Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve is located in

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of w ...

in the city of Cardiff. It covers an area of approximately 8 hectares (19.8 acres). The area was officially opened as a wildlife reserve on 25 July 2002 in what was previously an area of

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI) up until the opening of the Cardiff Bay Barrage in April 2001. The area had previously been salt marsh, but the Barrage created 200 hectares of freshwater lake, and from this the reserve was developed.

Construction

The site was chosen by Cardiff Harbour Authority, which manages

, to create an important new environment from the previous salt marsh, and to help compensate for the loss of the Cardiff Bay mudflats. Edmund Nuttall Ltd. won the GB£120,000 contract to build the Reserve, and work was completed by the end of November 2003. In 2001, a landscape architect, Phil Williams from the

Landscape Institute The Landscape Institute (LI) is a UK based professional body for the landscape profession. Its membership includes landscape architects, urban designers, landscape planners, landscape scientists and landscape managers. The LI also has a catego ...

, was appointed. He said: After the Wetlands Reserve was constructed, tonnes of debris had flowed down from the River Taff and collected near the reserve, so in 2003 Cardiff Harbour Authority built a 450-metre floating boom to prevent debris from entering the reserve.

The reserve

Wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

are a transitional habitat between water and land; they provide an important habitat for many bird, fish, animal, and plant species. The Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve can be found near

St David's Hotel St. David's Hotel was an Edwardian Era hotel in Harlech, Wales. The building was located on the A496, adjacent to Theatr Harlech (formerly called Theatr Ardudwy) on the campus of Coleg Harlech, and Royal St David's Golf Club. Design and constru ...

close to

Mermaid Quay In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

. Prior to the construction of the Cardiff Bay Barrage, this area was made up of mudflats and salt marsh. The wetlands reserve was created in the new freshwater lake. The reserve is a biodiversity hot-spot within

. The reedbed, a

UK Biodiversity Action Plan The United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan or (UK BAP) was the UK government's response to the Convention on Biological Diversity, opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The UK was the first country to produce a national Biodiversi ...

habitat, along with other aquatic plants, are very productive vegetation. A number of bird species including

common reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a ...

s, reed warblers, and sedge warblers, use this habitat in which to build nests. Reedbed is not only important for birds, but also for invertebrates, fish, and amphibians. Interesting birds and wildlife can be seen here – not only in the summer, but year-round. The types of birds and their activity level will vary depending on the season. In the spring, when some birds breed on the Reserve, birds can be seen and heard singing – especially early in the morning. The autumn and winter bring visitors like teal and European stonechat.

The Wetlands food web

The various species which inhabit the Cardiff Bay Wetlands exist in a dynamic food web. Very small creatures such as midge larvae and worms live in the mud underneath the wetlands. These are eaten by several bird species such as common snipe. Other insects also use this transition zone between water and land to spend various phases of their lives – dragonflies live in the aquatic zone as larvae and adults. Sometimes

black-tailed skimmer The black-tailed skimmer (''Orthetrum cancellatum'') is a dragonfly belonging to the family Libellulidae. Distribution This species is widespread in Europe and Asia. It is found throughout European continent including the Mediterranean islands ...

s can be observed hunting their territories in the

reen A rhyne (Somerset), rhine/rhyne (Gloucestershire), or reen ( South Wales) (all pronounced "reen"; from Old English ''ryne'' or Welsh ''rhewyn'' or ''rhewin'' "ditch") is a term used in parts of England and Wales for a drainage ditch, or can ...

part of the reserve. The relationship between plants and animals – birds or insects, can be surprising. Cinnabar moths feed on ragwort whilst in their caterpillar phase. Fish are also visible in the shallow areas of the Reserve. A number of coarse fish species benefit from the warm water and abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation which exists almost exclusively in this part of the Bay. The water provides excellent nursery conditions, cover, and food for small fish. Some species of bird spend a lot of time in the reserve because they can feed on fish there. Grey herons and common kingfishers are often seen on the reserve.

Access

A footpath crosses the reserve from St. David’s Hotel to the Yacht Club on the River Taff. At the end of this footpath, a boardwalk goes out into the water, allowing good viewing across the Reserve, and also provides a good spot for watching the fish shoaling in the shallow waters. Although public access is not permitted onto the main body of the reserve, this is to allow excellent breeding and feeding conditions to develop for the species present. It is possible to view many bird species from the public area with the naked eye, and binoculars will allow an even better birding experience. Also visible is a floating boom that surrounds the reserve. Under conditions of high river flows on the Rivers Taff and

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formal ...

, water-borne debris can be washed down into Cardiff Bay from the upstream catchments. This boom prevents this debris from entering the reserve, and impacting upon the species that are found there.

Notes

External links