30 Monday Dec 2024
Posted in birds
They laugh at me from the long grass.
They laugh at me from the branches.
Not only the adults but even the juveniles laugh at me. They’re the Green woodpeckers, also known as Yaffles precisely because of their laugh-like call. There’s nothing quite like a bird laughing at me to keep me humble when I’m being over-confident at my ability to find and identify flora and fauna, and I love them for it.
28 Saturday Dec 2024
Posted in birds
My choice here was a foregone conclusion. I had never seen Waxwings before a small flock appeared in a north Cardiff park in mid January (Lifer: Waxwings, 13 January), and then a small gang of four arrived in Cosmeston Lakes, my local country park, on 2 March (Cosmeston’s Waxwings, 9 March). And, to my absolute delight, four new arrivals doubled our enjoyment and they stayed, and stayed, and stayed – 40 days in all (Waxwings, still, 22 March). It was a truly wonderful wildlife experience, not just seeing these birds but having them present for long enough to observe them more closely and really get to know their habits. Who knows how many years it will be till we are lucky enough to experience another Waxwing winter.
26 Thursday Dec 2024
Posted in birds
U is another tricky letter in this alphabetical countdown. Initially, I was considering Ulex, as in Gorse, with a description of all the various creatures that live on that plant. Or maybe ‘unidentified’, as I have plenty of insects I haven’t yet found a name for. And then I thought of UFO, as in Unidentified Flying Objects, but found I’d deleted most of my images in a moment of frustration. But then yesterday, Christmas Day, Nature gave me the best possible present and I decided to use UFO but, in this case, it stands for Unforgettable Flying Object. Because as I walked across the Barrage, there was a feeding frenzy of hundreds of Black-headed gulls outside the sluices (seemingly catching tiny sprats washing out from Cardiff Bay) and, amongst them, I spotted this gorgeous Little gull. 2024 will be a Christmas I won’t forget in a hurry! I hope yours was also memorable for the best possible reasons.
25 Wednesday Dec 2024
Posted in birds
Other than the sweet little Blue tits (Spreading the word, 27 February, and Reappearing, 7 August), the other local species of tits haven’t appeared on this blog very often this year. Perhaps I am guilty of ignoring the commonplace, in which case shame on me, as they are amongst the birds I see and enjoy watching most often. Though I haven’t blogged about them, I have drawn four of our local tit species so, as this 2024 self-imposed bird-drawing challenge comes to a close, I’d like to share these …
Marsh tit
Coal tit
Great tit
Blue tit
24 Tuesday Dec 2024
Posted in birds
S is for Siskin, those gorgeous little feathery bundles of yellow and black that perform acrobatics in the Alder trees in the cooler months as they poke around in the nuts, prying the tasty seeds loose with their sharp beaks (as featured in Siskins in the Alders, 30 January, and Alder seeds are delicious, 10 February).
17 Tuesday Dec 2024
Every couple of years we are fortunate to be visited by a passing, or lost, Long-tailed duck, and 2024 has been one of those years. In mid January this handsome juvenile touched down then lingered in Cardiff Bay for a week or so, and it was a real treat to see him on several occasions, a real highlight of my birding year (What a dude!, 27 January).
16 Monday Dec 2024
Posted in birds
Kingfishers featured on this blog back in January (Flashes of teal, 20 January), though I’ve actually enjoyed even better sightings of these stunning birds during several recent visits to Forest Farm Nature Reserve in north Cardiff. The reserve is a well known local hotspot for these birds, and some Kingfisher aficionados spend hours sitting in the hides there, hoping to get the perfect diving photo. Personally, I prefer walking the canals to try to find these beautiful birds in a less contrived situation, and that’s exactly where the sequence of three images below was taken. I managed to catch the moment the bird spotted a fish and began its dive but, sadly, both its speed and my slow reaction meant I didn’t capture the instant the bird hit the water. Still, it was a magical moment.
15 Sunday Dec 2024
Posted in birds
Seeing chicks and juvenile birds is always a delight, and I’m sure I’m not alone in spending hours watching their fluffy cuteness, and being entertained by their awkward antics as they discover the world around them and learn now to find food for themselves. And, of course, they feature often in this blog.
During 2024, we’ve seen Moorhen chicks (like the little cutie shown above) (First chicks of the year, 30 April), followed fairly quickly by a double dose of Great crested grebe chicks and Mallard ducklings (More chicks, 4 May). Just a few days later, goslings were the stars of the show (Canada goslings, 7 May), and then not one but Eight cygnets stole our hearts on 18 May. In June, there were Hungry noisy Blue tit babies, and the annual saga of the breeding attempts of my local Lesser black-backed gull chicks (Sad news, good news, 13 June), and a circuit of Cardiff Bay produced Canada goslings, more Lesser black-backed gull chicks, and the lovely Oystercatchers (Chicks of Cardiff Bay, 22 June).
A walk along Cardiff canals in late June offered close views of gawky little Cootlets that still had a bit of growing to do before they resembled the juvenile Coot shown above and a bundle of fluffy Mallard ducklings (Chicks of Cardiff’s canals, 27 June). The final blog of the bird breeding season was published in mid July when the plaintive cries of a Herring gull baby attracted my attention.
12 Thursday Dec 2024
Posted in birds
Tags
birding, birdwatching, Black-necked grebe, British birds, British grebes, grebes, Red-necked grebe
While Great crested grebes and Little grebes are resident birds in the lakes and rivers of my local area and always a delight to watch, it’s particularly nice to see some of their more exotic cousins. This year, in January, we had two of these rare visitors.
First up was the lovely little Red-necked grebe, shown above, that I blogged about on 18 January, and, while that beauty was still present on Cardiff’s northern reservoir, another grebe turned up, this time a Black-necked grebe, pictured below, in Cardiff Bay (Another rare grebe, 24 January). I’m hoping we’ll see more of these grebes during the coming months of winter.
07 Saturday Dec 2024
Posted in birds
Tags
birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff City Hall, Cardiff City Hall Black redstart
As I write this, we’re being blasted by the full force of Storm Darragh and are hunkered down under a rare Red weather warning (red means threat to life, in this case due to the strength of the winds), so the outstanding views so many locals enjoyed of this particular Black redstart back in March seem just a distant memory (City Hall Black redstart, 8 March).
Another (or, possibly, the same) Black redstart was spotted at Cardiff’s City Hall in late Autumn, and it’s probably still there but has remained high up and mostly shy of people. Perhaps that will change as the winter progresses. I certainly hope so as these are beautiful little birds to watch and spend time alongside.
earthstar 
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