0:00:02 > 0:00:05There are over 30 country parks in Wales.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Thousands of people visit them every year.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Some are old estates of wealthy landlords.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Some are old industrial sites.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20The parks are usually close to towns
0:00:20 > 0:00:23and that's because they have been set aside for us to enjoy
0:00:23 > 0:00:27on our doorstep. But what I like about them most is that they're
0:00:27 > 0:00:29great places for wildlife.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33If you keep your eyes open, you will see some great sights.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56You would think I was right out in the countryside,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58in the middle of nowhere,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01maybe on the edge of a moorland, here - but you'd be wrong.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05Look again, these hills behind me - well, they're not hills,
0:01:05 > 0:01:09it's an old coal tip and now nature has taken over completely
0:01:09 > 0:01:12with the heather, the gorse and these grasses.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14And this is a really special place.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17This is the Dare Valley Country Park,
0:01:17 > 0:01:19right on the edge of the Brecon Beacons.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Up to around 50 years ago,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27most of the South Wales Valleys, like this one near Aberdare,
0:01:27 > 0:01:29were dominated by coal mines.
0:01:32 > 0:01:33The mines have now gone,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and here in Dare Valley, 500 acres of country park
0:01:36 > 0:01:38has been created in their place.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00It's amazing to think that things have changed so much,
0:02:00 > 0:02:02in only 50 years as well, really.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05All of these trees you see behind me, these are all new.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Some of the older ones would have been here, maybe.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10But where I'm stood now, this was a mine.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14This was a mine site here, so all of that has been dug away,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18they've taken all the spoil away, they've re-landscaped it.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22They've created a big old weir, steps for the river,
0:02:22 > 0:02:24and that is the River Dare.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27You know, in the 1960s, that would have been toxic,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30there would have been nothing living in there.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Now, in the river, in the lake here, you've got invertebrates,
0:02:32 > 0:02:36you've got fish, you've even got a dipper,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38a pair of dippers nesting in there.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40I just find that absolutely incredible.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05And the nest is in this culvert here,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08a perfectly safe place, cos it's deep water,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10they're up the side of a concrete wall,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13so something like mink can't get at them.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15It's the perfect place, really.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26Dare Valley Country Park opened in 1974.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30It was the first country park in Wales and the first in Britain
0:03:30 > 0:03:33to be built on reclaimed land.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37The park's warden, Wayne Jones, used to be a coal miner himself.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I tell you what, it's a fair old climb, isn't it?
0:03:41 > 0:03:45- Yes, it is.- I thought one of us was going to go over for a minute.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48And this, then, this must be part of the old tip.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Yes, that's the old spoil, what was taken up from down the bottom end
0:03:53 > 0:03:55and transferred up to here.
0:03:55 > 0:03:56That's old slag, isn't it?
0:03:56 > 0:04:00- Coal slag. - So there's a huge mound of it,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03- this one and another one over there. - Yeah.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06- But this is all that's left, is it? - This is all that's left.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Altogether, then, how many mines would there have been?
0:04:09 > 0:04:12There would have been 19 mines in Dare Valley itself,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14including some drift mines.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Do you remember this as it used to be?
0:04:17 > 0:04:20I remember seeing the buckets coming up
0:04:20 > 0:04:23and the spoil being tipped up here.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26And it looked incredible.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29That's all you could see, was black.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32It's just remarkable, I think, how everything has gone.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36All the metalwork, all the buildings, they've all gone,
0:04:36 > 0:04:40and what's wonderful, from my point of view, is the fact you see
0:04:40 > 0:04:44the gorse, the heather, the trees, nature has taken over, hasn't it?
0:04:44 > 0:04:48It has, yes, it's done a very good job of it as well.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50And this is what's left, you haven't planted anything.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52No, it's all been regenerated,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55we haven't done any planting whatsoever.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58It's all regenerated, nature has taken its course.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06As well as open land, there are pockets of woodlands in the valley.
