Exploring Gilfach - Wildlife Heritage

Gilfach is a special place because of all the different kinds of wildlife found here.  Some plants and animals are rare, others are more common, but it's the diversity of habitats within the valley that makes it so rich. 

Gilfach's Oak Wood is carpeted by bluebells and stitchwort in spring.  The woodlands are ideal for birds like pied flycatchers and redstarts.  They arrive in spring to feast on the invertebrates that live and breed in oak trees.

Gilfach's pastures buzz with life in summer.  The fields are full of wildflowers and grasses and these attract many insects including small heath, skippers and small pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies.  Many of the fields are peppered with anthills, visible proof that they haven't been ploughed for decades.  

Check the link below for more information on the many butterfly species found here:

Bell heather, common heather and gorse bring a blaze of colour to the hillside in late summer.  Their nectar-rich flowers attract insects like the bilberry bumblebee and fox moth.

The waterfall platform is a good place to spot salmon in November as they leap up the falls on their journey to lay their eggs in pools where they themselves were hatched.

See for yourself!