Friday’s walk 3: a Clouded yellow!

01 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, nature, walks

Tags

British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, Lavernock Nature Reserve, Wales coastal path walk

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.

181001 Clouded yellow (1)

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.

181001 Clouded yellow (2)

181001 Clouded yellow (5)

Friday’s walk 2: Rocky the pipit

30 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature, walks

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Rock pipit, Rock pipit behaviour, Rock pipit territorial behaviour, Rock pipits fighting, Sully, Sully beach

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

180930 Rocky the pipit (1)

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

180930 Rocky the pipit (2)

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.

180930 Rocky the pipit (3) 180930 Rocky the pipit (4)

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.

180930 Rocky the pipit (6)

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.

180930 Rocky the pipit (7)

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.

180930 Rocky the pipit (8)

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

180930 Rocky the pipit (9)

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.

180930 Rocky the pipit (10)

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

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Dunlin, Ringed plover, Sully, Turnstone, Wheatear

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.

180929 Sully birdlife (1)

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

180929 Sully birdlife (2)

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.

180929 Sully birdlife (3)

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.

180929 Sully birdlife (4)

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).

180929 Sully birdlife (5)

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!

180929 Sully birdlife (6)

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.

180929 Sully birdlife (7)

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.

180929 Sully birdlife (8)

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 …

180929 Sully birdlife (9)

Birding at Llandegfedd Reservoir

20 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks

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Barnacle goose, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Canada goose, Cormorant, Glamorgan Bird Club, Llandegfedd Reservoir, Wheatear, Yellow-legged gull

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.

180920 birding Llandegfedd (1)

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.

180920 birding Llandegfedd (2)

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

180920 birding Llandegfedd (3)

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

180920 birding Llandegfedd (4)

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.

180920 birding Llandegfedd (5)

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

180920 birding Llandegfedd (6)

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.

180920 birding Llandegfedd (7)

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

180920 birding Llandegfedd (8)

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

180920 birding Llandegfedd (9)

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

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Glamorgan Bird Club, Golden plover, Kenfig beach, Kenfig National Nature Reserve, Ringed plover, Sanderling, Shag, Sker Rocks, starling, Stonechat

180917 birding at Kenfig (1)

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.

180917 birding at Kenfig (2)

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.

180917 birding at Kenfig (3)

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

180917 birding at Kenfig (4)

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.

180917 birding at Kenfig (5)

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.)

180917 birding at Kenfig (6) 180917 birding at Kenfig (7) 180917 birding at Kenfig (8)

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.

180917 birding at Kenfig (10)

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.

180917 birding at Kenfig (9)

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!).

A walk along the Taff

10 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature, parks, trees, walks, wildflowers

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Bute Park, Carrion crow, Goosander, Green alkanet, Grey heron, Grey wagtail, Mallard, Mute swan, River Taff, riverside walk, Speckled wood, woodland trail

On Friday, after I’d paid a visit to the tree I’m following, I enjoyed a stroll along the trail in Cardiff’s Bute Park that meanders through mature woodland alongside the River Taff. Despite this summer’s drought conditions, the recent rains have revived the local trees and plants so everything was looking wonderfully lush and vibrant.

180910 Walk by the Taff (1)

A female Goosander sailing down river was a pleasant sight. Both males and females can often be seen on this part of the Taff from autumn through to spring.

180910 Walk by the Taff (2)

Near the far river bank, a Grey heron stood tall on one of the many exposed rocks and boulders. The river is quite low at the moment.

180910 Walk by the Taff (3)

There weren’t a lot of signs of autumn yet – only the leaves of the Horse chestnuts were yellowing and curling up and beginning to drop.

180910 Walk by the Taff (4)

A Speckled wood was well camouflaged on the woodland floor. There weren’t many butterflies around, just half a dozen Speckled woods and a few Small whites.

180910 Walk by the Taff (5)

A Mallard enjoyed a snooze near the river’s edge.

180910 Walk by the Taff (6)

I liked the colours and patterns of the pebbles and the occasionally blue sky reflected in the river water.

180910 Walk by the Taff (7)

This was one of two Mute swans feeding.

180910 Walk by the Taff (8)

I’ve seen this particular Carrion crow many times before when I’ve walked this way. I know it’s the same crow, not because of how it looks but because it has virtually no voice. It tries to croak but hardly any sound comes out.