0:05:08 > 0:05:09Some of them are quite old
0:05:09 > 0:05:12and would have been here during the mining periods.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19It's now early May and summer migrants from Africa have arrived.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Just come out to the woodland now and there a lot of warblers,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27here's a blackcap singing,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30a chiffchaff, a willow warbler here as well. And one or two of them
0:05:30 > 0:05:34are nest-building because they've got grass and other nest material
0:05:34 > 0:05:36and so on, with a feather in its beak, so they will be nesting
0:05:36 > 0:05:38somewhere on the edge here.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41And I'll tell you what I've just seen, and it's a really good find,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44a little butterfly. It looks more like a moth,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48but it's called a dingy skipper - not a great name -
0:05:48 > 0:05:51but it describes the butterfly perfectly, really,
0:05:51 > 0:05:52because it's grey and brown.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56It's not attractive at all, but this is perfect for it.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59It looks like an old meadow - you've got meadow ants here as well -
0:05:59 > 0:06:03but it isn't, it's an old coal heap where they put some soil back,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06but it's thin soil and underneath all of this,
0:06:06 > 0:06:07you can see an ants' nest here.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09If you were to dig down underneath all of this,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13you would have all bits of coal and shale and that warms up
0:06:13 > 0:06:17very, very quickly, so it's good for invertebrates. Bear in mind,
0:06:17 > 0:06:21this is quite a scarce butterfly, cos it used to be quite widespread
0:06:21 > 0:06:26and it does well here because of all of these old coal tips.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28You haven't got tall vegetation,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31you've got a variety of plants and, as I say, it warms up quickly.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39That's nice, I've just found out
0:06:39 > 0:06:41where one of these warblers is building its nest
0:06:41 > 0:06:44and he's back and forth like a yo-yo at the moment.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46There he goes, he's just gone out again now.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48There he goes now, just in the bush.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52He's landing in these small bushes here, he's dropping onto the floor,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54he's picking up bits of moss,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57sometimes it might be a beak full of grass. Once there was a big feather,
0:06:57 > 0:07:02as well, and then he's taking all of that to the base of a big ant hill
0:07:02 > 0:07:06over there. I'll bet the nest is right at the bottom in that base,
0:07:06 > 0:07:07so he will be building that,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10he will be finished that job probably in two or three days.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12It's a great little spot for them.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18There he goes again. Off he goes into the tree now.
0:07:18 > 0:07:19They're busy, they're like yo-yos,
0:07:19 > 0:07:21they're back and forth, all the time.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40The heat of early spring sunshine always triggers activity and you can
0:07:40 > 0:07:44quite easily miss some nice views if you don't keep your eyes open.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49There's a surprising amount of wildlife
0:07:49 > 0:07:51just in a little patch like this.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54The thing is, we've got to look really, really hard for it.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59I'm looking for lizards
0:07:59 > 0:08:03and in ground like this, they like basking on grassy tumps.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07And the reason they are just on these tumps is a variety of reasons.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11First of all, they blend in quite well. These are quite young,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13probably one year old, I think.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15When they're young, they're quite dark and as they get older,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19they tend to get lighter, so they're pretty well camouflaged.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21The second reason is the old grass,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25last year's grass, stays attached, but it dies back.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29That's all the yellow stuff you see here, and that will heat up quickly.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33So these lizards have to warm up from the heat of the sun
0:08:33 > 0:08:35and on here, not just do they get the heat of the sun,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38but they get the heat of the old grass as well.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40And, of course, the last thing, really,
0:08:40 > 0:08:44is if I was to get too close, they would need to disappear
0:08:44 > 0:08:46and they can disappear right in the middle of this tump
0:08:46 > 0:08:48and once they're gone, they're gone.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51I'll never find them once they're gone.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58Dare Valley Country Park extends all the way up a glacial valley
0:08:58 > 0:09:01known locally as the Darren.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03It's great walking country.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11And there are quite a few walking groups that use the park.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Lee and Julie organise some of the walks.
0:09:16 > 0:09:17Hello, there, are you all right?
0:09:17 > 0:09:21- Hello.- I knew this was a busy park, I didn't realise it was this busy.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23What is this, a walking group?
