26 Saturday Oct 2024
I was wondering how the Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) got its name when I flicked on to the Woodland Trust website and there was the answer: ‘The nuthatch’s habit of hacking at these nuts to retrieve them from their hiding place is thought to have earned the species its name.’ The comment refers to this bird’s practice of stashing nuts in gaps and crevices in the bark of trees as a safeguard against the leaner days of winter, much as squirrels and Jays do.
23 Wednesday Oct 2024
I sometimes wonder if I give the impression on here that I always find what I go searching for. That is very far from the truth as today’s blog illustrates.
This year, there’s been a much larger than usual influx of Yellow-browed warblers to the UK from their breeding grounds in Siberia. The only time I’ve seen one of these was back in 2020 and there have been none locally since then, until this past two weeks, when at least four birds have been sighted within walking distance of my home. Have I seen them? Not even a distant feather! And I’ve been looking four times, for two of the birds in two different locations, for over 30 minutes at a time, standing staring at trees and listening in vain for their distinctive calls. Nada!
I ‘celebrated’ my third time dipping (birder-speak for not seeing) these birds with the following tongue-in-cheek post on social media:
My birding day in 3 photographs, which I have entitled ‘Not a Yellow-browed warbler’, ‘Not a Yellow-browed warbler’ & ‘Definitely not a Yellow-browed warbler’.
These are those photos – the birds, in case you’re wondering, are all Chiffchaffs.
19 Saturday Oct 2024
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Common Gull, Larus canus, over-wintering birds
Another bird sighting that brightened a dull Tuesday was that of my first Common gulls (Larus canus) of the autumn – this is one of them trying to keep its balance on the yellow buoy behind the Black-headed gulls.
According to the BTO website, these beauties breed ‘in the north and west of both Britain and Ireland with a preference for upland areas’, which is why we don’t see them around Cardiff Bay or along the adjacent coastline until the temperatures begin to cool.
At first, I only spotted the one sitting on the yellow ball but then it flew towards the adjacent string of orange buoys that mark the entrance to the Barrage locks and upset another of its species that had been sitting on the ‘Keep clear’ sign. That was a bonus as it helped me get flight shots of the two of them.
18 Friday Oct 2024
The damp gloom of Tuesday’s walk around part of Cardiff Bay was much improved by the birds, in particular the presence of species that disappear to breed in other parts of the country before returning to spend their winter days in the local area.
One such species is the Goosander, though they’re not yet looking in their best condition. These birds are still in what is called eclipse plumage, where it’s difficult to tell which is male and which is female, as the male birds assume a kind of in-between plumage after they finish breeding and before their full winter plumage grows in. So, the redhead above might be a female but, equally, it might be an eclipse male, whereas the Goosander below is definitely a male.
12 Saturday Oct 2024
The RSPB website‘s description of the Shoveler (Anas clypeata) pretty much nails it: ‘surface feeding ducks with huge spatula-shaped bills’. All the better to shovel as much food as possible from the water to your stomach as efficiently as possible, I reckon.
Shovelers are winter visitors to south Wales, and, although one or two pop in to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, most of these handsome ducks I see locally are at Roath Park Lake, which is where these photos were taken on two recent visits.
09 Wednesday Oct 2024
Posted in birds
I’ve another mid-week time-line cleanser for you today, this time a couple of Little grebe photographs (sorry they’re not the best images but I hope they’ll produce a smile). The more I watch these cute little fluffy bottomed birds, the more they make me laugh. I caught this first one mid shake so its fluffed out feathers make it look like it’s eaten a lake’s-worth of insects.
And, on my next visit to this same lake, a pair of Little grebes was again close enough to the shore for reasonable photos and some quality grebe watching. I’m not sure what this guy thought it was doing – morning exercises, perhaps?
01 Tuesday Oct 2024
Posted in birds
It’s just over two years since any Black terns (Childonias niger) last visited my local area (Phenomenal fliers, 10 September 2022) so I was both delighted and relieved to learn yesterday morning that the Black tern which had been at Cardiff’s Lisvane Reservoir over the weekend was still present.
After narrowly missing the first available train, I was even more relieved when I eventually got to the reservoir and almost immediately spotted the tern performing its amazing aerial manoeuvres in a constant search for food.
It was always distant for my camera, and weather conditions weren’t the best, with grey skies and strong blustery winds, but it was such a joy to spend some quality time watching this incredible flier.
27 Friday Sep 2024
Posted in birds
It’s just a sparrow, you might say, but no bird is ‘just’ a bird. And this little House sparrow was seriously sweet, pecking away at the seeds on a Viper’s-bugloss, looking like it was trying to hide from the pesky photographer.
25 Wednesday Sep 2024
Tags
autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Phoenicurus phoenicurus, Redstart
Several Redstarts (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) have passed through my local area during this autumn’s migration, not all seen by me, and there may be more still to come. I may yet get a closer sharper image of one but, judging by experience in past years, the chances are not great. For some reason, these birds can be quite elusive and skittish. So, here are the few that I have managed to get more than a fleeting glimpse and photograph of …
28 August; all three of these birds were at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park
30 August
9 September
21 Saturday Sep 2024
With its all-star lineup of migrating birds – three Stonechats and two Whinchats, this simply has to be my favourite kind of fence!
earthstar 
You must be logged in to post a comment.