Tag Archives: Cardiff Bay birding

The entertainer

23 Saturday Oct 2021

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A Black redstart was reported from Cardiff Bay barrage so off I stomped to try to find it. Despite much searching, scanning with my bins, and walking back and forth, I failed to find it (I was somewhat gratified to learn later that more experienced birders had also not found it). But there was a small bonus, in the form of this delightful Stonechat.

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It was very active, flitting frequently between shrubs and rocks and back again, quarrelling with one of the resident Rock pipits, and being told off by a stroppy Robin. Luckily for me, in the middle of this flurry of activity it came to rest quite close to where I was standing and I managed to get a few nice photos. It was very entertaining!

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Shoveler

16 Saturday Oct 2021

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The highlight of yesterday’s stomp around Cardiff Bay was this male Shoveler quite close to the boardwalk at the wetlands reserve.

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He was standing on a submerged log, body up out of the water, so he could preen. As you can see, he was looking a bit scruffy, only part way through the moult to winter plumage (shown below in a photo taken in December a couple of years ago), and was mostly still wearing his breeding colours. He was having a good scratch and preening with that large beak, shedding several feathers during the time I watched him.

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The return of the Ring-necked duck

07 Thursday Oct 2021

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Many local birders, including our county bird recorder, seem to agree that this Ring-necked duck is the same bird that spent much of last winter in Cardiff Bay in the company of the large Tufted duck flock. She appears to have remained in the company of those ducks over the summer and now returned with them to over-winter in the Bay and on other local lakes and reservoirs. Long may she linger!

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Humbug

05 Tuesday Oct 2021

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It seems late in the season to be seeing a juvenile Great crested grebe that’s still constantly nagging its parent for food and still sporting the head stripes that have earned these birds the nickname ‘Humbug’ (for those unfamiliar with the word, it’s a black-and-white-striped boiled sweet) but there are still a couple in my area.

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I presume these juveniles are the result of second breeding attempts by the adult birds after their first attempts have failed. Their parents may not agree but I think they’re incredibly cute!

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Confiding Wheatear

01 Friday Oct 2021

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During a recent circuit of Cardiff Bay, I spent a wonderful 30 minutes with this very confiding Wheatear.

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Though it was naturally very wary of the noisy people and dogs passing by, as I was quiet and non-threatening it allowed me to get quite close.

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As I watched, it went scurrying across the grass after flying insects, dipping and flashing the white under-tail feathers it’s named for, constantly checking the sky for signs of danger.

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And I particularly loved how, when there was no higher object to pop up on, it hopped on to a small rock to try to survey its surroundings. Magical moments with a special little bird!

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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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The return of the Turnstones

06 Friday Aug 2021

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That sounds like a movie title, and the journey Turnstones make to their breeding grounds (in northern Europe, Greenland and North America) and back would undoubtedly make a good wildlife documentary. But a filmmaker I am not. I am simply excited to see these beautiful Turnstones have returned to their usual stone-turning antics on the embankment where the River Ely flows in to Cardiff Bay. Many are still sporting the remnants of their bright breeding plumage, which they will gradually moult in the coming weeks.

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Common sandpiper

03 Tuesday Aug 2021

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Autumn’s in the air, not only with slightly cooler temperatures but also because birds are beginning to move to their over-wintering locations. Though the odd Common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) will remain in Britain, most make the long flight to the warm climes of West Africa, and the only time we see these little birds locally is when they are on passage in the spring and autumn. This little beauty stopped in at Cardiff Bay yesterday to top up on food for its journey.

210803 common sandpiper

Post-fledging dispersal

21 Wednesday Jul 2021

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Here’s another young bird that’s going through its post-fledging dispersal phase. Pied wagtails can be found around Cardiff Bay throughout the year and have bred successfully many times, so I think this little fledgling should be able to find a place of its own without venturing too far afield.

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From a photographer’s perspective, young birds can be a delight when they are less wary of humans, and this bird was no exception. Though it had definitely noticed me, it began to walk up the stone embankment towards me, so I managed to get some reasonably good images. And I very much enjoyed getting such close views of it poking and prodding about the rocks for edible titbits.

A dispersing Dipper

17 Saturday Jul 2021

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We don’t see Dippers very often in Cardiff Bay, as they’re generally birds of fast-flowing rivers, so I was surprised but very pleased to spot this one on the embankment during a recent walk.

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After a closer look through my zoom lens, I realised it was a juvenile bird. This probably means that it was in the process of post-fledging dispersal, where birds leave the area in which they were raised to find territories of their own. Good luck, little Dipper!

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