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Yes, it's a local walking group. We set it up of two years ago
0:09:27 > 0:09:30and it's just grown from strength to strength, really.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32So, is this one of those Nordic walking groups?
0:09:32 > 0:09:35- Nordic walking groups, yeah, yeah, yeah.- So you use the poles?
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Yeah, you use the poles to push yourself forward and it engages
0:09:38 > 0:09:40the upper body and all of that, you know.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43See, I've always liked having my hands free.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46- Yeah.- So I could look at the birds or fish or flowers or lizards
0:09:46 > 0:09:47- or whatever it is.- Yeah.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50But it's kind of an exercise in its own right.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53- So, how often do you meet, then? - Every week we meet on a Wednesday,
0:09:53 > 0:09:58but there are other groups that meet as well, which Lee organises,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00but our group is a Wednesday one.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03- It's busy!- It's fantastic. - That's brilliant.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07We use the park well and we go round lots of areas in the park.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10It's one of the best kept secrets in the valley, to be honest,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13we're just on the fringes of the Beacons.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15It's a great place.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19- And I'm local, I'm bound to say that, so...- Well, it is lovely.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22It is lovely, the variety, and on a day like this, you can't go wrong.
0:10:22 > 0:10:23- No.- No.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Early the next morning,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31I'm taking a walk myself to the base of the Darren.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35In particular, I'm looking for bird activity in the valley.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43So, one of the many things I love about this park
0:10:43 > 0:10:46is that the wardens have built this viewing platform up here,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49and it's in a great location, cos you're at tree level,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52right to the tops of the trees, so you can see all around you.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55And hopefully, on a spring morning like this, I can hear the birds -
0:10:55 > 0:10:59and there's a lot of birdsong - and if anything moves, I should be able
0:10:59 > 0:11:00to see it from up here.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12The loudest bird in the woodland is a wren.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20As it's small and not very colourful,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23it needs to be loud to attract a mate.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28And for a little bird,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31well, he's making the loudest noise in the valley.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33BIRD TWEETS
0:11:36 > 0:11:39High up on the Darren, another bird is calling.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42BIRD CRIES
0:11:42 > 0:11:44It's a peregrine falcon,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48one of Wales' top predators, and he's greeting his mate.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Glacial valleys like Cwmdare are perfect places for peregrines,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55it gives them great views of any passing prey,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and the inaccessible ledges are safe nesting sites.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03The pair's been very, very active now.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06It's the second week of May and I'd expect them to be on eggs by now.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08They should be on eggs towards the end of April,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11but they're definitely not, cos the male and the female
0:12:11 > 0:12:14have been up and about, flying around,
0:12:14 > 0:12:15calling a lot.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18And it's typical activity before she lays her eggs.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21She's now sitting up on a tree branch up there.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25She's not concerned about going back onto the nesting ledge at all,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28so my guess is she's probably just about to lay,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30probably in the next few days now.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44By mid-summer, while peregrines have finished their nesting
0:12:44 > 0:12:47on the Darren, cattle have appeared on the wet grassland.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53They're part of a grazing and fire protection project.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59Dry grasses and dense vegetation are flammable and fires can be a problem
0:12:59 > 0:13:01on the uplands of South Wales.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07Emma Douglas works with a grazing conservation organisation
0:13:07 > 0:13:10that promotes improved grazing habitats in Wales.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15- The cows are here.- Yeah, they are. - How many have you got in all here?
0:13:15 > 0:13:19I think there's six here altogether with the calves at foot.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22I tell you what, if these were dogs, I'd call them mongrels.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25- You'd be right!- Are they? They are mongrels, are they?- Yep.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28They're continental crosses, a bit of a mixture.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32So why are you using cattle to graze here, then?
