Tag Archives: Cardiff Bay

G is for Grey seal

12 Friday Dec 2025

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Having walked across Cardiff Bay’s Barrage umpteen times in the more than ten years I’ve lived in this area and never seen a seal, I’m now been treated to four sightings since my first in early September (see my blog Finally, a Grey seal, on 6 September).

I have no idea why I was so unsuccessful in the past, nor why I’m seeing seals more often; though I think, in fact, it’s only one seal. Looking at my photos (the images below were taken on 27 September and 30 October), the markings around the seal’s head look the same to me, so I think this is the same seal returning to the Barrage because it’s learned that, after heavy rain and when the sluices are open, a plentiful quantity of fish is washed down the rivers Taff and Ely and out into the Bristol Channel. Not great for the fish but the perfect location for a hungry Grey seal.

Otter!!!

01 Monday Jan 2024

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I’ve had the most unexpectedly marvellous start to 2024. Although I knew that two Otters had been spotted at various places around Cardiff Bay over the past year and had seen photographs other people had taken, I had never been lucky enough to spot one … until this morning. I had just begun my circuit of the Bay, now an annual New Year’s Day walk to see how many birds I can find, when I noticed a flock of gulls circling low over one particular area of the River Ely where it flows into the Bay. As I got closer, I was still watching them, wondering what had disturbed them, when I heard a loud plop from the water below the path where I was walking. An Otter – my first ever, and what a magnificent sight it was!

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If I’d noticed it was there earlier, I might have been able to hide my presence a little, to have watched it for longer and got better photos, but it clocked me straight away and veered across to the other side of the river, disappearing amongst the yachts moored there. Still, I was buzzing all the way around the Bay and I’m still grinning madly as I write this. I hope your new year has also got off to a great start.

Whooper swan

18 Monday Jul 2022

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Patch birding list number 108 for 2022 is a delightful surprise, a Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), hanging out with the Mute swans in Cardiff Bay. The Whooper isn’t a swan I’ve seen very often as they don’t usually spend their winters in this part of Wales but, with its yellow face patch, its distinctive head shape and its erect bearing, it was easier than expected to pick out from the swan crowd. And, if you’re in this area, the bird will be around for a few weeks yet as it’s currently undergoing its primary moult (i.e. growing new primary wing feathers) so will be unable to fly until the moult is complete. (My photos don’t show this but, if you’re on Twitter, check out @CardiffBirder Peter Howlett’s excellent photos – in fact, I recommend you follow Peter for all the amazing wildlife photos he shares.)

220718 whooper swan

Cute but deadly

23 Wednesday Mar 2022

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One of the many disadvantages of the huge accumulations of rubbish in Cardiff Bay is that these areas provide perfect homes for predators like this Mink. It was weaving through the logs and tyres and other assorted junk, popping its head up here and there, almost like it was playing hide and seek. It was fascinating to watch, of course, but it will prove deadly for any unsuspecting wildlife that nests or even snoozes in the area.

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This is not a native species; it’s an American mink (Neovison vison), whose ancestors escaped or were deliberately released from fur farms around 70 years ago (they were first recorded breeding in the wild in the 1950s). They are the reason why Water vole numbers plummeted in the 1990s, and have caused huge damage to bird populations in various places (the Mammal Society website has more information). A creature that’s cute but also deadly.

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Garbage Bay

01 Tuesday Mar 2022

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Cardiff Bay has a reputation as a lovely area but the sad reality is that when you place a barrier across a bay into which two rivers discharge then the garbage that flows down those rivers, especially after raging storms and heavy rain, is bound to accumulate. And, though the local council does remove some rubbish, this particular corner of the Bay is never cleared. No chance of any lunch for the Grey heron here, I’m afraid.

220301 heron in rubbish

Little egret

16 Thursday Sep 2021

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I don’t walk around Cardiff Bay often during the summer months as I dislike the crowds and the clutter of event equipment, choke on the smell of the herbicides the Council uses to kill off the real wildflowers to create artificial ‘wildflower meadows’, and fear for the safety of the birds when blasted by jetboating thrill seekers. Fortunately, the coming of the cooler weather brings some relief from much of that human activity and so I begin again to explore the Bay.

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And, on my very first walk along the Barrage in some time, I got lucky: a Little egret was standing in amongst the crowd of gulls on one of the floating platforms by the locks. At one point the gulls chased off the intruder but, after a short circuit of the Barrage, it and they returned to the platforms. Little egrets are relatively common birds in Britain now but are not seen often in Cardiff Bay, so this was a very welcome 2021 patch tick for me.

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Making a splash

28 Wednesday Apr 2021

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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.

Barrage lichens

04 Thursday Feb 2021

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Cardiff Bay Barrage is a monument to concrete, 135,000 square metres of concrete – in fact, it received an award from The Concrete Society soon after it was completed. And lichens love having so much concrete to colonise!

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According to that same Concrete Society, ‘As the concrete ages, the surface alkalinity is reduced by carbonation and the action of rainfall, thus providing a more suitable environment for biological growth.’ And, as lichens are sensitive to air pollution, the almost constant blasting of fresh air aids their lush growth, as you can see from these photos, taken during one of last week’s exercise walks.

Ducks in a row

16 Saturday Jan 2021

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For the past couple of months it’s been wonderful to have both a female Scaup and a Ring-necked duck over-wintering in my local area. They spend most of their time amongst flocks of Tufted ducks in Cardiff Bay, either behind the Ice Rink or in the wetlands reserve, though they also venture occasionally to Cosmeston Lakes. Much of the time they can be found together, as if they’re aware that they’re the outsiders in the flock, though they can sometimes be found in separate locations. I was lucky during Thursday’s walk to see them both in a smattering of sunshine and together – in fact, I managed to get all my ducks in a row!

210116 ducks in a row