Category Archives: walks

Birding at Garwnant and Rhaslas

19 Monday Nov 2018

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Clear blue skies, stiff  breeze and freezing cold, star birds and great company, long walk, Welsh upland scenery … it doesn’t get much better than yesterday’s Glamorgan Bird Club’s field trip to the forestry at Garwnant and Rhaslas pond, with a quick stop at the Llwyn-onn reservoir in between.

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It took us a while to leave the car park at the Forestry Centre as the birding got off to a cracking start with lots of Common crossbills coming in to feed on the cones of the tall conifers all around us.

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We headed out along one of the many walking trails, hoping for views of Willow tits. One person heard one but the bird didn’t reappear so we carried on a bit further to a high vantage point. From there we were rewarded with views of Kestrel, Buzzard and this magnificent Red kite.

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Retracing our steps, a couple of us who’d lingered behind heard the Willow tit calling, waved frantically to the birders ahead, and managed some good views of this increasingly uncommon little bird.

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We then walked a rectangular path, taking us out around more of the forest trails, seeing even more Crossbills and another couple of Willow tits, as well as many other species. After lunch back at the car park, we drove down to nearby Llwyn-onn dam for a quick scan for any interesting birds. The reservoir was looking gorgeous, with much more water than on our last visit.

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We’d hoped for a Water pipit … and there it was, though a very flighty bird that scarcely stayed still and kept flying off in various directions. I was pretty happy though as this was a lifer for me, and it was a year tick for several other birders.

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I really like how this photo of the Cormorant turned out. And there was a Common sandpiper just along the pipe from where it was perched.

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Then it was on for a quick check of Rhaslas pond before the light faded – sunset is around 4.15pm at the moment. It was bitterly cold up on the open moorland as you tell from how rugged up everyone was.

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Though there weren’t a huge number of birds on the pond, we did see several Goosanders, Wigeon, Tufted ducks and a solitary Goldeneye. It was a smashing end to an excellent day!

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Here’s my list of birds seen: Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Goosander, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Red Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel, Common Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie, Jay, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Willow Tit, Goldcrest, Wren, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Robin, Pied Wagtail, Water Pipit, Chaffinch, and Common Crossbill. And somehow I missed the Starling, Song Thrush, Redwing and Fieldfare.

Late autumn at Forest Farm

18 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by in autumn, leaves, nature, trees, walks

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When anyone asks me what my favourite season is I can never decide because they each have their good points but, this year, our late-arriving autumn has certainly been magnificent. On Wednesday I caught the train to Radyr for a meander around Forest Farm Nature Reserve and it was sublime. From bright golden yellows to rustling red-browns, with some leaves still decorating spreading branches above my head and others carpeting the woodland floor beneath my feet, I spent a marvellous day, my eyes admiring, my feet kicking, my neck craning and all my senses spilling over. Ah, autumn!

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Bute trees

21 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by in autumn, nature, parks, trees, walks

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As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, I spent several hours of a glorious autumnal Friday wandering amongst the trees in Cardiff’s Bute Park, and it was wonderful. I love trees and this meander reminded me why – their myriad different shapes and sizes, the variety of colours and textures in their leaves and their bark, and how difficult it is to capture all those qualities well in photographs. Since 2015, the year I spent photographing a tree each and every single day, I find I’m a little out of practice. I haven’t decided on next year’s project yet so maybe …

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Birding at WWT Steart Marshes

14 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by in animals, autumn, birds, nature, seaside, walks

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Storm Callum was wind-blasting the south-western counties of Wales and England with 50-mph-plus gusts yesterday but that didn’t deter 10 mad keen (some might just say mad) members of the Glamorgan Bird Club from heading to England, to the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust property at Steart Marshes in Somerset, for a day’s birding. And what a magnificent place it is and an incredible day we had!

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This is a man-made landscape, engineered to deal with local flooding issues and future sea-level rises, but it has the advantage of providing much-needed and extensive salt- and fresh-water wetland habitats. You can read more and watch a video on the WWT website.

