03 Wednesday Apr 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, animals, mammal, nature
Today’s cute young things are not birds but mammals, a pair of cute little bunnies who were checking out the world from the safety of the entrance to their burrow, a very wise thing to do as a lot of dogs are exercised in this field.
02 Tuesday Apr 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring
Over the past couple of weeks local birders have been finding migrating Wheatears stopping over on the huge pile of rocks that is the Cardiff Barrage, the man-made structure that was built in the 1990s to cut Cardiff Bay off from the Bristol Channel and turn it in to a virtual lake. The Wheatears are returning from over-wintering in tropical Africa and, after taking a short breather on the Barrage, they head further north to their breeding grounds in- and up-land. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate any Wheatears today but the many Pied wagtails were entertaining, flitting busily hither and yon.
01 Monday Apr 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring
Tags
#365DaysWild, baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Moorhen, Moorhen chicks
At 9am this morning, one of these Moorhen parents was still sitting on five eggs. By the time I got to the pond at 11.30 there were five newly hatched little bundles of fluff, two of which were already venturing out of the nest. And Mum and Dad were already mating, in preparation for their next brood. If these are the same Moorhens that bred at this site last year, they had three broods in total, I think, and those born first were helping the parents feed the subsequent generations. I’ll be keeping an eye on what happens this year.
31 Sunday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers
Now before you feel the need to correct the spelling of ‘merry-gold’ in my title, let me just say that it was deliberate because I find Marsh marigolds such cheery, merry flowers, and it always makes me smile to see them. I spotted some yesterday in Cardiff’s Heath Park, and they’re also in full flower at the moment in Penarth’s Alexandra Park, where I went for a meander earlier today.
30 Saturday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring
These are the first baby birds I’ve seen this year – five little bundles of fluffy Mallard ducklings.
29 Friday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, seaside
Who was it that invented the collective nouns we use for birds? Whoever it was, they came up with some crackers, though it’s hard to see the reasoning behind some of them. A cluster of Turnstones I can understand, as they do like to huddle together at times, but a bind, a contradiction and a time-step? I suppose they do look like they’re doing a little rhythmic dance at times.
The two in my photos were part of a small cluster of seven picking and poking amongst the stones on the Ely embankment this morning when I started my walk around part of Cardiff Bay.
28 Thursday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, spring
Either my butterfly observation skills have improved dramatically or it’s the effect of this week’s gorgeous sunny Spring weather – I suspect it’s the weather – as today, during a lovely wander along Sully beach, I clocked up my seventh butterfly species for 2019 – today three Small whites; the others: Red admiral, Brimstone, Peacock, Speckled wood, Comma and Small tortoiseshell. That’s not something I’ve achieved before the end of March in my nearly four years in Wales. And there are still three days of March to go …
27 Wednesday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, fungi, insects, nature, spring, wildflowers
Tags
Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, primrose, Scutellinia fungi, Small tortoiseshell, violets
Today I went to Cosmeston for the first time in a few weeks and I was delighted to find its west paddock tinged a delicate shade of purple from all the violets currently in flower. I don’t remember it being so obvious in previous years. Along the edges of the paddock, primroses were in bloom, adding their soft buttery yellow to the colour mix.
While looking more closely at the flowers, I noticed tiny circles of red dotting the soil – a species of Scutellinia fungi I’m guessing, but working out which species requires some serious microscope work.
And then along flew my first Small tortoiseshell butterfly of the year to add its vibrant hues to the kaleidoscope of colour in the paddock. Just perfect!
26 Tuesday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, ladybird, nature, spring
Tags
#365DaysWild, 7-spot ladybirds, bee-flies, Comma butterfly, Common Green Shieldbug, Dark-edged bee-fly, Peacock butterfly, Penarth Rail Trail, Sawfly, south Wales coastal path, Speckled wood
I walked further than I intended today but I just couldn’t resist the sunshine, the calls of the birds, the bees and hoverflies buzzing all around, the white blossom and the vibrant green leaf growth … it was magical! Yesterday, I saw my first Peacock butterflies of the year and today I saw four more, plus my first two Speckled woods and my first Comma, my first Common green shieldbug and my first Dark-edged bee-flies, lots of them, and my first 7-spot ladybirds. It gladdens my heart to see so much new life emerging.
25 Monday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birds in Cardiff Bay, birdwatching, British birds, hirundines, Sand martin, spring migration
I’ve been following the reports of hirundines – that’s the Sand martins, House martins and Swallows – arriving for the last week or so, itching to get out and find some for myself. Finally today I plodded, slowly and still having trouble walking in a straight line, over to the other side of Cardiff Bay, and my stumbling was rewarded by the sight of at least half a dozen Sand martins checking out the holes in the walls of one of the old harbour docks as potential nesting sites. A couple of pairs looked like they were getting quite cosy.
earthstar 
You must be logged in to post a comment.