Author Archives: sconzani

Otter!!!

01 Monday Jan 2024

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I’ve had the most unexpectedly marvellous start to 2024. Although I knew that two Otters had been spotted at various places around Cardiff Bay over the past year and had seen photographs other people had taken, I had never been lucky enough to spot one … until this morning. I had just begun my circuit of the Bay, now an annual New Year’s Day walk to see how many birds I can find, when I noticed a flock of gulls circling low over one particular area of the River Ely where it flows into the Bay. As I got closer, I was still watching them, wondering what had disturbed them, when I heard a loud plop from the water below the path where I was walking. An Otter – my first ever, and what a magnificent sight it was!

240101 otter

If I’d noticed it was there earlier, I might have been able to hide my presence a little, to have watched it for longer and got better photos, but it clocked me straight away and veered across to the other side of the river, disappearing amongst the yachts moored there. Still, I was buzzing all the way around the Bay and I’m still grinning madly as I write this. I hope your new year has also got off to a great start.

Z is for Zebra mussel

31 Sunday Dec 2023

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Despite there being ‘ between 10 and 35 million of them covering every hard surface’ in the waters of Cardiff Bay, I’d never heard of the Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) until I posted a photo on Twitter back in March, asking what this Coot was eating (The Coot and the Zebra mussels, 11 March). Since then, I’ve noticed Coots eating these mussels on a regular basis but, even with the hundreds of Coots in Cardiff Bay, I doubt they’ll make much of a dent on those Zebra mussel numbers.

231231 zebra mussel and coot

Y is for Yellow wagtail

30 Saturday Dec 2023

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The absolute highlight of autumn migration this year was an influx of Yellow wagtails at Cosmeston (Yellow wags, 7 September). By sheer co-incidence, their passage coincided perfectly with the grass in one of the outer fields being cut for hay, which created the perfect habitat for these insect-eating wagtails. The presence of a few attracted more birds as they passed through so that there were more than 30 birds present at one stage, a record for the park according to long-time-birding locals. It was an absolute delight to watching them hopping through the clumps of cut grass, searching for the food that would help fuel their onward journey, and they only moved on when, after a week’s drying, the hay was baled.

231230 yellow wagtail

X is for x-rated

29 Friday Dec 2023

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This is how they do it (*wink*) …

Common blue butterflies (Polyommatus icarus)

Two weevil species: left, Gorse weevils (Exapion ulicis) and, right, a very handsome pair that I haven’t yet identified.

Azure damselflies (Coenagrion puella)

Two species of craneflies: top, Nephrotoma appendiculata, and, below, a new species for me, Tipula vernalis.

W is for wildflowers

28 Thursday Dec 2023

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Wildflowers: they brighten dull, grey and rainy days; they encourage me to expand my botanical knowledge, which is much needed; they provide a reason to get out of the house when I’m feeling lazy; they cheer me when the world feels sad, bad and mad. As the year draws to a close, I thought I’d share some wildflower collages from throughout the year, to brighten your winter day (at least, for those of you in the northern hemisphere) and also to encourage you to take part in this year’s New Year Plant Hunt, which is running from 30 December 2023 to 4 January 2024 (details on the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland website). This first image is from 8 January.

231228 wildflowers 230108

This second assembly, in the form of a video slideshow, contains the flowers I found during the week ending 26 February, an end-of-winter selection.

Next up, in 3 images, are the many flowers found on 24 September, an early autumn abundance of colour.

231228 wildflowers 230924 (1)231228 wildflowers 230924 (2)231228 wildflowers 230924 (3)

And this final series is very recent – these are the flowers I found during my meanderings for the week ending 17 December, an amazing and most unexpected 31 species. They certainly brightened up the short grey days!

231228 wildflowers x31 (1)231228 wildflowers x31 (2)231228 wildflowers x31 (3)231228 wildflowers x31 (4)

V is for vole

27 Wednesday Dec 2023

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Water vole, that is. The only actual Voles I see these days are dead or about to be eaten by birds of prey.

231227 water vole

I’ve blogged about one Water vole sighting this year (A Water vole does lunch, 25 January) but I have actually seen these cute furry bundles on a couple of other occasions, including the one shown in this image from 5 April, when Ratty was inquisitively exploring the reeds along the side of a local brook looking for something succulent to eat.

T is for terrapin

25 Monday Dec 2023

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I’ve only blogged once about the invasive terrapin species that have successfully colonised Britain’s waterways and lakes and that post was about the Red-eared terrapin (Trachemys scripta elegans), in August 2017 (Invasive American Red-eared terrapins).

231225 terrapin yellow-bellied (2)

The other invasive species to be found locally is the Yellow-bellied terrapin (Trachemys scripta scripta), which lacks the distinctive red stripe on each side of its head that gives the Red-eared terrapin its name. I had my closest encounter to date with a Yellow-bellied in early November when I spotted this beast very close to the edge of Cardiff’s Roath Lake. Both species can be seen at Roath Lake, in the lakes at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, on the banks of the River Taff and, no doubt, in other nearby locations.

231225 terrapin yellow-bellied (1)

S is for snipe

24 Sunday Dec 2023

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I saw my only Jack snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus) of the year on 18 February, and six days later, on 24 February, my only Common snipe (Gallinago gallinago), which I blogged about the following day (First Jack, now Common, 25 February).

231224 jack snipe

As you can see from the images above, Jack snipes can be extremely difficult to see – they are masters at keeping perfectly still, and they frequent reed beds and swards of short grass and scrub, where their plumage ensures almost perfect camouflage. Even though I know where the bird is in the full-size left-hand photo, I still find it hard to find – I’ve zoomed in for the right-side image.

231224 common snipe

Common snipe can also be tricky to spot but, fortunately, they do sometimes sit out and feed in the open. I had hoped for more snipe sightings but, due to the very wet weather this year, the rides in the Snipe enclosure at Cosmeston have not been cut and I’ve also not seen my trusty birding friend with the thermal imaging equipment.

R is for Ruddy darter

23 Saturday Dec 2023

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2023 was a good year for me for odonata. On 26 June, just five days after seeing my first Small red-eyed damselflies, I found my first ever Ruddy darter (Sympetrum sanguineum), though this was a female so did not look at all like her ‘ruddy’ name. My 30 June blog, Lifer: Ruddy darter, tells the story, and I already have a note in my 2024 schedule to look for more of these at the country park near this year’s find spot.

231223 ruddy darter