04 Friday Sep 2026
Not just ‘more’ Spotted flycatchers – the most Spotted flycatchers I’ve seen in one day. Ten, in fact.
A pair at the first location, along a hedgerow at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.
Then four together at the second site, along the woodland edge at Lavernock Nature Reserve.
And another four together at my final location, a hedgerow in the coastal fields.
What an absolutely brilliant day I had watching these stunning little birds feeding up before their long migration flights!
02 Wednesday Sep 2026
Tags
autumn bird migration, autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Spotted flycatcher
It happened in August 2025, and again in May this year so, whenever I’ve been home lately, I’ve been keeping a keen eye on the garden. And last Sunday, 30 August, it happened again, not one but two hungry Spotted flycatchers feeding very actively along the woodland edge. They were entrancing to watch.
I took these photos from my living room and bedroom windows as there’s no real cover in the garden and I didn’t want to disturb their fly-catching – they needed the food for their migration journey more than I needed closer photos. And, after grabbing a few images, I put the camera down and just enjoyed their aerial prowess until the growing dusk made viewing difficult and the birds disappeared to roost a while in the vegetation, before they flew onwards during the dark of the night.
31 Monday Aug 2026
After my visit to Lavernock Nature Reserve last Wednesday, I walked the coastal path that runs along the cliff tops to the seaside town of Penarth. I was mostly looking down and around at eye level but noisy gulls and corvids encouraged me to look skywards, where five buzzards were gliding northwards along the coast. There followed a brief heart-thumping couple of minutes when I spotted this very pale buzzard among them, until I realised it was just a very pale Common buzzard. In case, that last sentence doesn’t make much sense to you, let me explain; this is the time of year when Honey buzzards, rare birds of prey that I’ve not yet seen, are migrating, so it’s always worth taking a thorough look at pale buzzards, just in case.
25 Tuesday Aug 2026
Posted in birds
Tags
birding, birdwatching, Black-tailed godwit, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve
Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve, Thursday 20 August. A Black-tailed godwit had been spotted at the reserve the previous day and remained on the morning of the 20th, as reported by the birders in my local WhatsApp group. I hadn’t seen any migrating birds during a couple of recent days’ looking, and this sighting was enough of a local rarity that I figured I’d walk that way.
When I got to the wetlands, there was no sign of the godwit, nowhere within the reserve boundary and not in the little bay (shown above) where it had previously been seen. I waited and watched, enjoying the other birds, noticing a female Shoveler – not particularly common here.
Suddenly, a small wader flew out from where the godwit was meant to be, and continued in panicked circles over the water. A Common sandpiper.
Next, the many Mallards that had been cruising about, washing, preening, all went a little crazy, swimming together in a group away from the reed beds. A couple of Moorhens and Little grebes joined them, clearly rattled about something. Then, the Black-tailed godwit flew out, also looking panicked, and put in a few circuits of the reserve before settling down amongst the ducks. I still don’t know what spooked them all but both Otters and Mink have been sighted at the reserve recently so it was probably one of those species.
Both the Common sandpiper and the Black-tailed godwit flew circuits of the reserve again before all the birds seemed to realise that the threat had gone, and calm returned to the flock. Recognising this, the godwit headed back in to its little hideaway, probably intending to snooze the afternoon away.
14 Friday Aug 2026
Posted in birds
≈ Comments Off on Moorhens big and small
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, juvenile Moorhen, Moorhen, Moorhen chick
On Tuesday, as we moved in to our fifth heatwave of the year, I decided it would be prudent to walk somewhere with shade so headed to Forest Farm Nature Reserve, where the towpath alongside the Glamorgan canal proved to be the perfect choice.
There was enough sun coming through the trees on to the water for me to spot lots of dragonflies but it was the numerous families of Moorhens that stole the show.
From the miniscule to the well grown, from those waggling their tiny wing stumps and peeping constantly for their parents to feed them to those old enough to feed themselves, they were very entertaining and a delight to watch.
