Wales: Land of the Wild

It is June and Wales is at the start of one of the hottest – and driest – summers in a generation. This should be the most bountiful time of year, but for wildlife this summer proves to be more challenging than most. Gronant beach in north Wales is home to Wales’s last colony of 350 little terns. The females spread out across the beach, choosing isolated patches of sand in which to lay perfectly camouflaged eggs, but June’s highest tide presents a threat and one tern family has a narrow escape when they are caught unawares, while the warm, sheltered waters of west Wales play host to a gathering of tens of thousands of crabs as they prepare to moult.