I had a cracking walk around Cardiff Bay earlier today. I managed to pick out my first couple of House martins from the large numbers of hirundines flying over the water; I had a brief glimpse of an Otter; the Lesser scaup was still present and still snoozing; and, a particular highlight, the Sandwich tern that had been reported an hour or so before I got to the Barrage was still sitting on the buoys in front of the sluice gates. We rarely see Sandwich terns hereabouts, only on migration in spring and autumn, when they move from their overwintering spots on the coast of west Africa to their breeding colonies along Britain’s coastline, and vice versa.

The little group of birds on the buoys also included a bonus juvenile Common gull. In case you don’t know these birds, the photo above shows, from left, a Cormorant, 2 Black-headed gulls, the Sandwich tern, four more Black-headed gulls, the Common gull, and another two Black-headed gulls.