04 Saturday Mar 2023
Posted in birds
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, British fish, Cardiff Bay birding, Great crested grebe chicks, Perch
Just a Great crested grebe downing its main course at lunchtime….
It had already enjoyed an appetiser, a smaller fish that slithered down its gullet much more easily. This Perch, with its pesky wide fins, took a bit more manoeuvring.
28 Wednesday Apr 2021
Posted in coastal fauna, fish
Tags
British fish, Cardiff Bay, Chelon labrosus, Grey mullet, Thick-lipped grey mullet, Thick-lipped mullet, Thicklip mullet
I was taking a break from not seeing the birds I was looking for on the edge of Cardiff Bay yesterday, when a loud splash drew my eye down to the water. These fish, a shoal of at least ten, perhaps more, were swirling and weaving around each other, presumably feeding.
Officially known as Thick-lipped mullet (Chelon labrosus), they are also frequently called Thick-lipped grey mullet, Thicklip mullet, Grey mullet and various other combinations of those words.
I wasn’t able to judge their size accurately, but it seems they can grow up to 75cm in length, though they mature when around 30cm at between four and six years of age. They thrive in ‘low salinity environments’ like Cardiff Bay and are often ‘found in closely shoaling schools near the surface’, just like those I saw.
They feed ‘on organic and algal material found on the upper surface sediments and mud, with the indigestible material being filtered out by the gill rakers’. I’m not sure I’d want to put any sediments or mud from Cardiff Bay in my mouth, so their filtration system must be first rate to survive the pollution.
I have to admit that they were very calming to watch, and I gained some appreciation for why people have aquariums, though I do prefer creatures to be wild and free.
Credit: Today’s fishy facts came from the UK Fish info website.
21 Wednesday Oct 2020
Posted in nature
During yesterday’s walk along the southern edge of Cardiff Bay, I spotted this huge metre-long fish cruising along sluggishly very close to the embankment. Turns out it was a Salmon, possibly returning to the Bay after having spawned somewhere high up in the River Taff.
Sadly, this fish has probably now reached the end of its life … but what a life! As Will Millard kindly explained on Twitter, this Salmon may have
been born in the Taff, migrated to sea, possibly even as far as Greenland, to pile on weight, mass and muscle over a few years, before returning, hundreds of miles home to spawn and then die. It’s sad when any animal comes to the end of its life, but what a story & other life is sustained from the salmon carcass. In parts of Canada and Alaska whole forests gain massive parts of their nutrients purely from salmon dying at the end of the salmon run.
Will also explained that Salmon often develop skin infections during times of stress, which may explain the pale, ‘cotton wool’-like appearance of parts of its skin.
08 Friday May 2020
Tags
birding, British birds, British fish, duckling, Ely embankment, Grey wagtail, Mallard, Thick-lipped grey mullet, wagtail fledglings
Yesterday’s walk along the Ely river embankment was a mix of treats and unexpectedness. The first unexpected treat was the large number of both Sand and House martins flying low along the embankment: the air around me was alive with their close flypasts and their noisy chirruping. I’ve no photos of them – I was too intent on enjoying their proximity.
Next up was the sight of a family of Grey wagtails, two adults and their three offspring, flitting about amongst the stones at the water’s edge.
The Grey wagtail fledgling helps to show the size of the fish
While watching the wagtails, I noticed the water churning at various points along the river’s edge. It was being caused by large fish, feeding on the weed that’s growing on the stones just under the water. Thanks to one of my Twitter pals, Tate, I later learned they were Thick-lipped grey mullet, which can grow ‘to huge sizes’ and which are ‘mostly a saltwater fish but can tolerate fresh water quite far up rivers’.
After unexpectedly bumping in to a birding friend and enjoying a chat to a real live person (a rare treat in these days of lockdown), my final wild treat was seeing these two Mallard ducklings, meandering along the river with their mother.
earthstar 
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