01 Friday Feb 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, winter
With its wide diversity of trees young and old, Victoria Square is home to a good number of birds. Today I spotted Blue and Great tits, Nuthatches, a Treecreeper and two Goldcrests, Crows and Jackdaws, Blackbirds and Song thrushes, a Greenfinch calling from a tree top, and several of these beautiful Redwings energetically turning leaves in the never-ending search for food. I sprinkled some seed about in the less snowy places close to trees and left them to it.
31 Thursday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, flowers, nature, weather, wildflowers, winter
It was frosty white this morning but, as I write this at 4pm, the forecast snow hasn’t arrived. If I sound disappointed, it’s because I am – as an Antipodean who’s not seen much snow, I love it when it does happen. Still, I enjoyed crunching around the fields at Cosmeston this morning and made sure I took plenty of bird seed for all my hungry feathered friends.
30 Wednesday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, walks, winter
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Moorhen, moorhen preening
Today was the calm before the storm – or, at least, it might have been – snow and strong winds are forecast for tomorrow afternoon but we’ll have to wait and see if that forecast is correct. Today, though, was bright blue skies, heavy white frost, a cracking walk around Forest Farm, lots of lovely birds (including my first Siskins of the year), nice catch-ups with birding friends and birding-chat with strangers – just perfect! Oh, and here’s one of the many Moorhens I saw, this one preening vigorously in the warm morning sunshine.
25 Friday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
This was such fun that I have not one but six photos for you today. As part of my walk from Roath Park via Bute Park to central Cardiff, I was wandering around Cathays Cemetery when I spotted this male Blackbird. He was using a water-filled urn on a grave, and his enjoyment of his bath was so wonderful to see that I was actually laughing out loud watching him. I hope these images make you smile as much as I was.
24 Thursday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, winter
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Green woodpecker, yaffle, Yaffling woodpecker
It was a woodpecker-kind of day at Cosmeston today. No sooner had I arrived and cast my eye (and bins) up towards the chirping-finch-filled trees above my head than I spotted a Great spotted woodpecker. It wasn’t drumming but was studiously pounding away at the tree trunk it was on – preliminary hole excavation work perhaps.
Then, as I headed on along the path, I heard this Green woodpecker yaffling in the neighbouring field. A reasonably tall hedge separated us so I was able to get quite close for photos and to watch it prospecting for ants and other insects in the damp ground. I wonder if the winter dampness means its prey is further down in the soil – it was certainly probing quite deeply.
23 Wednesday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, plants
Tags
birding, birdwatching, blackbird, blackbird eating berries, British birds, Penarth marina, Pyracantha berries
Four Blackbirds, three males and a female, are currently sharing the colourful and obviously delicious (to Blackbirds) bounty of these Pyracantha bushes in Penarth Marina. Nom, nom, nom!
22 Tuesday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, winter
Today I went looking for the Siskin that were seen at Cosmeston on Sunday (and had been heard by another birder earlier in the month). They’re not birds I’m familiar with as they’re not common locally and I’ve only seen them a couple of times when I’ve been on bird club trips (oh, and once very high in the trees at Forest Farm). My heart skipped a beat when I heard a flock of Goldfinches in the trees ahead of me (the Siskin were associating with Goldfinches on Sunday) and saw a few flashes of yellow and green in the birds with them. Unfortunately, they weren’t Siskin but Greenfinches – I’m not complaining though, as Greenfinches are also birds I don’t see very often.
21 Monday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, walks, winter
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Snipe, Snipe in reeds
When I headed to Forest Farm Nature Reserve today, I was hoping to add a Dipper to my year list (tick) and, as frosty mornings often lure them out from the reeds, I was also hoping to see some Snipe – these are they. Not as close as I’d have liked but still good to see as they are so well camouflaged they’re often difficult to spot. There were lots of other lovelies too: a Kingfisher, two Buzzards being harassed by Crows, three Great spotted woodpeckers, a ton of Mallards and Moorhens loudly staking out territories in preparation for breeding, four Grey herons like statues in a dead tree, and my first Snowdrops of the year. T’rrific!
20 Sunday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Gadwall, Gadwalls mating, Spring is in the air
While I was feeling glad of my hat, scarf, gloves and woolly jumpers today, Mr and Mrs Gadwall were clearly thinking that Spring was in the air.
19 Saturday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, winter
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Ely embankment, Hoppy the rock pipit, Rock pipit, Rock pipit with damaged claw
It was lovely to catch up with my little friend, Hoppy the Rock pipit, as I walked along the Ely embankment today. It’s a month since I last saw him (and blogged about him – or her) and it’s always good to know s/he’s still doing okay. Today, little Hoppy was dotting around the apartment gardens and on to balcony railings quite fearlessly. I imagine the colder temperatures this week mean there’s not so much fodder at the water’s edge so Hoppy has to expand his/her grazing range.
earthstar 
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