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I don’t have a lot of close-up photos to share from this trip. As I mentioned at the start, it was incredibly windy so the conditions for non-blurry photography were difficult, and many of the birds were distant so I was relying on my bins and the generosity of my birding friends and their telescopes for better views.

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That doesn’t mean you can’t see some incredible sights here with the naked eye though: the miracle of hundreds of Lapwings or Bar-tailed godwits rising and flying in unison is one of Nature’s finest wonders, as are views of birds of prey like Merlin and Hobby screaming like fighter jets across the marshes in pursuit of prey.

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We also saw small numbers of Roe deer and Hares, scampering about in the fields.

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For the serious birder, there was much to quicken the heartbeat, with 13 species of wader seen, 12 Cattle egrets, a Spoonbill and a Glossy ibis. I managed to add five ticks to my year list so I was well pleased.

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This is a site that will only improve in future years and will almost certainly continue to attract star birds, but it’s also a place for everyone to enjoy the many walking trails, the excellent wildlife viewing facilities and the stunning beauty of the saltmarsh, an environment more colourful than I had imagined it would be. If you can, do visit!

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My species total for the day was only 49 but this list is about quality, not quantity. Five of these were year ticks for me: Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Pheasant, Little Grebe, Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Cormorant, Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Merlin, Hobby, Moorhen, Coot, Ringed Plover, European Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Northern Lapwing, Knot, Little Stint, Dunlin, Ruff, Common Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Curlew, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Skylark, Wren, Starling, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Goldfinch and Linnet.

The ones I missed but others saw or heard: Eurasian Teal, Northern Shoveler, Mediterranean Gull, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Raven, Jackdaw, Blue Tit, Cetti’s Warbler, Blackbird and Chaffinch.

Birding at Ogmore and Pant Norton

11 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by in birds, insects, nature, walks, wildflowers

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Though a cool wind was blowing in off the sea, yesterday was a gloriously sunny day for our Glamorgan Bird Club outing to Ogmore. The fine weather also meant we had a great turn out of 26 people, more than usual for our field trips.

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We started off near Portobello House, scanning the dunes of Merthyr Mawr and checking the River Ogmore, where the ubiquitous Cormorants were adorning this big dead tree in the water.

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A Kestrel hovered over the dunes, and we witnessed a spectacular chase by a Sparrowhawk after a Meadow pipit – only very blurry photos of that, unfortunately. (The mipit escaped.)

Two Wigeon flew in to join the Canada geese, Mallards and gulls up river.

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After grazing along the muddy banks down river for a time, this Curlew flew upstream to find another place to feed.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, our birding trips are not just about birds. Many birders are also interested in flora and other fauna so, yesterday, Dave was able to point out to us the invasive Buttonweed (Cotula coronopifolia) (he was the first to spot this plant in Wales!) and a Musk thistle (Carduus nutans). And another of our keen-eyed birders spotted this Wall butterfly, only the second time I’ve seen one of these beauties.

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After a wander up and down the riverbank we headed across the road and up a track into a series of small valleys, an area known locally as The Pant. As well as many other small birds, there were several Stonechats popping up and down in the shrubs and bracken.

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And then, what for me was the highlight of the day, really close views of a Kestrel hunting for its lunch. This handsome young male caught three creatures – probably voles or other small mammals – in the space of 10 minutes or so. It was incredible to watch how this bird’s amazing eyesight enabled it to hone in so accurately on its prey and, though I can’t help but have some sympathy for its victims, to see what an efficient hunter the Kestrel truly is.

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My total number of species for the day was 41: Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Little Grebe, Little Egret, Cormorant, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Eurasian Curlew, Greenshank, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Skylark, Long-tailed Tit, Common Chiffchaff, Wren, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin, European Stonechat, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Linnet, Bullfinch and Willow Warbler.
I must have wandered off when these birds were seen: Greenfinch, Stock Dove, Jay, Jackdaw, Rook, Raven, Goldcrest and Dunnock.

Friday’s walk 3: a Clouded yellow!

01 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by in autumn, insects, nature, walks

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Having enjoyed some wonderful bird sightings on Sully beach, I walked on along the Wales coastal path, through Swanbridge and past St Mary’s Well Bay to Lavernock. This lovely nature reserve, perched high on the cliffs above some of south Wales’s most dramatic coastline, is the best place I know to see butterflies over the spring and summer months.

