Tag Archives: Cardiff Bay birding

Female Scaup

24 Saturday Jan 2026

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It was 10.34 yesterday morning and I was walking across the Barrage, being blasted by the ferocious winds that have plagued us for three days now and looking to see if those winds had blown any interesting birds in to Cardiff Bay, when my phone emitted the double ping that meant a new WhatsApp message had been posted on the local birding group.

A Scaup had been sighted with a flock of Tufted ducks close to the water’s edge by the Norwegian Church. It was perfect timing as I had literally just taken a couple of steps towards home, having spotted nothing new. Instead, I immediately turned around and started striding in the direction of the church, as I knew there was a possibility the birds might be disturbed and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

Luckily for me, this stunning female Scaup was still there, and, for the next 15 minutes or so, I enjoyed wonderfully close views. Most of the time she had her head tucked under her wing snoozing but twice, when a group of noisy people walked along the pavement behind me and when one of the water buses left Mermaid Quay to sail up the River Taff to central Cardiff, the Scaup lifted her head to scan her surroundings. Unfortunately, the revving engines, passenger screams, and wave action caused by a Cardiff Jetboat hurtling around nearby then caused almost the entire flock of birds to panic and fly to the other side of the Bay, exactly what I had feared might happen. (And don’t even get me started on the damage and disturbance that jetboat causes in the Bay!)

I had actually seen this same Scaup twice before yesterday, as she had been at Cosmeston Lakes for a couple of weeks before relocating to the Bay with her Tufty friends on Thursday. However, when I had managed to pick her out at Cosmeston, she had always been distant, on the far side of the west lake, so I was really thrilled to see her up close in the Bay.

The Cardiff Bay Ravens

19 Monday Jan 2026

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Cardiff Bay is home to a pair of Ravens, those stunning large black members of the crow family that have been much persecuted over the years by farmers and gamekeepers but, fortunately, are slowly recovering their numbers here in Wales.

Whenever I walk around Cardiff Bay, I look out or listen for them – their ‘kronk kronk’ call is unmistakeable. During one such walk, just before Christmas, I was walking across the Barrage when both Ravens flew in and landed quite close to me. I wondered if they would take food so I said ‘Hello, Ravens’ to get their attention, put down some of the berry-flavoured suet pellets I give ‘my’ crows, and backed off a little to watch. They hopped right over and, after checking out the pellets, wolfed them down. I was delighted.

I didn’t see the Ravens again until the new year (they’re early nesters so are probably busy refreshing their nest already), when I walked another circuit of the Bay on 9 January. Their behaviour that day led me to conclude that Ravens have inbuilt facial recognition software. Despite the fact that I’d only fed them once before, they appeared to recognise me and came hopping over, expecting food. And while ‘she’ ate the suet, ‘he’ chatted; Raven: ‘Kronk, kronk’, me: ‘Boop’, Raven: ‘Kronk, kronk’, me: ‘Boop’. This exchange went on for several minutes, with me looking around frequently to make sure no one was listening! I have no idea what we were saying but it was a definite, totally unexpected, and most wonderful conversation.

If you’re wondering why ‘Boop’, the sound is one used by Amy, on the YouTube channel @wingsandwildlands, when she communicates with her incredible captive-bred Raven, Fable.

Spring is in the air

17 Saturday Jan 2026

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It may be the middle of winter but today was a magnificent blue-sky day with real warmth in the sunshine and a high temperature hovering very close to double figures.

This gave me, and many other people I’m sure, the idea that Spring was in the air. And, when I walked across Cardiff Bay Barrage this morning, I noticed that the weather was making this pair of Mute swans feel rather frisky.

When I first spotted them, they were indulging in a lot of synchronised grooming, constantly ducking their heads under the water before cleaning and preening their feathers, rubbing their heads and necks together. Having watched this behaviour in many species of birds over the years, I was fairly sure this was going to lead to something more intimate, and I was right.

And, though mating amongst water fowl always looks like the female is going to drown under the weight of her mate and with her head forced under the water, these beautiful birds are always very tender with each other before and after the actual event. It may be a bit voyeuristic but their mating is a lovely thing to watch.

First birds

04 Sunday Jan 2026

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As one of the people I follow on social media so aptly wrote: ‘Birdy folk do love a list. Especially a list that can be wiped clean and started afresh’. And, though I’m not by any means one of those obsessive listers who drive all over the country just to add a bird to their list, I do enjoy the challenge of walking around my local patch seeing what I can find for my new year’s list of bird species.

In recent years, when the weather has allowed, I’ve started the year with a circuit of Cardiff Bay, and that’s exactly how I began 2026. A bitterly cold wind was blowing out of the north west, which probably accounts for some missed birds – I think the resident Raven pair were probably huddled near their perch and the Linnets had found somewhere more sheltered to forage, but my total by the end of an eight-and-a-half-mile walk was a very respectable 43 species.

