Under my feet : Principality Stadium

Rugby fans around the world will, I’m sure, be familiar with Cardiff’s Millennium – now Principality Stadium. Built in the late 1990s, after Wales had won the right to stage the 1999 Rugby World Cup, the stadium was constructed in the central city, a rugby ball’s throw from Cardiff Castle, adjacent to the still-extant Cardiff Arms Park, and on the site of the old Empire swimming pool.

But this post is not about the stadium itself (you can read more about that on its website). The stadium sits alongside the River Taff, and there is a riverside walkway that takes the pedestrian past one of the stadium’s entrances. There, under your feet, you can see a series of mosaic panels representing the nations that took part in the 1999 World Cup. 

The main countries have their own panels, with one that lumps together the ‘other nations’ – I’m not sure which they were. The panels show the flags of the various nations, together with symbols of those nations. 

The New Zealand panel shown here includes a sheep, a kiwi and what is probably meant to be a tuatara (the lizard-type creature); a dolphin and a whale; a silver fern, red pohutukawa flowers and what’s probably meant to be a fern (as we do not have coconut palms in New Zealand); a sailing ship, a Maori canoe and, presumably, the ceremonial gateway into a Maori pa; a koru (unfurling fern frond) and one other item (top left), which I haven’t yet figured out. 

The mosaics themselves are crude but I like the idea behind them and, twenty years on, they are still in reasonably good condition.

Meet Dexter, the airborne pest control officer

When it comes to a battle between a bird of prey and a herring gull or a pigeon, no prizes for guessing who wins.

They are natural enemies so what better way to control the ever-increasing numbers of pigeons and gulls that are finding a home scavenging amongst the human litter that seems to accumulate constantly in our big cities than to scare away those scavengers with birds of prey.

In the main, companies like Falconry Services use two types of bird, the Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) (below) and the Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) (above). The Saker Falcon came originally from Russia and central Europe but is now hand-reared in the UK, while the Harris Hawk is native to the Americas and a specialist in flying in the close confines of a city landscape.

Animal lovers don’t despair, the birds of prey don’t actually harm or kill the gulls and pigeons. Their mere presence in the skies above the city buildings and the ear-piercing cries they emit are enough to advertise that this territory belongs to them.

Part of Cardiff Castle

Here in Cardiff, sites like Cardiff Castle, the Millennium Stadium and Cardiff Central Library all employ specialist falconry companies for just this purpose. The falconers fly their birds over and around these landmarks, in the process deterring those pesky gulls and pigeons from feeding and, worse, nesting at those places.

Cardiff's Millennium Stadium

Not only does this prevent damage to buildings from bird droppings (the acidic nature of their excrement corrodes building materials), but it also prevents the blocked drains and obstructions to chimneys and gas flues caused by nesting materials. Pigeons also carry diseases, some of which are potentially harmful to humans, so discouraging their increasing urban populations is a very good idea.

Meet Dexter

During a recent visit to Cardiff castle, I had the privilege of ‘meeting’ Dexter, a magnificent but extremely noisy Saker Falcon, and two of his much calmer and quieter feathered friends, a pair of Harris Hawks. I hope you enjoy these photographs of them.

And next time you see a hawk or falcon flying over the city skyline, remember it might not be a wild bird. Instead, it might be carrying out essential pest control work: gulls and pigeons be aware, your presence is not welcome here.

Rugby World Cup 2015 is here!

Today’s the day!

From tonight’s opening ceremony to match number 48, the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday 31 October at Twickenham, rugby fans around the world – and in Cardiff – will be shouting themselves hoarse at matches (if they’ve been lucky enough to get tickets) or screaming at their television screens at home. In pubs, over a pint or three, they’ll be debating the merits of players and dissing the decisions of the referees. In tearooms and canteens, at smoko and over lunch, the only topic of conversation will be whether Steve Hansen’s chosen the right 31-man All Black squad or Warren Gatland’s Welsh boyos can beat Uruguay in their first Pool A match.

The Welsh love their rugby almost as much as my fellow New Zealanders do, and Cardiff’s world-class Millennium Stadium is the venue for eight World Cup games, beginning tomorrow night, when Ireland plays Canada.

Cardiff is abuzz! The flags of all the participating nations are flying in the streets.

And this morning Cardiff awoke to the news that the ‘Rugby World Cup 2015 has touched down in Cardiff with a BANG!’ Overnight, an enormous rugby ball had ‘smashed into the wall of Cardiff Castle’!

It’s fake, of course, but an extremely well done fake by UK-based company, Wild Creations, who specialise in making props and displays for television and film productions, retail displays, exhibitions and more. The huge ball was the talk of the town today, it was being photographed by everyone who walked past (including me), and the tag #ballinthewall was trending on social media.

The Millennium Stadium is bedecked with its gigantic World Cup banner and the flags are flying high.

Even the graffiti has a sporting theme!

So, even if you’re like me and you’re not actually a big fan of rugby, like as not you’ll be feeling the fever over the next six weeks. Here’s wishing all the teams the very best of luck, though, of course, being a Kiwi by birth, I can’t help but hope the All Blacks win! And, as I’m now living in Cardiff, I’m picking Wales for the runners-up!