Craig Y Cilau NNR

This National Nature Reserve is in the south east corner of the Brecon Beacons National Park,South Wales. The upper reaches of the reserve consist of limestone crags topped with open heather moorland.The bottom of the valley has a mixture of Birchwoods,Conifers and Hawthorns with a raised peat bog and small river running through some farmland.There are a number of well marked footpaths around the reserve ranging from easy to quite difficult in places.

The area has a rich diversity of species to interest any naturalist. Mammals on the reserve consist of Fox,Grey Squirrel,Stoat,Weasel,various rodents,Brown Hare and the only Badger colony I know of that have a sett actually inside the limestone caves.

Plants on the reserve are just as diverse due to the upper reaches being peat moorland with the valley bottom being sandstone.Of particular interest to the botonist would be the rare Least Whitebeam trees that grow out of the limestone crags.It is also a great place for Fungi with Honey Fungus,Puffball,various Mycenae,Shaggy Philiotus and Fly Agaric.

There is a very rich amount of birdlife on the reserve including all the common species you would expect to find.Red Grouse,Hen Harrier (Winter only) and Red Kite can be seen on the upper Heather clad tops.There used to be regular pairs of Ring Ouzel breeding on the reserve but they have sadly dissapeared but can still be seen on passage.In the woods and valley below you will find all the regular woodland species along with summer visitors such as Pied Flycatcher,Wood Warbler, Redstart and Tree Pipit.I have also seen Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on the reserve.In the more open areas you will find Meadow Pipit,Raven,Whinchat,Stonechat,Wheatear,Jay and Peregrine.