An arctic tern on passage

15 Thursday Oct 2026

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When an exciting alert appeared in my local birding WhatsApp group on Friday 2 October, I was off. First, I had to run for the train – I’m old, I never run, but there are only two trains an hour to Cardiff’s northern reservoirs and I was conscious that migrating birds often don’t linger long.

And, at first, I thought that was exactly what had happened because, when I got to Llanishen Reservoir, I was told the Arctic tern had just flown off high to the south. Fortunately, as you can see from my photographs, after about 10 minutes, the bird reappeared and proceeded to entertain me and several other birders with its aerial display.

This particular Arctic tern had an interesting routine. It was favouring the northern end of the reservoir, where it would fly back and forth over the water in its constant search for food, occasionally dipping low to the water, sometimes splashing right in. When it eventually caught a sprat, it would fly to the reservoir embankment, perch on the stones to eat its prey, and let the food digest for 5 to 10 minutes before taking flight to repeat the process once more.

By the end of the day, the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) had flown off, hopefully well fuelled to continue its epic migration journey – the longest of any bird – to spend the southern summer in Antarctica.

Feasting Greenfinches

14 Wednesday Oct 2026

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This was an unusual sighting during one of last week’s local meanders.

I’d checked out Cardiff Bay Barrage for any migrating birds (found one lovely female Wheatear dotting about on the grass), and continued from there on the footpath that runs along the top of the Ely embankment, where the River Ely flows in to Cardiff Bay. A couple of our winter-resident Turnstones were tootling about, stone-flipping and poking in the vegetation, but the stars this day were two juvenile Greenfinches.

At this time of year, there is often a small flock of Linnets nibbling on the seeds of the many Herb Robert plants that grow all over the embankment stonework but, on this particular day, the Greenfinches were messily enjoying a feast. Greenfinches are usually a little more wary of being close to people, I find, and the footpath can be very busy with walkers, the river with marine traffic and kayakers but, perhaps because they were young birds, these Greenfinches hadn’t yet learned to keep away from such potential threats. They were a delight to watch.

The also-rans

12 Monday Oct 2026

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From a birding perspective, my recent trip to Weymouth and Portland was my most successful so far, with 85 species logged, and the unforgettable thrill of seeing, albeit fleetingly from the train, my first ever White-tailed eagles perched like statues on the edge of Poole Harbour. In this last blog from that trip, I want to feature some of the also-rans, the birds I loved seeing and managed to photograph that didn’t get their own blog but still deserve to be admired.

One of the many Blackcaps that were passing through on migration.

On a blustery day when birds were mostly sheltering, this delightful Dunnock appeared and posed nicely.

Though there are quite a lot of trees around RSPB Lodmoor, and a small woodland to the north in Lorton Valley Country Park, I was still a little surprised to hear this Great spotted woodpecker pounding at a tree trunk right by the water.

A Great white egret looking statuesque in the soft morning light.

Lodmoor was looking quite autumnal, and this female Marsh harrier sitting on her lookout post seemed to blend right in.

RSPB Radipole was mostly a disappointment this time around, a site that’s suffering from the neglect of the RSPB, who steadfastly fail to see the potential of one of their most accessible reserves to help the general public become more aware of and appreciate the wonders of Nature. It seemed appropriate that, on my final afternoon in Weymouth, the last bird I saw there was this Pheasant.

This was the day of the Stonechats! During a walk of the path along Portland’s east cliffs and the fields around the Bill and the Obs, I counted more than 20; the next day almost all were gone, braving the English Channel to migrate south for the winter.

I didn’t see many Wheatears this time around but this beauty popped up on top of a bush right in front of me one morning at Ferrybridge.

I think you can tell there was an autumn chill in the air this early morning just from looking at this Woodpigeon.

Sika deer

11 Sunday Oct 2026

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Well, this was a surprise!
I was at Lodmoor, standing watching two Stonechats dotting around their little patch, when this pair of Sika deer appeared from behind some bushes.

I’m not sure which of us got the biggest shock to see the other but, sadly, the stag bolted and the hind immediately followed him.

They trotted quickly across the nearest body of shallow water, paused for a moment at the half way point to turn and consider me, then retreated at a gallop further in to the reserve’s reed beds, giving me delightful views of their white, heart-shaped-furry bottoms.

Though I was sorry to have scared them, I was exceedingly pleased to have got such close views of these handsome creatures.

Entrancing Lapwings

10 Saturday Oct 2026

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My personal challenge to take better photographs of Lapwings continued during my recent visits to RSPB Lodmoor. However, the quality and zoom length of my camera equipment is limited, so the alternative was to get as close to the birds as possible – not always, indeed not often, an easy task with these less than confiding birds.

After a couple of Lodmoor visits, I’d mostly figured out where the currently resident Lapwings preferred to position themselves. Then, it was a case of using my field craft to approach those that were closest to the footpaths at a time when no other humans were passing – not as easy as it sounds, partly because many locals use the nature reserve paths at all times of the day for jogging and to walk themselves and their dogs, often talking loudly while doing so, to each other, their dogs, and on their phones, and partly because there was a distinct lack of vegetation to hide behind in the places the birds were frequenting.

