Just watching this Grey heron standing in the partially iced-over lake made me feel cold this morning, and I was bundled up in several layers of clothing, woolly hat and scarf and 2 pairs of gloves.
Iced Heron
15 Thursday Dec 2022
Posted in nature
Tag Archives: British birds
Never a dull Dunnock
13 Tuesday Dec 2022
Posted in birds
The Dunnock often get dismissed as an ordinary and dull LBJ (little brown job). I assume its detractors and dismissers have never actually looked at the subtle intricacies of its plumage because it is a seriously handsome bird.
Fluffball
10 Saturday Dec 2022
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A hard frost coated everything with a thick layer of ice this morning, the ground crunched under my boots, and my handknits were keeping my extremities warm and cosy. Without the luxury of thermals or boots or knitwear, my little Robin friend was keeping itself warm by puffing up its feathers, making it look like a cute little fluffball.
Not one but two
08 Thursday Dec 2022
Posted in birds
One of my local birding friends has a thermal imager that is extremely helpful when he’s trying to locate birds that are very good at hiding in plain sight – as long as they’re not obscured by too much vegetation, the heat generated by the birds shows up as a bright patch when looking through the imager. And that is how I got to see not one but two Jack snipe this week. Here’s a photo to illustrate how well hidden they are …
The first bird Graham found was the most difficult to see. The image on the left below was almost all we could see of it – these birds have two parallel pale yellow stripes running along the sides of their heads and down their backs. Can you spot the head stripes? Luckily for us, this bird stayed a couple of days – it would’ve been out feeding in the night, then returned to huddle down in its roosting spot in the daytime. The following day we could make out less of its body but, as you can see below right, we could see its eye quite clearly.
The second bird was discovered on the second day. I just happened to be there when Graham arrived and he immediately picked up a second heat source very close to the first bird. This second bird was much more visible, though its cryptic plumage still made it difficult. These photos were taken with a zoom lens – the first photo at the start of this post is what you could see with the naked eye. If you look carefully at the image below, you may be able to make out the other Jack snipe in the top left – you can see one horizontal yellow body stripe and one head stripe.
I’d only ever seen Jack snipe once before this week, as a fleeting flying blur. I was hoping our birds might come out and do their characteristic bouncing dance but no such luck. Still, I’m certainly not complaining. Our views of these elusive birds were superb!
Rafting Cormorants
06 Tuesday Dec 2022
Posted in birds
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cormorant, feeding Cormorants, rafting Cormorants
I’ve seen this behaviour by the Cormorants in Cardiff Bay many times. A few birds gather on the water, then more and more fly in from their various roosting spots to join in. Moving forward together across the water, each bird dives repeatedly.
I assumed the Cormorants were either driving or following a school of fish below the water, and this would seem to be confirmed by a research paper I found online, which discusses a different species of Cormorant living around the Arabian peninsula. Here’s what they have reported:
… data suggest that the benefits of group foraging outweigh the costs of intense aggregation in this seabird. Prey detection and information transmission are facilitated in large groups. Once discovered, shoaling prey are concentrated under the effect of the multitude. Fish school cohesiveness is then disorganized by continuous attacks of diving birds to facilitate prey capture.
Curlew calling
03 Saturday Dec 2022
Posted in birds
Any day is a good day when you hear a Curlew calling in the thick mist and see first one bird, distantly on the beach, and then another eight, grazing on the grass of the playing fields, all at the seaside town of Sully, just a short bus ride from home. Unfortunately, local dog walkers show little respect for these red-listed birds and frequently disturb them when they’re trying to feed, both on the beach and on the grass. That is how I managed to get a flight shot, but I’d much rather not have got the photo if that meant the birds were left in peace. I glared at a few people, I can tell you!
If you’ve never heard a Curlew call, there’s a short video on John Lawton’s YouTube channel that shows Curlews sleeping and preening and occasionally calling.
A bat’s demise
01 Thursday Dec 2022
Tags
bat, birding, birdwatching, British bats, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Magpie, Magpie takes bat, Pipistrelle
This is the sad tale of a bat that ventured out during the daytime only to be snaffled by a Magpie. I initially noticed something tiny flying around low to the water in Cardiff Bay but wasn’t sure what it was until it flew up and clung to a nearby concrete wall. Bat!
Sadly, at the very moment I was taking some photos of it, a Magpie swooped down from above and grabbed the tiny beastie, carrying it up to the ledge above. The Magpie shook its prize a little, perhaps confused by what it had captured, then carried the bat into the nearby bushes. A Carrion crow followed the Magpie very shortly afterwards and, judging by the Magpie’s subsequent shrieking, I suspect the crow carried off the prize.
Speaking to Amy, a local bat expert, it seems this individual was a species of Pipistrelle, which Amy thought looked underweight. That, plus the fact that it was flying during the day, means the bat was probably ill or injured, so its demise, though very unfortunate, may well have been inevitable.
A Kittiwake comes to town
29 Tuesday Nov 2022
Posted in birds
Though they can sometimes be seen by keen birders using ‘scopes to watch birds passing along the coast, Kittwakes only rarely visit Cardiff Bay. So, when I heard early last Thursday morning that this one was hanging out near the Barrage locks, I went for a look. And I was lucky – though the bird was sitting on one of the dolphins when I arrived, it flew off and disappeared soon afterwards. It was blowing a gale, which may be why the bird had come in to the Bay, for a rest from the fierce winds, and having to tackle those strong winds is also my excuse for my photos not being sharp – it was difficult keeping myself from being blown about, let alone the camera. Still, it was a beautiful little bird, a lovely sighting, and a late tick for my 2022 patch birding list.
Startling
26 Saturday Nov 2022
Posted in birds
Tags
A little flock of Starlings was sitting on a wire fence, jamming a lively tune full of whistles and toots, like a small orchestra tuning up, or aliens singing a conversation that only they could understand. And not only were their songs snappy, but they also looked stunning, the sunshine sparkling on the star-like markings of their iridescent plumage.
Two dives, two fish
24 Thursday Nov 2022
Posted in birds
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Great Crested Grebe, Great crested grebe with fish
This Great crested grebe was on a roll! As I watched it diving close to the walking trail around Cardiff Bay, it was successful two dives in a row, emerging with squirming small fish clamped firmly in its beak. With a success rate like that, it wouldn’t take long to fill your tummy.
earthstar 
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