31 Thursday Aug 2023
Posted in birds
Every time I walk a circuit of Cardiff Bay I take a moment to check on these Tufted ducklings. Despite being confined in the now-flooded former Channel Dry Dock and living amongst human detritus, they have thrived, thanks to the parental care and constant vigilance of their mama. They should soon be able to fly and will then be able to escape their watery prison.
~ 7 August
~ 20 August
~ 24 August
29 Tuesday Aug 2023
Posted in birds
The House martins that nest under the eaves of some of the houses and apartments around Penarth Marina are still busy feeding their young. These could be second broods, or possibly even third broods if the adults arrived back early enough. The RSPB website notes that the ‘fledged young from first broods often help their parents feed a second brood’. Good practice for their future breeding, I’m sure.
26 Saturday Aug 2023
I went looking and hoping for a Yellow wagtail – found none – but, all of a sudden, a bird flitted up from the grass not far ahead, disturbed by a passing dog, and my eye picked out a flash of white at its rear end. I had my binoculars to my eyes in seconds, scanned all around, but couldn’t relocate the bird. I walked on, keeping a careful eye out, noting the prospecting Pied wagtails and browsing Linnets, but no sign of that white bottom. I was about to turn around and head home when another roaming dog put all the birds up and she of the white rear end, this beautiful Wheatear, popped down quite close to me. My first of the autumn!
22 Tuesday Aug 2023
Posted in birds, coastal fauna
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, British crustaceans, crab, gull catches a crab, Herring gull
I was searching through the gull flock that was poking around on the mud flats, looking for any unusual birds, when this third-summer Herring gull suddenly lurched forward, splashing through the mud and almost falling into a watery hole. When it stood erect I saw why – it had caught itself a crab.
Of course, all the other gulls then wanted a piece, and the crab catcher was forced to fly around the small bay a few times to get them off its tail. Luckily, most of the other gulls were younger and less experienced than it was, so it was able to settle and pull its catch in to bite-sized chunks – though not without very close scrutiny from the hopeful and hungry!
19 Saturday Aug 2023
Posted in birds
Tags
autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Tree pipit, Tree pipit migration
Tree pipits have been heading south in their ones and twos for a couple of weeks already but on Wednesday, with fine weather and a light easterly breeze, their flow increased noticeably. A local birder clocked over a hundred in the hour he watched that morning; another, whose patch is Kenfig NNR, reported a count of 53 during his morning visit; and I noticed similar reports from many locations on social media. Migration magic!
12 Saturday Aug 2023
Posted in birds
I couldn’t help but wonder if this Spotted flycatcher was looking so slim because of a shortage of insects during the last couple of months. Though the abundance of tiny critters has improved a little now, I’m sure those earlier lifeless months will have affected both adult birds trying to feed their youngsters and the growth – or even the very survival – of those youngsters. (And, yes, that’s a cheeky Whinchat poking its head in at the left of the photo – we’ve been lucky to have both Whinchats and Stonechats visiting the outer fields at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.)
09 Wednesday Aug 2023
If it’s the same bird, which seems quite likely, then this juvenile Redstart has been dotting around in a hedge at Cosmeston since 26 July, when it was first spotted by another local birder. Hopefully that means it’s been feeding well in preparation for its upcoming journey south to trans-Saharan Africa.
03 Thursday Aug 2023
Posted in birds
I don’t go down to Cardiff Bay much over the summer months – too many people on the ground and too many boats on the water, all disturbing much of the wildlife I might potentially see. However, as the birds seem to think we’re heading in to autumn already (and the weather does feel like that), I’ve had a couple of strolls along the River Ely embankment this past week. And I’ve been lucky.
During Monday’s walk, as well as the tens of Mute swans and Coots and a smattering of Great crested grebes and snoozing Mallards, I was treated to close views of these two Common sandpipers, presumably birds that have now completed their summer breeding in more northerly parts of the country and are moving south to settle in their favourite over-wintering areas. Last winter, two birds spent the colder months in and around Cardiff Bay, and it would certainly be nice to have some of these handsome birds around this coming winter as well. Fingers crossed!
02 Wednesday Aug 2023
Posted in birds
We humans may be hoping for a bit more warm weather now that August is here but the birds seem to have decided that summer is over. First up last Wednesday, 26 July, our local expert birder found the first migrating bird of the season, a juvenile Redstart, at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. And when I went for a look (found it but my photo was poor), I also found a juvenile Stonechat in the same area.
And then on Friday, 28 July, I made my own first discovery of the migration season, also at Cosmeston, of a juvenile Whinchat that had begun its journey south. (Later in the day, the same local expert birder who found the Redstart found a second Whinchat, an adult this time.) Enjoy the last of the summer while you can because autumn is definitely in the wind.
29 Saturday Jul 2023
Posted in birds
This is probably the worst photo of a Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) you’ll ever see but it’s my photo of a Goshawk, a raptor that’s been my bogey bird ever since I started birding seriously. I’ve had a lot of false sightings – more hope than skilled identification – but, finally, last Wednesday, my Goshawk time had come. As our county recorder and a local birding expert both told me, the key indicators here are its size (I initially thought Buzzard, then realised it wasn’t flying like a Buzzard), the broad bulging shape of the inner wing, the broad hips, the rounded tail and, finally, the heavily dark-streaked belly of a juvenile Goshawk. Although Goshawks don’t bred locally, the juveniles tend to wander quite widely once they fledge so now is a good time to see/look for them.
earthstar 
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