11 Tuesday Aug 2026
Posted in birds
Last Sunday, much to my delight, Mrs Mallard and her two ducklings came cruising along the River Ely where it flows in to Cardiff Bay while I was standing on the footpath above, enjoying a cooling breeze blowing gently over the water.
These may well be the same birds I saw during a similar walk on 16 July, though I’m a bit doubtful about that.
I think the ducklings would have grown more in the intervening 24 days, and Sunday’s mother duck looks to be quite a young duck herself. Perhaps that’s why she’s bred so late in the season.
08 Saturday Aug 2026
Posted in birds
I took this photo during a walk around Cardiff’s Roath Park Lake on Thursday, and I’ve been puzzling over it ever since because I have no idea what this young Grey heron thought it was doing. It was just plain weird!
** Edit ** My followers are the best! Check out the link to a blog shared by Discovering in a comment below that includes images of lots of heron species doing ‘pilates’. 😉
01 Saturday Aug 2026
Posted in birds
≈ Comments Off on Chiffchaff vs caterpillar
Tags
autumn bird migration, autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Chiffchaff, Chiffchaff feeding
It seems mad to be writing this during the continuing heat of this hottest of summers but, for our feathered friends, autumn migration has begun.
You may have noticed fewer Swifts screaming through our skies, Swallows amassing on high wires, and, though many now remain to over-winter, fewer Chiffchaffs chiffchaffing from the trees where they were born and raised.
This particular Chiffchaff was one of several in the local coastal fields, feeding up before setting off on the next leg of its flight south.
It was searching this way and that, trying to find nutritious snacks, only to find its next snack was dangling, quite well hidden, above its head. The caterpillar didn’t give up easily but, after some strong tugs, the Chiffchaff won the day.
29 Wednesday Jul 2026
Posted in birds
≈ Comments Off on Common terns and their chicks
Tags
birding, birdwatching, breeding Common terns, British birds, Common tern, Common tern chicks, Common tern fledglings, RSPB Lodmoor
During June and July, one of the highlights of every visit to RSPB Lodmoor is watching and listening to the Common terns in the process of raising the next generation of Common terns. They share the artificial breeding ‘islands’ with Lesser black-backed gulls, mostly harmoniously, but the noise generated by adults and offspring communicating with each other and the almost constant neighbourhood disputes has to be heard to be believed. It’s rowdy and raucous but in a rather joyous, life-affirming kind of way.
During my recent visit, from 8 to 15 July, most of the terns’ offspring had already fledged but were still being fed by their parents, so were spending their time sitting along the shoreline of the various pools of water. Sometimes they sat alone or with their siblings; at other times, one parent sat nearby, standing guard, while the other parent was away fishing for food.
However, it seems some pairs of Common terns had started the breeding process several weeks later than the others. A couple were still sitting on eggs and, during the week I was there, some tiny chicks hatched. They were so small and well camouflaged that it was difficult to see them, even with binoculars, let alone get clear photographs, but I hope you can pick them out amongst the stones in the images above and below.
25 Saturday Jul 2026
Posted in birds
Though my recent week in Weymouth only produced one new bird for my year list, I did still enjoy every visit to RSPB Lodmoor, as many of their local birds are different from those I see when birding close to home.
Although small numbers of Oystercatchers are a regular sight along the south Wales coastline, they rarely breed here; I know of only one pair that have tried for many years at an odd location, under one of the dolphins in Cardiff Bay (I blogged about this in Chicks of Cardiff Bay, June 2024).
So, it was wonderful to be treated to some close views of this well-grown juvenile Oystercatcher interacting with its parents each time I visited Lodmoor. The young one seemed perfectly able to feed itself but its parents were still supplementing its food intake – long thin worms, pulled from the mud, seemed to be the most common snack.
Though the juvenile was almost as big as its parents, its beak and legs had still to acquire their adult colours. And, as is common with the young of all creatures, including humans, the young’un spent a lot of its time snoozing. I only hope it lives long and prospers!