0:13:32 > 0:13:36- Why not sheep?- Well, cattle, they like to grab the vegetation
0:13:36 > 0:13:40with their tongue and they pull it up, so it's not physically possible
0:13:40 > 0:13:42for them to graze very close to the ground.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45It gives a great sward structure,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49which is beneficial to things like reptiles and invertebrates.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53And it gets rid of the more dominant vegetation, like the rushes
0:13:53 > 0:13:57and the grasses, to allow more floristic diversity.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02And also when they lie up, you know, which they do, they like to eat,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and then they lie down and chew the cud
0:14:04 > 0:14:07and then they create these lovely flattened areas,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09again, more structure within the sward.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13I tell you what was lovely, as I walked up here, I saw Ragged-Robin,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17I saw cottongrass, I saw frogs everywhere, and pasture like this,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19I suppose at one time, would have been common all over Wales?
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Absolutely. Particularly on the South Wales coal fields,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26there would have been swathes of this grassland.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30So does that mean that even when coal mining in the Dare Valley
0:14:30 > 0:14:33was at its height, this probably wouldn't have been touched, then,
0:14:33 > 0:14:37- would it?- It appears not, and obviously that, over time,
0:14:37 > 0:14:42decided to decrease and then we got a lot of rank grasses,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45which was routinely set fire to,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48and now that the grazing has been reintroduced here,
0:14:48 > 0:14:49it's actually reduced the fire risk,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53- there hasn't been a fire here since the grazing's been...- Oh, fantastic.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56And this is what you would term as rhos pasture, is it?
0:14:56 > 0:14:58Yes, rhos pasture.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01- Which means what? Just wet pasture? - Wet pasture, yeah.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05I tell you, I like cows, I really like seeing cows out on the pasture,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09out on the hill, and for me to come and see this and see all the flowers
0:15:09 > 0:15:12and everything, it's just stunning.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24The pasture is full of a variety of insects.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27It's clearly a fantastic habitat.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32As it's damp, there are plenty of toads around.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41I have to be careful where I put my hands here,
0:15:41 > 0:15:42cos there's a big cowpat.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45But this is a great time to come into the rhos pasture.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47I timed it to perfection, really.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Because at the moment... If I can pick them up - come here, boy!
0:15:51 > 0:15:53I'll pick one up, anyway. Look at that.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57There are thousands of little toadlets. And what's happened
0:15:57 > 0:16:00is that the adult toads would have spent the winter months
0:16:00 > 0:16:03in the woodland, in the hedgerows,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05maybe even in the rhos pasture itself here,
0:16:05 > 0:16:07at the base of all these rushes,
0:16:07 > 0:16:11they made their way down to the big pond, just down below me.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Oh, he's just jumped. Oh, he's on there, now.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15They've made their way down there.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17They've copulated and laid there,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21and then the tadpoles have changed into little toadlets
0:16:21 > 0:16:24and all at once, they've emerged. They've come out of the water,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27they've made their way back up into here,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29and the rhos pasture is perfect for them.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31It's quite damp, but it's not too wet,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35plenty of cover and there's a plethora of insects here,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39which is what they eat. So they will fatten up here now for a few years,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42they'll stay here, they'll stay in the hedgerows, in the woodland,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45before they themselves eventually will make their way back down
0:16:45 > 0:16:49and lay in that pond again. But the floor, I mean, they are everywhere,
0:16:49 > 0:16:51there are thousands of them here.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54I'll let them get on with it.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06Parts of Dare Valley Country Park are still being farmed.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Merion Thomas has lived here
0:17:08 > 0:17:10all his life and has seen the valley transformed
0:17:10 > 0:17:13from mining to a country park.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15Hello.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18- All right, how are you? - How are you?
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- Have you been around the sheep? - Yes.- Dogs look tired now, for you.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Yes, they've to work hard.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28- So, this is your land, is it? All around here?- Yes, all around here.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30And what have you got - just sheep, or cattle as well?
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Sheep, yes, there's cattle as well, there's horses.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37So, when you were a young lad, let's say five years old,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40standing here with me, looking this way,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42what would you have seen then?
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Oh, it's totally different.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47- There was a big massive tip here. - So they took a lot of that away.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49They had the washery down by here
0:17:49 > 0:17:51and then they turned it into a country park.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54How did you manage to farm, then?
0:17:54 > 0:17:57You had a colliery here, a colliery there,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00you had all the spoil and everything - where did you farm?
