This handsome bird, a Red-necked grebe (Podiceps grisegena), was first sighted on north Cardiff’s reservoirs last Thursday 11 January by our county bird recorder, who lives very near this location. He says this bird is only his ninth ever at the site and the first since September 2001 – by anyone’s definition, a local rarity.

The reservoirs are just a train ride and a half mile walk from where I live so I headed up on Thursday to see if I could spot it. I did, firstly on the much larger Llanishen Reservoir from where it flew across to neighbouring Lisvane Reservoir but, at least while I was there, it remained very distant. As is the way with birding, later that day the grebe moved very close to the reservoir edge nearest the café, so afternoon visitors got very good views of the bird.

As I needed to go to north Cardiff again this past Monday on another matter, I thought I’d visit the reservoirs for a second look. And this time my luck was in, both with the sunny, less windy weather and with the grebe, which had returned to Llanishen Reservoir but, fortunately, was cruising around much closer to the western edge.

According to the RSPB website, ‘Less than 20 individuals spend the summer in the UK each year, with numbers increasing slightly in the winter when birds move here from colder Europe’, so I feel particularly privileged to have spent time observing and photographing this Red-necked grebe. Oh, and if you think its neck doesn’t look very red, it’s because the bird is in its winter plumage. Take a look at the RSPB website for photos of how stunning this bird is in breeding plumage.