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However, this was late September and there was a cool wind blowing so, although the Devil’s-bit scabious was still flowering, I didn’t really expect to see many butterflies this day. How wrong I was! Not only did I see three Small coppers, a couple of Red admirals, a Painted lady and a Common blue, as well numerous Small whites and Speckled woods, I was absolutely delighted to spot this glorious Clouded yellow, a butterfly we don’t see very often in this neck of the woods.

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Friday’s walk 2: Rocky the pipit

30 Sunday Sep 2018

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Before leaving Friday’s walk along Sully beach, I have another bird encounter to share.

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There were a lot of Rock pipits foraging amongst the rocks and piles of seaweed, more than I have seen before on Sully beach.

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One bird was reasonably close to where I was sitting so I had the camera up, trying to get some photos of it, when I noticed what seemed like rather odd behaviour.

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The bird hopped down from the seaweed on to a flat stone and started to stamp its feet and shuffle back and forth, looking for all the world like it was practising its line-dancing moves.

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Because I had the camera up to my face and was zoomed in on this one bird – let’s call him Rocky – I didn’t realise that there was actually another Rock pipit standing very close by.

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Rocky was focused intently on this other bird. He puffed up his chest and strutted about and did some more line-dancing moves, but the other bird didn’t seem very impressed. If this had been springtime, I would have said Rocky was trying to impress a female but it’s autumn.

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Next thing, Rocky’s done with the dancing and flew straight at the other bird.

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They bumped chests, flapped wings and generally fluttered about for a couple of minutes, presumably each bird trying to assert its dominance through this display.

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The other bird relinquished the rock, and the seaweed, to Rocky, who looked rather pleased with his success. I’ve since read that Rock pipits can be very territorial so I assume Rocky was defending his patch on the beach from the intruder. It was certainly fascinating to watch.

Friday’s walk 1: along Sully beach

29 Saturday Sep 2018

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I try to time my walks at Sully with a mid-morning high tide – that way I don’t have to get up too early for the bus and I miss the early morning dog walkers. Yesterday was one such day and, though there was a cool wind blowing, it was a lovely day for a long walk. At first, I just sat and scanned the beach and the shoreline and the sea.

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Several Turnstones were browsing the big deposit of seaweed the tide had rolled in and then this Dunlin flew in to join them.

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With my bins I followed it in and saw it plop down to join a small number of Ringed plovers by the water’s edge. To me, their dark eye masks make Ringed plovers look like bandits, though very tiny and very cute bandits to be sure.

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One of the banditos only had one leg but it seemed to be managing to hop along okay. That made me think of Hop-along Cassidy but I was mixing up my masked men – the Lone Ranger was the one who wore the mask and, of course, he was no bandit.

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At that point a dog and its owner came tootling along the beach, which put all the birds up … and I realised there were, in fact, two Dunlins (the two lower birds in the centre of this photo).

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I took this opportunity to walk further along the beach and found myself a spot on the stone wall edging a slipway, a location where my birding friend Ceri said he’d seen a large number of waders the previous day. I hadn’t been sitting there long when a Wheatear flew right over my head and on to a boulder about 10 metres in front of me. I’m not sure who got the biggest surprise!

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A large group of waders flew across from Sully Island and landed on rocks near the water. They were a bit far away to see clearly but most seemed to be Ringed plovers, a group of perhaps 30.

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People walking along the coastal path above me scared my little Wheatear friend away but then I realised there were actually two birds flitting along the rocks and scrub.

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They’re such lovely little birds and this one managed to catch itself a snack, which reminded me that it was almost lunchtime, time for me to be moving along on my walk. More tomorrow …

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Birding at Llandegfedd Reservoir

20 Thursday Sep 2018

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Knock-you-off-your-feet wind gusts, persistent rain showers, slippery-with-mud woodland trails, cross-country orienteering along steep-sided reservoir banks and through much-overgrown long-under-used footpaths … these all added to an adventurous and exhilarating day’s birding on yesterday’s Glamorgan Bird Club trip to Llandegfedd Reservoir, north of Newport.