180910 Walk by the Taff (9)

Most of the wildflowers have finished flowering but this Green alkanet was a pretty exception.

180910 Walk by the Taff (10)

Just a few hints of autumn showing here. I love how this path meanders through these magnificent trees.

180910 Walk by the Taff (11)

The woodland trail finishes just below Blackweir, where the current low water level means many rocks and boulders have been exposed. This was the perfect spot for a group of perhaps 20 Grey wagtails to fly-catch, and watching their aerial antics was the perfect end to my wander alongside the Taff.

180910 Walk by the Taff (12)

Birding at Garwnant and Llwyn-on

23 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, fungi, nature, walks

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Crossbill, Garwnant Forestry, Glamorgan Bird Club, Llwyn-on reservoir

We birders of the Glamorgan Bird Club are tough: we don’t let almost constant drizzle put us off a good day’s birding. Heck, we even sit at picnic tables eating our lunch in the drizzle. As long as our optics (bins, ’scopes and cameras) aren’t getting damaged by the wet, we carry on.

180823 birding at Garwnant (1)

And it was certainly worth carrying on ’cause we enjoyed a magnificent day’s birding. We started off with a walk around the trails at Garwnant Forestry in the morning and followed that with a walk through the woodland to check out Llwyn-on reservoir in the afternoon.

180823 birding at Garwnant (2)

I notched up my 187th bird species for the year with the several Crossbills we spotted and heard in various locations along the forestry tracks, and we also enjoyed good sightings of Willow tits and Willow warblers, Tree pipits and Treecreepers, and more than a few Spotted flycatchers flitting in and out from the trees and shrubs in their constant search for the perfect fly snack.

180823 birding at Garwnant (3)

Crossing the Llwyn-on feeder stream after lunch, I earned some brownie points for spotting a Dipper splashing about upstream, and the Spot flies were also active along the river bank there.

180823 birding at Garwnant (4)

As we walked through the woodland at the northern end of Llwyn-on reservoir, we were amazed and delighted by the sight of thousands of tiny mushrooms (probably one of the Mycena species) growing under the conifers, as well as several large groups of False chanterelles. I even had the birders sniffing at a white mushroom to teach them why it’s called The Miller – ‘It smells of dough/flour’, they correctly said.

180823 birding at Garwnant (5)

At the reservoir we marvelled at the magical sight of over 200 House martins feeding on insects above the shallow water – luckily for the birds, the reservoir is beginning to fill again after our recent drought. And the perfect finish to a wonderful day came with the cheery sight of 3 Yellow wagtails grazing together with, perhaps, 16 Pied wagtails in the grass at the water’s edge.

One of the many small streams in the area

Here’s my sightings list for the day: Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Crossbill, Dipper, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, House Martin, Jay, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Reed Bunting, Robin, Spotted Flycatcher, Swallow, Tree Pipit, Treecreeper, Willow Tit, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, and Yellow Wagtail. Also seen or heard, but not by me, were Blackbird, Great spotted woodpecker, Lesser redpoll, Sand martin and Siskin – well, I might’ve heard the Siskin but I’m not entirely sure.

Birding along Rumney Great Wharf

07 Tuesday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, coastal fauna, nature, seaside, walks

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Glamorgan Bird Club, Rumney Great Wharf

It was hot! In fact, it was not just hot, it was scorching but, along with 15 other brave souls, I joined the Glamorgan Bird Club’s outing last Sunday to walk part of the coastal path along Rumney Great Wharf. We started at Parc Trederlerch, where fishermen were trundling their mountains of gear to favourite sites for a day’s fishing, and Swans, Coots, Tufted ducks and Moorhens flocked to be fed by strolling families.

180807a Parc Tredelerch

From there we walked down towards the sea alongside Cors Crychydd Reen. Despite being choked with weed, the reen was home to Little grebes, Coots and Moorhens, all with young, as well as countless, though elusive Reed warblers.

180807b Cors Crychydd Reen

A Buzzard was hunting from a post overlooking the adjacent landfill site, where gulls, Swifts and assorted hirundines were diving and swooping for food.