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Well, we done the same.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04We used to have a shepherding pony.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07We would go shepherding most days around the flock.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10You'd turn the flock back onto your own ground
0:18:10 > 0:18:12and so would your neighbours do the same.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15So this would be up on the hill, not on this low ground at all?
0:18:15 > 0:18:18No. No. But what happened then,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21in the winter months, the sheep used to fall down
0:18:21 > 0:18:23for shelter in the valleys,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26and we used to feed them then on the fields.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29But the sheep were a lot hardier in them days,
0:18:29 > 0:18:31they would live on the mountain.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35And you would have seen probably hundreds of people coming into work?
0:18:35 > 0:18:38- Oh, yes, yes. - What do you think of this?
0:18:38 > 0:18:40It's a park now.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45And seeing hundreds of people coming in and enjoying themselves,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49- would you rather have it like this? - No.- No?
0:18:49 > 0:18:50You'd rather have the mines back?
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Well, there was so much community spirit then,
0:18:54 > 0:18:56where everybody knew everybody.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Nobody was depressed, because everybody knew everybody!
0:19:01 > 0:19:05And when the local colliers came up,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07you went to talk to them.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11If it was very quiet on a Sunday, we could come down and have a shower,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13which was fantastic!
0:19:22 > 0:19:27Clearly, times and landscapes have changed and today the local people
0:19:27 > 0:19:30of Aberdare come here for leisure, not work.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45The new lakes also attract wild visitors.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53The presence of herons and cormorants
0:19:53 > 0:19:55indicate that this lake is full of fish.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03The birds have become used to people.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11In a wild location, you would never get such amazing close-up views.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20The cormorant in particular is a stunning bird
0:20:20 > 0:20:23with beautiful, bright green eyes.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28This one is panting to control its temperature.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34His feathers are not waterproof,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37so he needs to literally hang them out to dry.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52This dabchick, or little grebe, has caught a stickleback.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58And the spines on the fish are causing problems.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07The fish has to be repositioned for swallowing.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26These man-made pools are fantastic places for wildlife,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29all kinds of wildlife. Especially now in the autumn.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31When you get a bit of sun like this, warm day,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34you see dragonflies and damselflies.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38There are fish in here as well. Small fish. I think I've seen
0:21:38 > 0:21:41sticklebacks in here, but I think it's mainly trout, cos this used to
0:21:41 > 0:21:45be a fishery, believe it or not. And the reason I've come in here
0:21:45 > 0:21:49is because there is a kingfisher hanging around this far shore.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Now, he's got perches all over the place.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54It's really difficult to pin him down. He was over here. He's moved
0:21:54 > 0:21:58along a bit, but if I watch from the bank, I'm a long, long way off.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01So I'm going to venture about halfway out,
0:22:01 > 0:22:02see if I can get a better view of him.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23These kingfishers, they won't nest here.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26They'll nest elsewhere, probably on one of the major rivers further down
0:22:26 > 0:22:29because you've got no nesting banks,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31there is no muddy bank for them to dig this hole in.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33But once they finish breeding, once the young have left,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36they'll come up here because they know that there is lots of perches,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39lots of fish here. So it's an ideal spot and, of course,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43if you get quite a bit of rain, the rivers will be fast flowing.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45They'll be silty.
0:22:45 > 0:22:46Whereas this probably won't.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49So it's a really good place for them, and even in winter,
0:22:49 > 0:22:54and deep winter, if it gets really frosty, very icy, you get so many
0:22:54 > 0:22:56people with dogs here and dogs coming into the water that
0:22:56 > 0:22:59they're constantly breaking the ice, so no matter what the weather,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02they can always fish. Great place for them.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11There he goes, there he goes, though he goes! And back up again.
0:23:11 > 0:23:12Oh, wow!
0:23:14 > 0:23:15Oh, and off he goes.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19She, I should say. Wow! I watched that all the way down,
0:23:19 > 0:23:21right into the water and all the way back up again and then she's gone
0:23:21 > 0:23:24off around the corner over there. I say "she" because I could see
0:23:24 > 0:23:27a little bit of orange at the base of the bill here and...
