27 Tuesday Apr 2021
Posted in birds
Today, just a visual celebration of the little brown bird that’s been entertaining me in recent weeks, belting out its joyful song from the top of every hedge and bush. Once, and still to many, the Hedge sparrow; now, officially, the Dunnock; always, a stunning little songster.
20 Tuesday Apr 2021
Posted in birds
Identifying gulls, especially immature gulls, can be a nightmare so I was very chuffed with myself this morning when I managed to work out which of the many gulls floating and flitting around Cardiff Bay was the 2cy Bonaparte’s gull (2cy is birding shorthand for the bird’s age – this is the second calendar year since the bird’s birth).
This sighting was a lifer for me, and it was the 100th bird species I’ve managed to see on my patch this year (my patch being as far as I can walk in any direction from home, an approximate distance of five miles as the bird flies – bearing in mind I then have to walk the same distance home again!).
19 Monday Apr 2021
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Small but feisty; also cheeky and cheerful, endearing, frequently noisy, wanderer of the woodland, delightful, a colourful character – I’m sure you could all think of a lot more words and phrases to describe the Blue tit, one of the ‘ordinary’ birds we probably all take for granted but probably shouldn’t, because beautiful!
15 Thursday Apr 2021
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Perhaps surprisingly, we don’t see Greylag geese very often at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park so when two paid a brief visit a few days ago, I walked past the lake for a look.
I’m fairly sure this pair were day-trippers from Cardiff’s Roath Park Lake because they were much more friendly and people-aware than truly wild birds would be. One of them even recognised the sound of seed being shaken inside a plastic container and came swimming over to snaffle its share of the seed I sprinkled in the water.
12 Monday Apr 2021
It was famous English pastoral poet John Clare who gave the Blackcap its ‘March Nightingale’ name, and quite rightly. The male Blackcaps’ melodious warbling can be heard from every bush and tree top as soon as they arrive back in Britain from over-wintering in Spain or North Africa, and that arrival is usually a month or earlier than the true Nightingale, which, sadly, many of us never see these days. So, enjoy the Blackcaps while you may for soon they’ll be too busy nest-building and chick-rearing to find much time for singing.
A brief pause to refuel then more singing …
08 Thursday Apr 2021
Tags
birding, birds nesting in Cardiff Bay, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Great crested grebes mating
Great crested grebes are featuring here twice in one week but I can never resist a good story. When I arrived at Cardiff Bay wetlands yesterday, a pair was in the reeds near the boardwalk.
The female was lying flat across the beginnings of a nest platform, making odd groaning noises. Having seen this before, I knew what was going to happen next …
And it did. After a few minutes, the male jumped up on top of her and they proceeded to mate.
The dismount with grebes would never score well in a gymnastics competition – the male sort of slides off, pushing the female’s head under the water.
You could almost hear their after-thoughts: ‘Better get on with the nest building’, and both birds began gathering twigs to place on the nest.
But a nearby Coot was having none of it. He didn’t want these noisy characters for neighbours and, faster than the grebes could place twigs on the platform, he was pulling them off again.
There was a stand-off, much posturing and squawking, and eventually the male grebe charged the Coot. The grebe thought it had won but the Coot didn’t retreat far. The grebes might keep trying but my money’s on the Coot to win this territorial battle.
07 Wednesday Apr 2021
Posted in birds
Bird News, Personal column, daily from 18 March 2021
Handsome bachelor, of colourful appearance and long tail, with successful prior breeding record and prime, if rubbish-filled nesting location already staked out, seeks healthy active female, with enthusiasm for raising demanding youngsters, who keeps a clean nest and has a good eye for insects, for immediate co-habitation. Fly now to the entrance to Roath Basin, Cardiff Bay. Only personal applications will be considered.
05 Monday Apr 2021
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, British freshwater fish, Great Crested Grebe, grebe eats fish, Perch
It amazes me sometimes how birds manage to swallow the seemingly too large fish they catch. This was one such event, witnessed during a walk around Cardiff Bay on Friday, when I witnessed a Great crested grebe lunching on a Perch. I presume it wouldn’t have required dinner after this feast!
29 Monday Mar 2021
Bird migration never ceases to amaze me. To think that this little tiny bird has flown all the way from Africa, a journey of 5000 miles, maybe more, and that it may already have made the journey there and back several times. It was a genuine treat to see and listen to this global traveller, my first Willow warbler of the year, at Cosmeston on Friday.
25 Thursday Mar 2021
Posted in birds
As well as the Wheatear I wrote about yesterday, Monday’s walk around Cardiff Bay also turned up another treat, this time at the wetlands reserve.
Gadwall can be quite shy birds, and I’ve certainly never seen one as close as this beautiful female, who was mixing quite happily with the Mallards by the boardwalk. Apparently, she had even been coming to feed on the bread some people had thrown in the water.
Several other people were on the boardwalk, waiting in anticipation of seeing one of the Water rails that have been quite showy in recent days, but ignoring this stunning duck right under their noses.
Not me – I took a ton of photos of her, many of which turned out a bit blurry because she was almost too close for my long lens. And that’s not something that happens very often in the world of bird photography!
earthstar 
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