The highlights for me were, firstly, a Treecreeper (my first photo above) that I spotted on a street tree just a block from home – they can be quite difficult to find locally, but that was the second one I’d seen on local street trees in the past week.

Redshanks are one of my favourite bird species and, though I’ve seen several foraging for food on the mudflats outside Cardiff Bay Barrage this winter, the three birds that were stationed along the Ely River embankment on New Year’s Eve and again on New Year’s morning were the first I’d seen within the Bay itself. They tend only to come in during very cold weather.

Black redstarts have been absent from the Bay so far this winter, so local birders were very pleased when this female was located on 30 December, and very relieved that she decided to stay in to the new year. The same could be said of the Goldeneye pair that have been in the Bay on and off for a couple of weeks; fortunately for those of us birders who do love a list, they appeared together on New Year’s day. And so it began …

A pair of Goldeneyes

04 Thursday Dec 2025

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Local birders have this week been treated to the appearance of a pair of Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) in Cardiff Bay, though they have occasionally been elusive, disappearing from their favoured area in the bay behind the Ice Rink for long periods, then reappearing as if by magic. When present, they also dive very frequently, so it’s easy to blink and miss them.

The male is a particularly handsome duck. He looks black in his upper parts and white below, though his head is actually a very dark green, and he has white cheek patches. As is usually the case with ducks, the female is more plain, her body patterned in shades of grey, though the brown colouration of her head is a warm rich hue. Both sexes have the golden-coloured eye they are named for.

A disabled Coot

27 Thursday Nov 2025

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Call me heartless but, when I first noticed this Coot in Cardiff Bay yesterday, I laughed out loud. Then I felt ashamed of laughing and couldn’t help but admire how tenacious the bird was. Despite having something wrong with its left leg, it was swimming strongly, and clearly not letting its disability limit its determination to get where it was going.

Wednesday wash day

06 Thursday Nov 2025

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We don’t see very many Mediterranean gulls in Cardiff Bay so it was a real treat yesterday to see this one at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve yesterday.

The resident Black-headed gulls often use this area as a good place to wash, plunging into the water, giving themselves a good shake, flapping their wings … you get the idea. And, if you don’t, here’s a short video.

The Med gull is the one that looks to have a completely white body and wings, though it actually has a very fine dark line along the edge of its wings. In my photos, above and below, the Med gull is the bird at the back, with a Black-headed gull in front so you can compare the two.

The consolation prize

04 Tuesday Nov 2025

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Do I give the impression that I always find what I go searching for? If I do, then I apologise because I don’t but, rather than letting that get me down, I’ve learnt to appreciate what I find along the way.

Yesterday was one of those days. Three Firecrests had been reported the previous day, in trees around the edge of a local recreation ground; I couldn’t find them. A female Goldeneye had been seen in Cardiff Bay over several days and, though I’d had a fleeting glimpse, I wanted to try for photos; I couldn’t find her. And, though, as you’ve seen, I have already taken photos of the Red-throated diver that’s still feeding in the channel off the Barrage, I was hoping for closer views; it stayed distant.

But there was a consolation prize from my seven-mile walk: the one bird that did pose well for me, allowing a close look at its stunning plumage and some reasonable photos as I watched it drying its wings, this handsome young Cormorant.

Lingering Chiffchaffs

03 Monday Nov 2025

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During my most recent circuit of Cardiff Bay, one day last week, I counted at least nine Chiffchaffs, and I’m sure there were probably more.

Most of those Chiffchaffs that intended to migrate should have moved through by now so it’s likely that these remaining birds will linger a while longer, possibly right through the winter, if the weather doesn’t get too cold. It’s lovely to see and hear them still dotting about the trees.

This year’s Wheatears

04 Saturday Oct 2025

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Judging by the numbers I’ve been seeing in Cardiff Bay during this autumn’s migration, Wheatears have benefitted from a good breeding season.

These birds don’t breed locally, preferring the wide open spaces and heathland in upland areas like the Brecon Beacons National Park (Bannau Brycheiniog) and the Snowdonia National Park (Eryri).

As well as northern England and parts of Scotland, Wales is a stronghold for the British population of Wheatear, together with other members of the chat family, the Whinchat and Stonechat. This was confirmed by a specialised survey conducted by volunteers across Wales in 2012-2013; the BTO website has an abridged scientific paper available on its website for anyone interested in reading further.

We are lucky to see them on passage, as they pause briefly on the south Wales coast before heading across the Bristol Channel en route to their over-wintering locations in Africa.

Did you know their name refers to their white rear end, which flashes when they fly and is one of the best ways to identify a Wheatear seen at distance? Wheat comes from the Old English for ‘white’ and ear comes from the word for ‘arse’.