Category Archives: birds

337/366 The anvil

02 Wednesday Dec 2020

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At the moment there are plenty of juicy berries on the trees and bushes, but when those disappear, or the ground’s too hard to probe for earthworms, snails become an important source of winter food for our Song thrushes. But how to get inside those protective shells to the body within? The answer is shown in the photo below – find a suitable stone, or similar hard object, and bash the snails on it.

201202 song thrush anvil

336/366 Wagging all the way

01 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by in birds, winter

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When days are short and skies are grey, a bobbing, tail-wagging, chissicking Pied wagtail is sure to bring a smile. There are always a few Pied wags around in the summer months but, come the chilly days of winter, many more come to town, where it’s slightly warmer and the urban pickings presumably a little richer.

201201 pied wagtail (1)201201 pied wagtail (2)201201 pied wagtail (3)

330/366 The Bay on Monday

25 Wednesday Nov 2020

Posted by in autumn, birds, walks

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Monday’s walk saw me striding out on a circuit of Cardiff Bay, a walk of just under 8 miles that day as I meandered here and there to look at particular things. (This panorama of the Bay was taken in April a couple of years ago and a few things have since changed but I just wanted to give those unfamiliar with the Bay a general idea of my walk. The Bristol Channel is to the right; Cardiff city centre at the top, slightly left of centre; the view is as seen from the town of Penarth.)

201125 1 Cardiff Bay

These are some of the birds I encountered on my circuit: three of four Redshanks that flew in to the embankment of the River Ely where it flows in to the Bay.

201125 2 redshank

A Grey heron using some of the old dock infrastructure as a lookout.

201125 3 grey heron

A pair of Goosanders on the embankment near Mermaid Quay – the red-headed female mostly snoozing, her partner using the time out of the water to spruce himself up.

201125 4 goosander female201125 5 goosander male

One of a pair of Mute swans also preening, then snoozing.

201125 6 mute swan

One of many Great crested grebes that make their home in the Bay.

201125 7 great crested grebe

I counted 20 Turnstones in total on Monday; this one had lost a chunk of feathers on its back, perhaps an encounter with a bird of prey that the Turnstone was fortunate to survive.

201125 8 turnstone

And, last but probably the most numerous, one of hundreds, perhaps thousands of Black-headed gulls to be seen around Cardiff Bay.

201125 9 black-headed gull

328/366 The cutest

23 Monday Nov 2020

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It’s that time of year when the Robins fluff up their feathers and sing.

201123 robin (1)

The facts, that the feather-fluffing is to keep them warm and the singing is part of what can be quite aggressive behaviour to establish winter territories, are completely lost on most humans, who are simply beguiled by their cuteness … as I was by this songster.

201123 robin (2)

315/366 Birds in a field

10 Tuesday Nov 2020

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On Sunday, I blogged about the wildflowers I’ve recently found still blooming in local farm fields. When I’ve been wandering those field edges, I have, of course, also been keeping one eye on the skies, to see what birds might be enjoying this currently unmanaged farmland. Here’s a selection …

201110 blackbird

There were several species of winter thrushes feeding in berry trees – Song thrushes, Redwings and a small flock of Fieldfares, and a large number of Blackbirds, the only ones I managed to photograph.

201110 chiffchaff

Two Chiffchaffs were chasing each other through tree branches. They’re late migrating but some Chiffchaffs do remain in Britain so maybe these two will stay local this winter.

201110 dunnock

A juvenile Dunnock was calling constantly, presumably for its parents, but they may well have decided it was time to cut the parental ties.

201110 reed bunting

Reed buntings aren’t always found in reeds. A family of three were flitting from hedge to field, foraging for seeds and insects.

312/366 Deformed

07 Saturday Nov 2020

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This juvenile Herring gull that I spotted amongst the gull flock at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park a couple of days ago had an interesting beak deformity. Presumably it can eat okay and it was preening but still looked scruffy, so I guess the twisted beak doesn’t work well for grooming.

201107 herring gull (1)

308/366 Standing tall

03 Tuesday Nov 2020

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For a Redshank, standing tall like the one in my photo is often a sign of fear, of being wary of something that might harm it, of keeping a cautious eye on an intruder. Unfortunately, in this case, it was simply my presence on the pavement about 20 feet above the water’s edge that had spooked this lovely bird, so I took this one photo and quickly moved on, to let it feed in peace.

201103 redshank

Please try and be aware of the birds around you when you’re out walking, particularly when walking, perhaps with your dog, along a beach. Many wading birds only feed on the beach at certain times, at particular stages of the tide, so, if they’re disturbed by walkers, or dogs, or other ‘traffic’, the time they spend feeding can be shortened and that can have a very detrimental effect on the birds, particularly in the winter months.

303/366 Ring-necked ducks

29 Thursday Oct 2020

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I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen a Ring-necked duck (Aythya collaris) so I was delighted when, ten days ago, a juvenile female was spotted at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, and I managed to get a very distant view of it on 18 October.

201029 ring-necked ducks (1)

I’m the first to admit I would not have been able to identify this bird without the local, much more experienced birders sharing their photos on social media. When its head is tucked in, which seems to be most of the time, only its pale eye ring distinguishes this bird from the female Tufted ducks that surround it, at least to my inexperienced eye.

201029 ring-necked ducks (2)

Late last Sunday, 25 October, the exciting news came that a second Ring-necked duck had been sighted at Cosmeston, this one a 1st winter drake, so I headed along on Monday for a look. I got much closer views of the first bird, the juvenile, but couldn’t find the other – turns out, it had flown over to Cardiff Bay. This is a common phenomenon during the winter months – the various duck species fly regularly back and forth between the lakes and the Bay.

201029 ring-necked ducks (3)

So, for yesterday’s exercise walk I headed down to Cardiff Bay where, in spite of occasional heavy rain showers, I managed to locate both Ring-necked ducks, though this time the drake kept its head tucked in throughout my visit. That’s the juvenile braving the weather in the photo above, and the 1st winter drake below. If I manage to see the drake again and get a photo of it with its head up, I’ll be sure to share.

201029 ring-necked ducks (4)

301/366 Chatting

27 Tuesday Oct 2020

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When I can’t arrange to meet up with and chat to friends, due to our Covid-19 lockdown rules, I talk to the birds, usually Robins (as my previous Conversations with Robins blog posts testify) but lately the many Stonechats that have been living in the local fields.

201027 stonechat (1)

If I approach slowly and quietly, then stand still and wait, they’ll often pop up on branches and plant tops quite close to me.

201027 stonechat (2)

I can talk very softly, and they don’t fly off. They watch me – are they just being cautious, keeping an eye on this intruder in their space?

201027 stonechat (3)

Or are they curious? Or maybe they’re just plain cheeky, knowing they can check me out but fly off in the beat of a wing?

201027 stonechat (4)

Spending time with these gorgeous wee chats brings me much joy. And, yes, I am a crazy bird lady!

201027 stonechat (5)

296/366 A gull’s history

22 Thursday Oct 2020

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Yesterday’s inbox contained an email with the life history of this ringed Lesser black-backed gull I found at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park and reported to the BTO’s ringers on 5 October. This bird was first ringed on Flat Holm Island, in the Bristol Channel off the south Wales coast, on 1 July 2017. A couple of months later, on 6 September, it was spotted at Cosmeston, and then it headed 1200 kms south to Matosinhos, a port and fishing town in Portugal, where it was seen twice in October 2017, on the 27th and again on the 31st. The bird wasn’t seen again until my recent report so it’s anybody’s guess where it’s been for the past three years.

201022 ringed lesser black-backed gull