The Black redstarts are back

22 Saturday Nov 2025

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, overwintering birds

I wrote that title in an optimistic frame of mind a week ago, when planning forthcoming blog posts and after seeing my first Black redstart of the autumn/winter season in a nearby seaside town. This female / immature bird – it’s impossible to tell whether they’re male or female at this time of year when they haven’t yet acquired their adult plumage – was moving between the rooftops of local houses and an adjacent newly planted park.

This was apparently one of two birds, and, a few days later, two males were also seen. I had intended to go for another look but the park also held a children’s playground very close to where the birds were feeding and it’s not really a good idea to linger near a playground with binoculars and a camera. Then, yesterday I heard that no Black redstarts have been seen at all this week so it looks like they’ve moved on. Fingers crossed we’ll get some local over-wintering birds, in a more suitable location.

B is for Black redstart

07 Saturday Dec 2024

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff City Hall, Cardiff City Hall Black redstart

As I write this, we’re being blasted by the full force of Storm Darragh and are hunkered down under a rare Red weather warning (red means threat to life, in this case due to the strength of the winds), so the outstanding views so many locals enjoyed of this particular Black redstart back in March seem just a distant memory (City Hall Black redstart, 8 March).

241207 b is for black redstart

Another (or, possibly, the same) Black redstart was spotted at Cardiff’s City Hall in late Autumn, and it’s probably still there but has remained high up and mostly shy of people. Perhaps that will change as the winter progresses. I certainly hope so as these are beautiful little birds to watch and spend time alongside.

City Hall’s Black redstart

08 Friday Mar 2024

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff City Hall, Cardiff City Hall Black redstart

The main reason I walked in to Cardiff city centre on Wednesday was to see this handsome little dude, the Black redstart that’s been spending his winter months around City Hall.

240308 black redstart (1)

Although we have these birds in Cardiff Bay, they are distant, mostly spending their time in wasteland behind a high fence, whereas the City Hall bird is really quite confiding, coming to within a few feet of his admirers and seemingly unconcerned about all the local passers by and vehicular traffic.

240308 black redstart (4)

One birder who was watching the Black redstart while I was there said he thinks this is the same bird that has returned to City Hall three years in a row, and I can certainly understand why it would, as it was having great success finding caterpillars to eat. How birds can spot these amongst the grass from more than six feet away is beyond my understanding.

240308 black redstart (3)

For me, though, the best thing about the time I spent watching this Black redstart was listening to his almost continuous singing, not something I’ve heard very often before. It was magical!

240308 black redstart (2)

The birding begins

02 Tuesday Jan 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Goldeneye, Shag

This was originally going to be yesterday’s blog post but that Otter intervened. As I mentioned yesterday, my New Year’s Day walk around Cardiff Bay is becoming a personal tradition, as I challenge myself to see how many birds I can find. There was also one particular bird that’s a local rarity that I wanted to see, so let’s start with that. This juvenile Shag (on the left) has been present on the River Taff for a few days, hanging out with the local Cormorants (one on the right of the Shag). Fortunately, it seems quite settled and, presumably, is feeding well, despite the huge amount of detritus that has been flowing down the river following all the recent rain (as you can see behind the birds).

240102 shag

Another star bird, of the 48 species I counted during my walk, was a male Black redstart. I blogged about these now-regular Bay visitors last year (And then there were two, 18 November) but they are still special enough to get a mention. And, in recent weeks, there have, at various times, been two males and two females in their favourite area around the BBC buildings.

240102 black redstarts

This female Goldeneye was another beauty that we don’t often see in the Bay so I was grateful to one of my fellow local birders who put out the word of its presence on the water behind the ice rink. I was so lucky with my first birding walk of the year, and I’m very much looking forward to how 2024 develops, though the almost constant rain needs to stop first!

240102 goldeneye

And then there were two

18 Saturday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, female Black redstart

On 8 November I posted about the return of a male Black redstart to a location this species has, in recent years, favoured for over-wintering in Cardiff Bay. I’m pleased to report that a female has now been sighted in the same area – I spotted her hopping around the top of the BBC building last Tuesday. A female was also spotted on waste ground a couple of blocks away later in the day, which may be a third bird or it may be the same female exploring the area. We will have to wait for more sightings and photographs to be sure but it is wonderful to have these little characters back with us again.

231118 black redstart

A Black redstart returns

08 Wednesday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding

I’ve been trekking across Cardiff Bay regularly over recent weeks to check whether the Black redstarts have returned to their regular spot near Cardiff Port. The fields were empty until last Sunday when I finally spotted this stunning little male. He flew in over my head while I was photographing a Mistle thrush, landed first on one of the piles of rocks in the centre of the field, then fluttered across to the other, to survey his domain. Shortly afterwards, he fluttered down to the ground and I lost him amongst the vegetation and was unable to re-find him. Hopefully, he will stay the winter and, as in previous years, be joined by others of his species.

