strip following the fence line.

A photo of rough grazing field. In the bottom left is a metal gate and a barbed wire fence stretching off into the distance. In the foreground mossy grass with random leaf litter soon gives way to reedy grass tussocks. In the the midfield going from one side of the photo to the other and crossing the fence line is a scattered line of young silver birch trees perhaps 4m or so tall. In the far ground the grass and reeds dry out significantly. In the distance on the other side of the field a substantial amount of trees can be seen. And in the far distance the tall rolling bare hills lit by the sun light.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Dec 9

Photos can't quite capture the roar of the water. Cardiff's river #Taff beginning to breach the far side of the playing fields path about 30 minutes ago.

Storm water overflowing a Weir at Blackweir, Cardiff, UK. A photo of white water roaring past the footbridge and over the weir.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 26

Quick look at the #Brockwatch trap footage prior to uploading it and got a welcome surprise: we do have badgers. The camera caught a badger moving from a dry field to investigate a more boggy one. Not the best, might have to trim some of the foliage which the camera seems to be focusing upon.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 22

Uploaded the first batch of photos from the trailcams I've set up for #Brockwatch. Nothing too exciting so far, hoping after the coldsnap there might be a little more activity. In addition to photos for the project, Im taking video too. Most interesting so far is a M pheasant displaying to a F.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 21

As is Carmarthen itself.

A view from a footbridge across the river Towy to the buildings of Carmarthen catching the frosty morning sunlight.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 21

Attending a Health Education Improvement Wales student forum event. Was debating driving but rather glad I took the train instead. Not the best photo (both the reflections and it's prettier earlier), but the views across the estuary are rather pretty in the frosty sunlight.

A photo through a train window on the way to Carmarthen. In the foreground and shadow is a stony shore, in the middle ground is the wide opening of the River Towy and catching the sunlight on the far shore the hills disappearing eventually into the low cloud.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Jul 25

No, I think I'll investigate VPNs instead. Less that this is an afront to the sanctity of my salacious choice in pornography and more that I have absolutely no faith in the third parties who handle the data. This is a huge data breach waiting to happen.

A Blue sky notification appearing at the top of the screen for UK users notifying of the need to register as an adult.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· May 19

Words to live by. Not a fan of tagging, but murals and the like appeal.

Graffiti/mural on a brick wall at the end of an underpass in Cardiff near Cardiff Metropolitan university. It shows an unknown woman's head and shoulders and alongside the text "don't be a dick".

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 11

Not quite the end in site (as a member I parked for free at the nearby #NationalTrust carpark a mile or so down the road), #StoreyArms emerging from the fog. Beyond the blisters on my heels, I really enjoyed things. Though in future I think I might pick clearer conditions/invest in a GPS.

A photo looking down from the brow of a small Fan Fawr foothill to Storery Arms. Storey Arms is only just visible through the fog, but the mix of vehicles in its popular car park before it are rather more visible. Almost the end of my hike. I turned right and headed back down the road to the National Trust car park I stopped at.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 11

The cairn that marks the summit. Have mixed feelings about people constructing such on beaches and mountains. But in this case it does serve a purpose, for whatever reason the Trig point isn't on the summit which is marked by this small cairn and in this dense fog it was a useful reference.

A photo of the small cairn (a pile of stones) on top of Fan Fawr. Beyond the fog obscures any view. Thankfully the trail down the summit is very clear, though does become indistinct in the boggy foothills beneath the summit. However you just need to keep going downhill NE.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 11

#wildcamping has unfortunately gotten a bad reputation following #covid with people limited in air travel looking for holidays in the UK. Whether through ignorance or just not caring, leaving a mess behind, lighting open fires etc. You wouldn't know I'd been there #leaveNoTrace Glad I had a compass.

A photo of the scrubby grass where I camped. Thick fog surrounds, with visibility limited. Beyond my hiking poles and map waiting to be picked up, there's no sign I was there overnight.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 11

With the fog getting thicker I decided to stop looking for the trig point, which a bit unusually isn't on the summit. Having reached some flat dry ground decided to camp for the night. You're not missing much in this tent in the darkness, visibility before sunset was only perhaps 30m.

A photo of a tent illuminated within in the darkness. Light is spilling from its open doorway.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 11

The path is fairly indistinct at times, at least compared to what is apparently described as a motorway up Pen Y Fan, but it is there. It still wasn't that foggy on Fan Fawr, though that was soon to change and I was rather glad that I'd spent a little time learning to use a map and compass.

A photo looking up to the summit of Fan Fawr with streams of cloud/fog spilling across it. The summit itself is lost in the fog. Still quite some climb to go and the path isnt that clear at times, however the only way is up.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 11

Looking down through the mist at the Beacons Reservoir. I should have perhaps paid greater heed to the low cloud base on the mountain opposite, #CefnCrew. The reservoir itself looks worth a walk about itself.

A misty photo looking down from the foothills of Fan Fawr to the dam end of the Beacons Reservoir. The tops of the conifers forest that board the near side of the reservoir are visible. The mountain of what I think is Cefn Crew (or the end of the extended ridge line of Corn Du?) is lost in the fog and low cloud base.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 11

I followed route 14 of the #OrdnanceSurvey Guide "Outstanding Circular Walks: Brecon Beacons". While its only listed as taking about three hours and 4.5 miles as unfit as I am and hiking for the first time it took me considerably longer.

A cloudy photo looking south of the rolling boggy foothills of Fan Fawr. To the left is the edge of the conifer forest and fence that boarders the Beacons Reservoir.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Nov 11

With uncertainties in my health I try to hoard annual leave, travel and what most would consider a normal holiday isn't an option for me anyway., however I need to use some up. I've been wanting to #wildcamp for sometime, this weekend I hiked up a #FanFawr in the #BreconBeacons and camped overnight.

A photo from the National Trust Pont-ar-Daf car park. Normally its a base for people going up the popular Pen-y-Fan, but this photo is looking the other way towards the much less popular Fan Fawr. The summit is peaking out behind it's foothills. In the foreground there are a few cars, the photo has been edited to mask their number plates.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Aug 16

I have to wear an FFP3 mask at all times indoors. That means lunch at work is generally in my car or on the steps of a hospital back up generator. Working across sites there are some rather nicer spots. A bench hidden in a glade of the shade of some trees, sharing my lunch with birds and squirrels.

A photo of a felled tree and stump left in the center of a glade if trees in Singleton Park, Swansea. Feeding on mealworms, dog treats and peanuts are a friendly carrion crow, a magpie and a pair of gray squirrels.

Piers Meynell@pmeynell· Sep 20

You also have more control over you home feed. One thing you might want to adjust is the threshold of likes a reply has to have to appear in your feed. By default it's 1. If things seem a bit quiet turn it down to all. On android it's in Settings > Home feed.