Spring messengers

01 Sunday Feb 2026

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers, winter

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early flowering Lesser celandine, early spring wildflowers, Lesser Celandine, spring wildflowers

Times have changed since Gilbert White noted 200 years ago that ‘the average first flowering [of Lesser celandines] around his Hampshire village of Selbourne was 21 February’ and even since Richard Mabey wrote Flora Britannica, published in 1996, as he has written that late February ‘is still the time celandines begin to bloom across much of southern England in a typical year’. Now, just 30 years later, the Lesser celandine plants growing here in south-east Wales have begun flowering in the past week, more than three weeks earlier than that previous average, and this despite the distinct lack of sunshine in recent weeks. Of course, I’m not complaining – these tiny bursts of yellow are the very best messengers of the Spring to come.

Kestrel 2026 : 86

31 Saturday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birds of prey, birdwatching, British birds, Kestrel

Probably due to the almost constant wet weather, I’ve not seen as many new bird species this January as I did in the previous two years. I imagine the storms also have something to do with this; though three named storms have hit the UK already this year, and caused enormous damage in the locations they’ve hit hardest, those storms have mostly passed us by here in south-east Wales. And though I’m not complaining about that, it is often stormy weather that brings the more unusual birds during the winter months.

This beautiful Kestrel was my most recent find. It was a complete surprise too, which is always a bonus. I’d been for a wander around the less muddy parts of Cosmeston Lakes Country Park and was walking through the area where there’s a dipping pond when I noticed the Kestrel sitting on top of a spindly tree. As you can see, it didn’t stay long but it was a joy to see.

Mid-winter 10

25 Sunday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, mid-winter wildflowers in bloom, winter wildflowers

After a week of very cold temperatures earlier this month and what seems like almost constant wind and rain since then, our native flora have finally realised it’s winter and so it was a struggle to find any wildflowers in bloom this week.

I thought I was going to have to be content with the ‘Winter 9’ in the above image (which are Alexanders, Daisy, Dandelion, Gorse, Groundsel, Sea radish, Sweet violet, Winter heliotrope, and Yarrow) but then, during this morning’s walk, I spotted this Hogweed, bringing me to a total of 10, still quite a disappointing total compared to recent years.

Female Scaup

24 Saturday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, female Scaup, Greater scaup, Scaup

It was 10.34 yesterday morning and I was walking across the Barrage, being blasted by the ferocious winds that have plagued us for three days now and looking to see if those winds had blown any interesting birds in to Cardiff Bay, when my phone emitted the double ping that meant a new WhatsApp message had been posted on the local birding group.

A Scaup had been sighted with a flock of Tufted ducks close to the water’s edge by the Norwegian Church. It was perfect timing as I had literally just taken a couple of steps towards home, having spotted nothing new. Instead, I immediately turned around and started striding in the direction of the church, as I knew there was a possibility the birds might be disturbed and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

Luckily for me, this stunning female Scaup was still there, and, for the next 15 minutes or so, I enjoyed wonderfully close views. Most of the time she had her head tucked under her wing snoozing but twice, when a group of noisy people walked along the pavement behind me and when one of the water buses left Mermaid Quay to sail up the River Taff to central Cardiff, the Scaup lifted her head to scan her surroundings. Unfortunately, the revving engines, passenger screams, and wave action caused by a Cardiff Jetboat hurtling around nearby then caused almost the entire flock of birds to panic and fly to the other side of the Bay, exactly what I had feared might happen. (And don’t even get me started on the damage and disturbance that jetboat causes in the Bay!)

I had actually seen this same Scaup twice before yesterday, as she had been at Cosmeston Lakes for a couple of weeks before relocating to the Bay with her Tufty friends on Thursday. However, when I had managed to pick her out at Cosmeston, she had always been distant, on the far side of the west lake, so I was really thrilled to see her up close in the Bay.

Spring is in the air

17 Saturday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, mating Mute swans, Mute swan

It may be the middle of winter but today was a magnificent blue-sky day with real warmth in the sunshine and a high temperature hovering very close to double figures.

This gave me, and many other people I’m sure, the idea that Spring was in the air. And, when I walked across Cardiff Bay Barrage this morning, I noticed that the weather was making this pair of Mute swans feel rather frisky.

When I first spotted them, they were indulging in a lot of synchronised grooming, constantly ducking their heads under the water before cleaning and preening their feathers, rubbing their heads and necks together. Having watched this behaviour in many species of birds over the years, I was fairly sure this was going to lead to something more intimate, and I was right.

And, though mating amongst water fowl always looks like the female is going to drown under the weight of her mate and with her head forced under the water, these beautiful birds are always very tender with each other before and after the actual event. It may be a bit voyeuristic but their mating is a lovely thing to watch.