231108 black redstart

Three Black redstarts

05 Wednesday Jan 2022

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay birds

On 10 December the word went out to local birders that someone had spotted a Black redstart in the Porth Teigr area of Cardiff Bay, so the next morning I wasn’t the only person to head over to see if I could find it.

220105 black redstart male

Turns out, there are, in fact, three Black redstarts dotting around together, two males (one, above) and a female (below). I’ve been back to see them several times now and they are worth every strip of shoe leather I wear off my soles walking there and back. They are simply stunning little birds!

220105 black redstart female

p.s. I wrote this post yesterday and, amazingly, in the interim, one of my birding friends noticed that there are actually two females, meaning there are four Black redstarts. I walked across for another look this morning and, sure enough, there were two females. Amazing!

Peachy

28 Thursday Oct 2021

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding

She may be called a Black redstart but the female of the species is a mostly non-descript little grey bird, though she does have the characteristic peach-coloured bottom indicated by the ‘redstart’ name (the Anglo-Saxon phrase for red tail, red steort, morphed into the word redstart).

211028 black redstart

This particularly bird was first noticed on Cardiff Bay Barrage a week ago but eluded all efforts to re-find her (by several birders, not just me) until, much to my surprise and delight, I found her again in the same location Tuesday morning. And, since then, she’s disappeared again – she’s small and can easily flit into the gaps around the huge boulders of the outer Barrage and has, perhaps, half a mile of rocks to forage amongst, so it’s really not surprising. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

1/366 And we’re off!

01 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, winter

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Goosander, Lesser black-backed gull, Turnstone

And so another year, another decade has kicked off, and I started as I mean to go on, with an 8-mile walk around Cardiff Bay, immersing myself in the local wildlife. I counted 43 species of birds, found 28 species of wildflowers in bloom (more on them tomorrow), and spotted 1 moth. I finally met someone I’ve ‘known’ on Twitter for ages, and bumped into 2 fellow birders. The weather may have been shite (gloomy, partly foggy, partly low cloud, sometimes drizzle) but it was a mighty fine way to jump start a new year.

My good camera didn’t come out often as it doesn’t like the wet and the photos I did take are very grainy due to the poor light, but I’ll include a couple anyway.

This male Goosander was posing nicely – wish I could’ve done him justice

200101 3 turnstones

There were 14 Turnstones along the Ely embankment today, 7 of which ventured up on to the pavement – never seen that before. Lingered watching for quite a while …

For those who like lists, the birds were: Robin, Lesser black-backed gull, Feral pigeon, Starling, Great tit, Blackbird, House sparrow, Woodpigeon, Herring gull, Carrion crow, Dunnock, Blue tit, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Cormorant, Coot, Great-crested grebe, Mallard, Goosander, Grey wagtail, Turnstone, Collared dove, Mute swan, Redshank, Tufted duck, Wren, Blackcap, Black redstart, Moorhen, Pied wagtail, Raven, Goldfinch, Song thrush, Little grebe, Linnet, Reed bunting, Cetti’s warbler, Shoveler, Sparrowhawk. Pochard, Grey heron, Meadow pipit, and Jackdaw.

A record shot of the Black redstart

A bit gory, sorry, but a reminder that it’s a ‘bird eat bird’ world out there! Not sure what the victim was

352/365 Black redstart

18 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, winter

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birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, Blackcap, British birds, overwintering Blackcaps, Penarth marina

What a smashing day I’ve had! I went for a long walk around the outside of Grangemoor Park – it was too squidgy underfoot to walk up the hill (and found some nice blooms for this week’s wildflowerhour), then walked home via the Ely embankment and Penarth Marina.

191218 blackcaps

Amongst the houses at the marina, I spotted a couple of Blackcaps, birds that usually migrate during our winter months (though I did see a male Blackcap in the same area last winter – perhaps the same bird, and one of its offspring – these were both males).

191218 black redstart (1)

While watching the Blackcaps, I noticed another small bird dotting about on the rooftops behind and was immediately on the alert, because I’ve been keeping an eye out for one of these since the winter began.

191218 black redstart (2)

I was trying to angle for a better look when it flew above me and on to the roof of a much taller building opposite. The light today was shocking and the bird now distant, three storeys up. I thought I knew what it was but, even using my binoculars, I couldn’t be sure. So, I took lots of photos and hurried home. Once I had the photos on my laptop and was able to crop and lighten them, I was certain – a Black redstart, a bird we don’t often see in my area, though one has visited the marina in winter before. Yay!!!