180807c buzzard

Tucking in to the blackberries as we walked, we were charmed by the sounds of Willow warblers and House sparrows, Goldfinches and Greenfinches, like this one perched high in a tree.

180807d greenfinch.jpg

When we reached the sea wall, we turned left towards Newport. Here’s the view in both directions, firstly looking west over Cardiff Bay towards Penarth Head and then west across the very dry foreshore. The heat shimmer didn’t make bird-spotting easy.

180807e view west twds Penarth 180807f view east

Linnets entertained us as they bounced around the bushes and reeds.

180807g linnet

We didn’t see a huge number of waders – maybe it was too hot even for them. A large mixed flock of Redshanks and Dunlins flew east, we had good ’scope views of Ringed plovers and Dunlins at the water’s edge, and gulls abounded. There was one Common gull amongst this lot perched on the posts and a Little egret further along doing the same.

180807h gulls

There were also a ton of dragonflies and hoverflies, bees and butterflies – I’ll post more on two of those lovelies in tomorrow’s blog.

And for those who like the nitty-gritty details – I saw 42 bird species: Black-headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Buzzard, Chiffchaff, Common Gull, Redshank, Swift, Common Whitethroat, Coot, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great Black-backed Gull, Green Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Ringed Plover, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Shelduck, Starling, Swallow, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, and Wren. Also seen by trip participants were Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue tit, Canada goose, Collared dove, Cormorant, Curlew, Great crested grebe, Pied wagtail, Skylark, Robin, Stonechat and Whimbrel, bringing the total club list to a very respectable 55 species.

Banded demoiselles

01 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, walks

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Arlington Reservoir, Banded Demoiselle, British damselflies, Cuckmere River, damselflies

One of the many highlights of my recent walk around Arlington Reservoir in East Sussex with my friend Jill was being able to get quite close to several pairs of Banded demoiselle damselflies (while simultaneously heeding Jill’s warning that if I fell in the stream – actually the Cuckmere River – she wasn’t going to rescue me – ha!).

180801 Arlington stream

And actually this was off the main Arlington trail, as there was an old church that looked interesting not far away and we’d headed off down a public footpath towards it.

180801 Banded demoiselle (1)

Although I’ve seen a number of Beautiful demoiselles at my local nature reserves in Wales, I haven’t seen any Banded … and they are such gorgeous creatures, especially the bright blue males when they’re flying. Makes me believe in fairies!

180801 Banded demoiselle (2)

If you’re ever in the area, Arlington is a lovely place for a walk, with colourful and insect-rich wildflower meadows and plenty of birdlife, just the right amount of exercise in its circular walk and a cafe with icecreams at the end.

Birding at Peterston & Pendoylan Moors

12 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in animals, birds, insects, nature, walks

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, British butterflies, butterflies, Cinnabar caterpillars, Comma, Cows, Glamorgan Bird Club, Green-veined white, Meadow Brown, Peacock, Red fox, Red kite, River Ely, Sand martin, Small tortoiseshell, Stock dove

Yesterday I enjoyed another wonderful, if rather hot day’s birding with my friends from the Glamorgan Bird Club, this time wandering a trail alongside the River Ely near Peterston-super-Ely and Pendoylan.

180711 2 red kites

On the way there, my friend John and I had incredibly close views of three Red kites and more of these magnificent birds of prey were gliding overhead during our walk.

180711 1 stock dove

We saw Stock doves (one pictured above) sitting obligingly close to Woodpigeons so we could see the differences in the two species.

180711 2 red fox

A Red fox was spotted trotting along in a distant field, its lunch in its mouth.

180711 4 meeting the locals

A large herd of large cows moved reluctantly away from the river so we could pass by. You’d have to be crazy to mess with this lady, who was keeping a steady eye on us in case we ventured too close to her calves.

180711 5 participants

The fifteen participants … well, fourteen really, as I was taking the photo.

180711 6 river ely

The meandering River Ely was running low due to the recent drought conditions here in south Wales.

As well as birds, we also saw lots of butterflies, including these: Cinnabar caterpillars, Comma, Green-veined white, Meadow brown, Peacock, and more Small tortoiseshell than I’ve ever seen in one day before.

180711 7 sandmartins

The highlight of the day for me was watching these Sand martins hawking for food over the fields and then returning to their burrows in the river bank to feed their hungry young. Magic!