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The surrounding countryside is beautiful and the trail around the reservoir offers a good variety of different habitats, from woodland to wetland, for birds and other wildlife.

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Some of our ten intrepid birders heading through the woodland, while the wind roared through the tree canopy overhead.

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Looking back towards the dam you can see how low the water level is after this summer’s drought.

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One of our frequent stops to check what birds we could spot along the water’s edge. In the foreground a congregation of Cormorants and Black-headed gulls, in the background some of the 300-plus Canada geese, all hunkered down in the face of the gale-force winds.

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Can you spot the Wheatear that was dotting along the shore, prospecting for insects?

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Alan spotted an adult Yellow-legged gull (centre right, above) amongst the Black-headed gulls, a good opportunity to point out its diagnostic features to those unfamiliar with this bird.

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I don’t think I’d ever seen so many Canada geese in one place before. They sure can make a racket!

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Even the geese were struggling with the wind gusts – here you can see them leaning into the wind as they waddle along.

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And then someone spotted a Barnacle goose amongst all those Canadas and, though its origins were much debated – wild bird or escapee from a private estate or reserve? – seeing that lovely little Barnacle was the icing on the cake of a magnificent day for me, ’cause I sort of befriended the two Barnacle geese that used to be regulars at Roath Park when I lived in Cardiff. Seeing this bird was a nice reminder of those good times.

Full credit to the ten intrepid birders on yesterday’s trip as, despite the adverse weather conditions, we still managed to identify a very respectable 36 species. They were: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Barnacle Goose, Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Coot, Ringed Plover, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Jay, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Swallow, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Warbler, Wren, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Blackbird, Robin, Northern Wheatear, and Pied Wagtail.

Birding at Kenfig

17 Monday Sep 2018

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Last Saturday was the monthly Glamorgan Bird Club walk at Kenfig National Nature Reserve on the south Wales coast and this time, as the high tide time worked in perfectly, our large group of 28 enthusiasts headed down the eastern side of the reserve towards Sker.

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With so many eyes on the look out as we walked through scrub and across parts of the golf course, we soon had a respectable total of small birds but the highlights came as we got closer to the sea. Near Sker House, a small Starling murmuration swirled about in ever-changing formations before pausing to rest on overhead wires.

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Then, we were entertained by a small party of Stonechats, dotting in and out of the vegetation surrounding a wire fence.

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Moving on, we had distant views of Curlews and godwits in a field. At first we thought the godwits were Black-tailed but, on closer examination and with the help of reserve ranger Dave’s local knowledge, they were identified as Bar-tailed godwits, not particularly common hereabouts.

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The best part of the day for me was at Sker Rocks, where we enjoyed really close views of several wader species. Small flocks of Sanderlings flitted back and forth from the rocks to the beach and, at times, were less than 20 feet away, scurrying hurriedly along the sand, poking about for food. A single Ringed plover sat alone by the water’s edge for a time, and then was replaced by four beautifully marked Golden plovers. (I got some reasonable photos of the Sanderlings and Golden plovers so will post separate blogs on them.)

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As we headed back inland, one of our younger birders, Tate, spotted a Shag fishing very close to the rocks – not a bird that’s seen much locally so a nice sighting.

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And some of us headed down to Kenfig Pool for a quick look but there wasn’t anything of note, and fishermen sitting much closer to the bird hide than they’re supposed to meant that wasn’t worth visiting.

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It was an excellent day’s birding and my species total was a very respectable 48: Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mallard, Grey Heron, Shag, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, European Golden Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Curlew, Turnstone, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Magpie, Jay, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Skylark, Swallow, House Martin, Cetti’s Warbler, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin, European Stonechat, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Goldfinch, Linnet, Bullfinch, and Reed Bunting.
Also seen/heard but not by me: Sand Martin, Common Buzzard, Tufted Duck, Raven, Common Chiffchaff, Northern Wheatear, and Water Rail (this last one was a shame, as it would’ve been a year tick for me, but them’s the birding breaks!).