Rosemary beetle larvae

15 Thursday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in insects, winter

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beetle grub eating Rosemary, British beetles, British insects, Chrysolina americana, Rosemary beetle, Rosemary beetle larva

Normally, I would be quietly cursing the inefficiencies of the rail system when I am forced to wait an extra 20 minutes due to my scheduled train being cancelled, as happened to me yesterday morning, but, trying to be positive, I decided to have a poke around the station’s plants. I should perhaps clarify that this is not one of those stations where volunteers plant up gorgeous flowering displays in planters and hanging baskets – far from it. There are two planter boxes with small shrubs that get hacked with something resembling an electric hedge trimmer every couple of years, and a tiny embankment under trees that must once have had wildflower seeds sprinkled on it but is now quite wild and unkempt.

I focused on the planter boxes and almost immediately noticed that something had been nibbling on the leaves of the Rosemary bushes in each of the planters.

I wasn’t that hopeful of finding anything but bent in for a closer look at the damaged areas, and bingo! Despite the temperature hovering around 4ºC, the little creature above was happily munching its way down the side of one of the leaves. And then I found a second one, the little grub shown below.

It turns out that I had just found my first larvae of the Rosemary beetle (Chrysolina americana), a beetle that arrived in Britain from Europe in the 1990s and is rapidly spreading out from its original landing point in the south east of England. Gardeners are probably not very happy about this, as the beetle will also do damage to other plant species – Lavender, Sage, Thyme – as well as the Rosemary for which it is named, but the adult beetle is very attractive, so I’m looking forward to checking these planters for them later in the year.

Target acquired

14 Wednesday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, female Stonechat, Stonechat, winter birding

I do love it when a plan comes together. I’ve now found most of the common bird species that inhabit my local area so I’m being more focused when planning my daily walks, trying to look specifically for particular species. This is when it helps that, after 10 years in the area and many hundreds (thousands?) of miles of walking its trails, I know my patch very well.

Though I try to avoid going to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park at the weekend (too many people and dogs), last Saturday was a glorious sunny day, the forecast for the following week looked quite grim, and I knew that the outer fields were usually relatively empty of visitors.

That was also where I figured I had the best chance of finding my target species, the Stonechat, as the habitat of the tree plantation that was planted about five years ago is perfect for chat species; they can perch up on the shrubs, tall grasses and smaller saplings while looking for insect prey to flit down and snap up. As soon as I went through the kissing gate into the plantation up she popped, this gorgeous female Stonechat; it was the perfect birding moment. And my pleasure continued as she moved around the field, with me following discretely behind, admiring her hunting skills and looking for photo opportunities. I particularly like my second photo, with the blurred pink hips of a Field rose as her backdrop. .

First beetles

13 Tuesday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in winter, insects

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ladybird, harlequin ladybird, beetle, Harmonia axyridis, British beetles, British ladybirds, Harlequin, ladybirds overwintering indoors

Though I’ve mostly been focusing on finding new bird species during this first couple of weeks of 2026, I have also, when the sun has been shining, been keeping an eye out for any bugs or beetles that might have emerged briefly to bask in its relative warmth. So far, that has proved fruitless, and my first beetle sightings of the new year have actually been here at home, in my flat – in fact, as I type this I can see one of them walking along one of the living room blinds. They are ladybirds – all have been Harlequin ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis) – that came flooding in through my open windows just as the winter days began to get colder.

This is quite normal – ladybirds look for places to sleep away the wintery weather. I don’t mind them doing this in my flat apart from one issue; during those blue-sky days when the sun is out all day, my south-facing flat gets quite warm and the ladybirds wake up and start wandering about, looking for a way to get outside again. I have ejected five that seemed particularly agitated, flying in to the glass again and again, but there are at least two still lurking on the blinds or amongst my house plants.

Blackthorn in bloom

11 Sunday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in flowers, trees, winter

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blackthorn, Blackthorn blossom, Blackthorn in bloom in December, Blackthorn in bloom in January, flora phenology, phenology of tree blossom

This winter season continues to provide phenological surprises. I saw my first Blackthorn blossom on Christmas Eve, during a quick visit to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park to provide an early Christmas dinner of berry-flavoured suet pellets to my crow friends.

And then, during yesterday’s walk, which took me through fields perhaps half a mile north of the country park, I found another Blackthorn tree with blossom open on a couple of its branches – this despite several very cold days and a bit of blasting from (though we missed the worst of) Storm Goretti.

Weevil: Mecinus pyraster

10 Saturday Jan 2026

Posted by sconzani in insects, winter

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British insects, British weevils, Mecinus pyraster, weevil

I almost ate this with my lunch! I had eaten my sandwich and was just about to pick up and bite in to an apple when I spotted this creature tootling across my plate. I assumed it had come home with me from the supermarket, lurking in the packaging with the apples or perhaps the plums.

Using the weevil identification guides on the UK Beetle recording website, I was able, fairly quickly, to work out that it was probably Mecinus pyraster, and this identification has since been verified. Also known as the Stem Miner weevil, this little fellow is usually found on grasses, in particular Plantain, so it’s a bit of a mystery how it made its way to my plate but I’m happy to report that it’s now living its best life in the grasses outside my house.