When I was a boy messing about on the River Taff (at the weir just near the Millennium Stadium) I remember distinctly finding a tiny eel, but at the time I wasn't sure what it was. It was in fact a juvenile eel called an 'elver'.

This week, I hated wildlife. I jumped up and down and shouted like a loon directly at an animal,,,, but in my defence, it had just stung me.

Picture by Ian Francis.

There has been an extraordinary amount of rainfall in parts of the country which has resulted in rivers bursting their banks and many places being flooded.

This week I heard on the grapevine that otters had been voted Britain's favourite mammal, straight in at number one.

Rain, rain, rain, it's been non-stop. The rivers are in spate and are full to the brim, which is relatively unusual for the height of summer.

August should have been a lot dryer than it has been and I wanted to talk about the swarms of caddis flies that should be around about now or going in search for dippers. Alas, the rain has been non-stop of late. Clouds have been a frequent reminder of this and today I got a real glimpse of their beauty.

For me in this wet week, the main event has been the appearance of one of my favourite creatures. Loads of common toads (with the fantastic Latin name of Bufo bufo) had a bit of a party in my garden - munching on the snails, slugs and worms which had also come out into the rain.

Sometimes when you're looking for one type of animal another pops up out of nowhere.

Welcome to the first entry in this new Wales nature blog; over the next few weeks this will be the place to come to find news, information and wildlife observations direct from the field. And like all good recipes I'll throw a few thoughts and fun things in for good measure.