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Beautiful, beautiful bird.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32And the amazing thing is, they've got this wonderful orange breast
0:23:32 > 0:23:34and then blue, bright blue back,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37but in the middle of the back they've got this line of
0:23:37 > 0:23:40the brightest blue in the whole of the animal kingdom,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44I would say. I mean, we're not in a tropical rainforest,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47we're not in the Amazon here, we're in a country park
0:23:47 > 0:23:50near Aberdare and there is a kingfisher here.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53It's absolutely brilliant. Where's it gone now?
0:24:04 > 0:24:08The Dare Valley has completely been transformed
0:24:08 > 0:24:11from an industrial landscape to a managed wild parkland.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Even the few remaining visible remnants of coal mining
0:24:16 > 0:24:19have largely been covered by plant growth.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31I tell you, you wouldn't want to walk up here 25 years ago.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33This would have looked...
0:24:33 > 0:24:36very, very different then.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Nothing but... Well, no vegetation at all.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43Just a big...spoil heap.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46Bits of coal, bits of slag, just waste everywhere.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49But look at it now. You can tell it's autumn, because the heather
0:24:49 > 0:24:53has just gone over. Few flowers, but most of it's gone over now.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56The bilberries - would have been full of bilberries, lovely eating,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58of course. They've gone over.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01And it's quiet and, on the surface at first, you might think,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03you know what, there's not much here,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05but it's incredible what you do find underfoot.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07As I walk now, lots of insects coming up,
0:25:07 > 0:25:13spiders scurrying away as well, and all of this, all the vegetation,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16the heather, the bilberry, the grasses, the mosses,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20all the insects, has colonised completely naturally.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24It is covered everywhere. Just shows nature's amazing, really.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27No matter what scars man leaves on the landscape,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31if you leave it alone, nature will claim it back in time.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49And, of course, if you get thousands of insects,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53you're going to get predators and the most common ones here are
0:25:53 > 0:25:56the spiders, and look at this one. It's one of the orb web spiders.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59You can tell because you've only got to look at the shape of the web,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03the anchors and this concentric webbing in the middle here.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05And she's a female. She's a big old girl as well.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09And she's just caught a crane fly. One of the crane flies has flown in
0:26:09 > 0:26:12here, she's come straight out from her little den in there,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14she's wound it up in the web.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17She'll probably leave it there, come back and eat it later on.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21But there will be literally thousands of them
0:26:21 > 0:26:23up here on this coal tip,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25just hoovering up all of these insects.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Little cracker, too. Look at the size on that!
0:26:48 > 0:26:51There is a stunning view of the whole of the park
0:26:51 > 0:26:53almost from up here, high up on the Darren.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58And I think now in the autumn, it's at its beautiful best.
0:26:58 > 0:26:59It's a time of change.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02You can feel the change in the air. It's much cooler.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04You can see the change all around you,
0:27:04 > 0:27:09the leaves have gone beautiful reds and oranges and gold,
0:27:09 > 0:27:14and the bracken is just russety brown all over the landscape here.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18And, of course, this is a park that's seen huge changes from being
0:27:18 > 0:27:23incredibly rural to industrial, the mines, the noise, the pollution...
0:27:23 > 0:27:25It would have looked so, so different
0:27:25 > 0:27:29and now it's back to being a natural looking park once more.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32I tell you what's lovely, is that there is a small rowan tree
0:27:32 > 0:27:37just about 20, 30 metres ahead of me here and it's full of berries.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Bright red berries. Acting like a magnet, drawing in birds.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42I've seen song thrush feeding there,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45there's been a small flock of fieldfares, goldfinch,
0:27:45 > 0:27:49but best of all, and very apt, is at this moment,
0:27:49 > 0:27:53there is a ring ouzel feeding on the berries, and I say it's apt because
0:27:53 > 0:27:56the ring ouzel is the emblem of the park.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00They haven't nested here for over a decade now,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03but isn't it nice that a ring ouzel on its way from further north,
0:28:03 > 0:28:08down to North Africa, has seen fit to call in to the park to refuel?