Recording Grey squirrels

28 Wednesday Jan 2026

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#SpeciesOfTheMonth, biodiversity recording, British animals, British mammals, grey squirrel, recording wildlife, Sciurus carolinensis

At the start of each month my local biodiversity records centre chooses one species of flora or fauna to be the species of the month, in the hope that recorders will focus some of their recording time during the coming month in looking for and recording that species so as to fill in the gaps in their maps. This month the species has been the Grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), a mammal so ubiquitous that you might think it would already have been recorded in every 1km square in south east Wales but no. As is reported on the SEWBReC website:

it is a species that can become overlooked due to being considered “too common to record”. It is important to record common species as well as rarities, to track population changes and other patterns over time.

Grey squirrels had already been recorded in most of the 1km squares in my area but I did manage to contribute a few additional records during the month.

Jimmy Wren

27 Tuesday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Jenny Wren, Jimmy Wren, wren

I know Wrens are mostly referred to with the female vernacular name, Jenny Wren, but, from the way this handsome chap was belting out his melody, he was definitely a male advertising his territory and his attractiveness to any passing females. Hence, my title of Jimmy, not Jenny Wren.

I heard his song from the other side of the field, before I could even see him, which is quite common with these birds; small bird, big voice!

Millipede: Nanogona polydesmoides

26 Monday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British millipedes, Eyed flat-backed millipede, millipede, Nanogona polydesmoides

This is a new species for me and I’m not completely certain of my identification of this as Nanogona polydesmoides, a species of millipede, also known as the Eyed flat-backed millipede. However, on the Nature Spot website it’s been given a ‘green flag’, which indicates it’s easy to identify, and its appearance agrees with their description of it having ’rounded lobes on each side of the plates along its back, each with a short spine pointing backwards’.

The location in which I found this creature also agrees with the habitat details provided on the website: ‘Typically found in wet meadows and woodland where it lives in leaf litter and under logs’; I found this one in a small area of woodland, underneath a piece of bark that had fallen off a dying tree.

Mid-winter 10

25 Sunday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, mid-winter wildflowers in bloom, winter wildflowers

After a week of very cold temperatures earlier this month and what seems like almost constant wind and rain since then, our native flora have finally realised it’s winter and so it was a struggle to find any wildflowers in bloom this week.

I thought I was going to have to be content with the ‘Winter 9’ in the above image (which are Alexanders, Daisy, Dandelion, Gorse, Groundsel, Sea radish, Sweet violet, Winter heliotrope, and Yarrow) but then, during this morning’s walk, I spotted this Hogweed, bringing me to a total of 10, still quite a disappointing total compared to recent years.

Female Scaup

24 Saturday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, female Scaup, Greater scaup, Scaup

It was 10.34 yesterday morning and I was walking across the Barrage, being blasted by the ferocious winds that have plagued us for three days now and looking to see if those winds had blown any interesting birds in to Cardiff Bay, when my phone emitted the double ping that meant a new WhatsApp message had been posted on the local birding group.

A Scaup had been sighted with a flock of Tufted ducks close to the water’s edge by the Norwegian Church. It was perfect timing as I had literally just taken a couple of steps towards home, having spotted nothing new. Instead, I immediately turned around and started striding in the direction of the church, as I knew there was a possibility the birds might be disturbed and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

Luckily for me, this stunning female Scaup was still there, and, for the next 15 minutes or so, I enjoyed wonderfully close views. Most of the time she had her head tucked under her wing snoozing but twice, when a group of noisy people walked along the pavement behind me and when one of the water buses left Mermaid Quay to sail up the River Taff to central Cardiff, the Scaup lifted her head to scan her surroundings. Unfortunately, the revving engines, passenger screams, and wave action caused by a Cardiff Jetboat hurtling around nearby then caused almost the entire flock of birds to panic and fly to the other side of the Bay, exactly what I had feared might happen. (And don’t even get me started on the damage and disturbance that jetboat causes in the Bay!)

I had actually seen this same Scaup twice before yesterday, as she had been at Cosmeston Lakes for a couple of weeks before relocating to the Bay with her Tufty friends on Thursday. However, when I had managed to pick her out at Cosmeston, she had always been distant, on the far side of the west lake, so I was really thrilled to see her up close in the Bay.

Robin vs rat

23 Friday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in animals, birds, mammal

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British birds, robin, birdwatching, birding, brown rat

Overlooking the west lake at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park is a small viewpoint that is home to a little Robin. Whenever I stop there to check for any new waterfowl on the lake, the Robin always pops out and gives me that stare that Robins do so well – the ‘Feed me’ stare. If I have any food with me, I always give in!

