This was originally going to be yesterday’s blog post but that Otter intervened. As I mentioned yesterday, my New Year’s Day walk around Cardiff Bay is becoming a personal tradition, as I challenge myself to see how many birds I can find. There was also one particular bird that’s a local rarity that I wanted to see, so let’s start with that. This juvenile Shag (on the left) has been present on the River Taff for a few days, hanging out with the local Cormorants (one on the right of the Shag). Fortunately, it seems quite settled and, presumably, is feeding well, despite the huge amount of detritus that has been flowing down the river following all the recent rain (as you can see behind the birds).

Another star bird, of the 48 species I counted during my walk, was a male Black redstart. I blogged about these now-regular Bay visitors last year (And then there were two, 18 November) but they are still special enough to get a mention. And, in recent weeks, there have, at various times, been two males and two females in their favourite area around the BBC buildings.

This female Goldeneye was another beauty that we don’t often see in the Bay so I was grateful to one of my fellow local birders who put out the word of its presence on the water behind the ice rink. I was so lucky with my first birding walk of the year, and I’m very much looking forward to how 2024 develops, though the almost constant rain needs to stop first!