Through patience and perseverance, and visiting both in the early morning and late afternoon, I managed to get a few images that I’m happy with, but my challenge will definitely continue when next I visit. Why, you might ask? I just think that, from their ‘head crest like an upward stroke of calligraphy’ (Tessa Boase, Into the Red) to the eye-catching palette of metallic hues in their feathers, they are entrancingly beautiful.

Rust: Puccinia tanaceti

09 Friday Oct 2026

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I was alerted to the existence of this rust by a keen amateur naturalist I follow on social media, and I tagged their post as a reminder to look for the rust at the next opportunity. Little did I know I would find it the very next day as I walked around RSPB Lodmoor.

This is the rust fungus Puccinia tanaceti, which grows on Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) and some species of Artemisia, but, fortunately for me, is the only rust seen on Tansy. By sheer chance, there are quite a lot of Tansy plants growing alongside the footpaths that follow the outer boundary at Lodmoor, and I found the rust on the first few plants I looked at. Tansy is not so common in my part of south Wales but I will certainly be checking the plants I know about now that I’m back home again.

The Obs quarry birds

08 Thursday Oct 2026

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I can never visit Portland Bill without checking the old quarry in the field adjacent to the bird observatory to see if the resident Little owl is at home. When I stopped off during a circuit of the east cliffs, the Bill, and the fields up the hill from the Obs on Thursday 24 September, the owl was nowhere to be seen but, as I stood searching with my binoculars every nook and cranny between the large blocks of stone, a Kestrel flew in. It perched on a rock at the top of the quarry, started calling and peering down at the rocks, as if it too was looking for the Little owl. In my imagination it was calling ‘Hey, little mate. Are you here? Come out and play!’ There was no response and the Kestrel flew off.

The next day, the 25th, I was back on Portland, walking a different route, but I detoured once again past the Obs quarry. And this time the Little owl was at home, sitting in its usual spot, preening. You can’t get very close to the bird – and I certainly wouldn’t want to disturb it – so my photos of it aren’t great.

However, during this visit I also took a very short video clip of it preening, which I thought you might enjoy.

Starlings at Portland Bill

07 Wednesday Oct 2026

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Even above the loud chattering of tourists and the crashing of the mighty ocean waves, you can hear the Starlings that make their home at Portland Bill**, though it did take me a few moments to realise where their musical chirps and squeaks were coming from. (My first photo is taken from the rock in the former quarry at the Bill where I was sitting while eating my lunch. The lighthouse looks short from this angle but is actually 41 metres / 134.5 feet tall.)

Look more closely at the lighthouse and you can see Starlings clinging to every available object jutting out from the building – the railings that criss-cross the light are popular, and perched along the outer ledge just beneath the level of the light. And these are just a small number of the substantial local population. Others sit on the roof of a local café, waiting to snatch any crumbs left by the customers. Still more fly in small flocks, swooping on to the grass to feed, swirling skyward in a mini murmuration at the slightest disturbance.

As I walked from the Bill towards the Obs, I passed a noisy flock of Starlings inhabiting a large area of bramble scrub near the local houses, and that’s where I took the photo below. These birds are very used to the locals passing close by and weren’t at all bothered by my presence, as I stood enjoying their jazz-time melodies and admiring the metallic hues and arrow-like markings of their plumage. They really are stunning birds.

** If you want to see the area I’m talking about, the Visit Dorset website has a great drone image, taken from slightly out to sea from the iconic red-and-white lighthouse, looking back at the island. Portland Bird Observatory – the Obs – is located in the small, former lighthouse you can see at the back of the photo, on the right side.

Late Dorset dragons

06 Tuesday Oct 2026

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The dragonflies were a little disappointing during my most recent visit to Dorset but that was really only because I had been spoilt by the wonderful dragons I had seen during my mini-breaks earlier in the year; in later September the flight season for the majority of British dragonfly species is already over. There were still a lot of very active Migrant hawkers, I suspect there were a couple of Emperors in the mix, as well as a sprinkling of Common darters, and there may possibly have been Southern hawkers, as I’m still seeing those in south Wales, but, as is the way with hawker dragonflies, they weren’t stopping for photographs. It took about 30 minutes of patiently standing watching and waiting to get the photo of the Migrant hawker shown below.

My odonatan highlight came on the afternoon of the Spoonbill sighting. I’d caught the bus to Portland, walked the western coastal path, and was about to wander the footpaths through the fields north of Portland Bird Observatory, when I spotted Observatory warden Martin taking a photo of something in the field nearest the road. Curiosity aroused, I wandered over for a chat. I’m an Obs supporter and I’d stayed there a couple of times on bird club trips but I hadn’t really talked to Martin. We chewed the birding fat, then I asked what he’d been photographing. Turns out, he’d just caught a Lesser emperor in the mist nets they use to catch birds for ringing. He obviously has a way with wildlife, as the creature had allowed him to place it on a dried stalk and was still perched there, right in front of us. So, of course, I also took the opportunity to get some close-up images of this handsome migrant dragonfly.