Now, Robins may look cute and appealing but they also have a nasty streak and can be quite vicious when defending their territory or, in this case, tasty berry-flavoured suet pellets. The Robin managed to chase away a Dunnock, a Blue tit and a Great tit but then it met its match.

Not one, but two Brown rats must’ve heard the commotion and surmised correctly that food was on offer, and they easily bullied the little birds out of the way, even the feisty little Robin. I never knew rats liked suet pellets but then I guess rats will eat pretty much anything.

Larva: Southern wainscot

22 Thursday Jan 2026

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moth larvae, British moths, British moth larvae, Southern wainscot, Southern wainscot larva, moth larva on phragmites sp, moth larva on reed leaf

Firstly, I want to admit that I had no idea I would find this little creature lurking inside a rolled up leaf in the reeds by the River Ely during yesterday’s walk. I had noticed the mottling on some of the leaves and wondered what was causing it – a fungus maybe?

I still don’t know the answer to that question as I was completely distracted when I found the caterpillar, and was totally focused on that instead.

My find hasn’t yet been verified but I think this is the larva of the Southern wainscot moth (Mythimna straminea), which, according to the UK Moths website, overwinters as a larva and typically spends its days hiding in the stems of various Reeds (Phragmites species), emerging at night to feed.

There are only a few records of this moth in the greater Cardiff area but I doubt many people spend time checking the leaves of reeds for its larvae and I also doubt anyone ever runs a moth trap at night in this particular Grangemoor Park location, which explains the lack of records of the adult moth (a beauty you can see on UK Moths) in the immediate area.

Hungry House sparrow

21 Wednesday Jan 2026

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, house sparrow, male House sparrow

I was actually watching an over-wintering Chiffchaff, dotting about in an area of scrub and tall reeds and occasionally giving its characteristic short call, when the ever-cheerful ‘cheep, cheep, cheep’ of the local gang of House sparrows distracted me.

And, as the Chiffchaff wouldn’t come out to play, I focused instead on the sparrows, as they’re always so entertaining to watch and much more cooperative photographic subjects. This handsome male was enjoying his luncheon, munching contentedly on the flower buds of a nearby Gorse bush.

Scabby little pig

20 Tuesday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in crustacean

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British crustaceans, Common rough woodlouse, Porcellio scaber, Rough woodlouse, terrestrial crustacean, woodlouse

As insects are few and far between now that we’re in the middle of winter, when I noticed this woodlouse on a house wall, I took a few photos, thinking anything’s better than nothing (though, of course, a woodlouse is not actually an insect, it’s a terrestrial crustacean). Now I’m very glad I did get some images as this was actually a new species for me – though, as it’s meant to be common, I do wonder whether I’ve seen it before and ignored it. My bad, as they say.

This is a Common rough woodlouse (or just Rough woodlouse). Its scientific name is Porcellio scaber, which roughly translates as rough or scabby little pig, hence the title of this blog. Hopefully you can see the tiny tubercles (a fancy name for bumps) that makes its exoskeleton look rough, hence its name. As well as living in cracks and crevices on walls, fences and trees, it can also be found in the same places you see most woodlice, i.e. in the garden under logs and stones and bark.

The Cardiff Bay Ravens

19 Monday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, pair of Ravens, Raven

Cardiff Bay is home to a pair of Ravens, those stunning large black members of the crow family that have been much persecuted over the years by farmers and gamekeepers but, fortunately, are slowly recovering their numbers here in Wales.

Whenever I walk around Cardiff Bay, I look out or listen for them – their ‘kronk kronk’ call is unmistakeable. During one such walk, just before Christmas, I was walking across the Barrage when both Ravens flew in and landed quite close to me. I wondered if they would take food so I said ‘Hello, Ravens’ to get their attention, put down some of the berry-flavoured suet pellets I give ‘my’ crows, and backed off a little to watch. They hopped right over and, after checking out the pellets, wolfed them down. I was delighted.

I didn’t see the Ravens again until the new year (they’re early nesters so are probably busy refreshing their nest already), when I walked another circuit of the Bay on 9 January. Their behaviour that day led me to conclude that Ravens have inbuilt facial recognition software. Despite the fact that I’d only fed them once before, they appeared to recognise me and came hopping over, expecting food. And while ‘she’ ate the suet, ‘he’ chatted; Raven: ‘Kronk, kronk’, me: ‘Boop’, Raven: ‘Kronk, kronk’, me: ‘Boop’. This exchange went on for several minutes, with me looking around frequently to make sure no one was listening! I have no idea what we were saying but it was a definite, totally unexpected, and most wonderful conversation.

If you’re wondering why ‘Boop’, the sound is one used by Amy, on the YouTube channel @wingsandwildlands, when she communicates with her incredible captive-bred Raven, Fable.