88/365 A time-step of Turnstones?

29 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, seaside

Tags

#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Ely embankment, Turnstone

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.

190329 turnstone (1)

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.

190329 turnstone (2)

84/365 Sand martins, yay!

25 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

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.

80/365 Birding 2019 update

21 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

≈ 14 Comments

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#365DaysWild, birding, Birding 2019, birding in East Sussex, British birds, Glossy ibis

You may, or may not, have noticed that my daily posts have not been happening for the past eight days. This is because, during a visit with a friend in East Sussex, I was struck down by a nasty virus, which has left me stumbling drunkenly, still suffering vertigo if I move my head too quickly, and generally lacking in energy. I’m slowly coming right, with a couple of short walks out over the past couple of days, and today I made the trek by train – bus – train back home to Wales. It may yet be a couple of weeks until I can manage longer walks but I hope to be back to my daily posts tomorrow. In the meantime, I couldn’t resist looking through my holidays snaps and have updated my Birding 2019 page with the five new birds I saw while away.

115 glossy ibis

67/365 Small bird, big voice

08 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

≈ 1 Comment

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, dunnock, Hedge sparrow

You might remember the ‘Tiny bird, huge voice’ blog a week ago, about the sound being blasted out by a male Wren. Well, another bird, though not so small, can currently be seen, sitting high on tree branches and hedge tops, also blasting out its ‘Look at me’ song, though not as loudly as the tiny Wren. This small brown bird, once known as the Hedge sparrow, is the Dunnock, and he too sings a merry tune.

190308 dunnock

66/365 Singing in the dead of night

07 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

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#365DaysWild, Being woken by a blackbird singing, birding, birdwatching, blackbird, Blackbird singing, British birds

190307 blackbird

Actually, my Blackbird’s not been singing in the dead of night but just after six most mornings, and it’s getting earlier as the days grow longer. Soon, I shall probably be cursing it but for now I love being woken up by the dulcet tones of a Blackbird’s song.

65/365 Birding in the Forest of Dean

06 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

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birding, birding in the Forest of Dean, birdwatching, British birds, Cannop Ponds, Mandarin, Mandarin duck

It was wet – leaving Cardiff, heading east the downpours were torrential! But that didn’t stop 16 of us hardy souls spending a day checking out various birding hotspots in the beautiful Forest of Dean. We dipped on Goshawks at New Fancy View and Hawfinches at Parkend – and I don’t blame the birds for trying to find shelter from the frequent heavy showers, but we came up trumps with the Marsh tits (two) and the gorgeous Mandarin ducks at Cannop Ponds (and I was chuffed to spot a Redpoll there too), and we had a lovely walk through the majestic towering trees at RSPB Nagshead. We may have got a bit damp around the edges but the rain certainly didn’t dampen our spirits.

190306 Mandarin duck

64/365 Coot in trash

05 Tuesday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Coot, Coot nesting, Coot on nest, rubbish around bird's nest, rubbish in waterways

What can I say? Sometimes I get very angry at the human race!

190305 Coot in trash

59/365 The stone-turners

28 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, coastal fauna, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Ely embankment, stanepecker, Turnstone

190228 turnstone

As their name suggests, the Turnstones that frequent the stony embankments around Cardiff Bay spend their time turning over loose stones, looking for the tiny insects, molluscs and crustaceans they like to eat. And it’s that stone-turning that has led to some of their regional vernacular names: stanepecker, in Shetland, and stone raw, in Armagh. I also rather like ebb pecker, another from Shetland, and tangle picker, from Norfolk. I haven’t been able to find a Welsh name for this bird so if there is one and you know it, please do let me know.

p.s. Thanks to my friend Ceri, I can now tell you the Welsh name for Turnstone is Cwtiad y Traeth, which translates as Beach plover (Traeth means beach and Cwtiad is plover).

58/365 Tiny bird, huge voice

27 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, wren, wren displaying

190227 wren displaying

I’m not sure whether this male Wren’s posturing was a threat display – ‘This is my territory. Enter at your own risk!’ – or whether he was trying to impress the other Wren that was dotting about in the tree nearby – ‘Look at me! I’m a big healthy tough male and I’d make a good mate.’ He sure was giving it his all though – it always amazes me how much sound can be produced by such a small bird.

55/365 Lovely-dovey swans

24 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

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#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Mute swan, swan courtship, Swans' courtship dance

190224 swan courtship (1)

As the thick fog began to lift from the lakes at Cosmeston this morning, I caught sight of these two Mute swans engaged in their delightful slow-motion courtship dance, gracefully moving their necks from one side to the other and confirming their connection with quiet grunts and hissing sounds. I didn’t quite capture their necks making the classic heart shape but it was a delight to watch them.

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