27 Friday Mar 2020
Tags
Have you noticed that many Jenny (or Jimmy) Wrens like poking about near water? This little one was so engrossed in exploring all the nooks and crannies for whatever grubs and other edibles it could find that it didn’t notice I had stopped to watch and photograph. Finding joy in small things helps in the current bleak times!
20 Friday Mar 2020
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay birds, house sparrow, Linnet, Sand martin, Stonechat, Wheatear
Finally, we’ve had a rain-less day and, though there was a bitterly cold wind blasting across Cardiff Bay, I had to take advantage of the dry weather so walked an 8-mile circuit right round the Bay. The first highlight was my first two Wheatears of the year, a bit distant, and only popping up very briefly from amongst the huge Barrage boulders, but it was lovely to welcome them back for the summer.
The Bay was buzzing with Sand martins – I must’ve seen at least 20, perhaps more, at various times during my wander, and it was a joy to watch their aerial antics.
Though it’s now several weeks since the big floods pushed a ton of rubbish into the Bay, the huge accumulations have still not been cleared. In fact, most of the rubbish slicks have seen no clearance action taken at all. The ONLY positive thing about this is that the Goldfinches and Linnets seem to be finding plenty of food amongst the garbage.
I simply had to include this male House sparrow, as today is World Sparrow Day.
This lovely female Stonechat was dotting back and forth across the footpath through the wetlands reserve, and let me get quite close for photos. There was no sign of the male today though.
19 Thursday Mar 2020
Tags
bird with deformed beak, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cogan Wood, European nuthatch, nuthatch, Nuthatch with deformed beak
During a recent wander through Cogan Wood, after a spell of nasty weather, I was dishing out sunflower seeds to all the small birds, the tits and Robins and assorted others, when I noticed this Nuthatch with an elongated and twisted beak. The deformity wasn’t stopping it feeding or carting away and stashing two or three seeds at a time.
October 2017, the twist is not very pronounced
I had a nagging feeling that I’d seen the bird before and, sure enough, when I checked my photos, I had images from two previous sightings, the first in October 2017, the second just a couple of months ago, in January 2020, always in the same spot in the wood. The twist was minor in the first photo but appears to have got worse as the beak has grown longer.
January 2020
Apparently, the Nuthatch lives about three years on average. Obviously, I don’t know how old this particular bird was when I first saw it but it will be interesting to keep an eye out for it to see how long it manages to survive. I hope it lives long and prospers!
March 2020
14 Saturday Mar 2020
First, there was one juvenile Cormorant, sitting on the edge of the canal, keeping an eye on passers-by, ready to dive into the water if anyone came too close.
Then there were two, presumably siblings. Number two had been fishing, diving in the constant search for sustenance, though I didn’t see it catch anything.
Deciding it needed a rest and to dry off, number two jumped up on the canal edge, and proceeded to shimmy and shake, the water droplets spraying in all directions, just like a dog shaking itself after a swim.
And then, as I’m sure you’ve seen all Cormorants and Shags do, number two spread out it wings to drip-dry in the weak sunshine, while number one kept a weather eye on me. Lovely creatures both!
13 Friday Mar 2020
Mr and Mrs Coot are pleased to announce the laying of three eggs! I can’t tell male from female Coot – I’m not even sure if it’s possible to tell which is which – but one of them was sitting tight on the nest when I visited this morning.
However, this small area of water has two pairs of Coots in residence, and they are uneasy neighbours. First, they were simply trying to intimidate each other.
Next thing you know, there’s a full scale battle underway.
And the sitting Coot left the nest to join in the tussle, which is how I know there are three eggs.
Luckily, the skirmish didn’t last long, and the eggs were soon safe and warm under their parent once more.
12 Thursday Mar 2020
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Sand martin, spring migration
When I walked through the park this afternoon, three Sand martins were riding the blustery winds over Cosmeston’s west lake, twisting and swerving this way and that, hunting for tiny flying insects, feeding up after their marathon flights from Africa. What a joy it was to watch them!
09 Monday Mar 2020
Spring migration is underway! Our county bird recorder yesterday reported seeing his first Sand martin for 2020 and today I’ve seen my first Chiffchaffs, newly arrived from overwintering in the warm countries around the Mediterranean or perhaps somewhere in west Africa. Such long migratory flights by such little birds – incredible!
I saw or heard five Chiffchaffs during my walk along the coastal path this morning and then another three at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. Above is number three and below is number seven. Hearing them singing their ‘chiff chaff’ song made my heart spring!
29 Saturday Feb 2020
Barefaced crow is one of the common names for the Rook (Corvus frugilegus), and it’s easy to see how it came about, though it’s not so much that its face is bare but rather the top of its large, pale beak (compare the Crow on the left, the Rook on the right).
Though there’s a rookery in a nearby town, and used to be one in the woods at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, I haven’t seen a lot of Rooks in my local area … until this winter. Now, I see them quite often, in the farm fields north of the park itself, usually in the company of Jackdaws and Carrion crows.
I was fascinated to read in my Fauna Britannica, that ‘If a death (especially of the head of the household) occurred in a family owning the land that supported a rookery, there has been a widespread tradition that the Rooks must be told.’ Let’s hope that doesn’t prove necessary!
27 Thursday Feb 2020
Tags
birding, birds as weather forecasters, birdwatching, British birds, Troglodytes troglodytes, wren
In its section about the Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) my Fauna Britannica has this disturbing sentence: ‘In some areas, the sight of Wrens congregating presaged bad weather.’ I’d better not tell you how many Wrens I saw together yesterday because I’m sure that, like me, you really don’t want any more bad weather!
21 Friday Feb 2020
Tags
adult Cormorant, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cormorant, Grey heron, juvenile Cormorant
During today’s wander around parts of Cardiff that I only occasionally visit, I managed to get very close to, and spend quite a long time watching, several birds. These are three: a Grey heron, and two Cormorants, an adult and a juvenile. It was magic!
earthstar 
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