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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: Cardiff Bay birding

The Coot and the Zebra mussels

11 Saturday Mar 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds, molluscs

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Coot, Coot diet, Coot eating mussels, Dreissena polymorpha, Zebra mussel

I’ve been learning a lot about mussels this week, in particular about the Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). This invasive mollusc is native to the Caspian and Black Seas, spread from there to western Europe during the 19th century, and was first noted in Britain around 1824. By the 1970s it had spread extensively, through rivers and other waterways, around the coastline, into lakes and harbours. According to Cardiff University’s Professor Steve Ormerod, Cardiff ‘Bay has somewhere between 10 and 35 million of them covering every hard surface.’

230311 coot and zebra mussel (1)

The reason I have been learning about Zebra mussels is because of the Coot in my photographs and my curiosity about what it had found and was eating. I asked the question on Twitter and information came pouring in, in particular thanks to Steve Ormerod, who confirmed the identification and provided a link to a research paper he co-authored about the rapid colonisation of Cardiff Bay by these mussels when the Bay was first formed (see details and link below). Steve was able to tell me that Tufted ducks are the ‘classic predators’ of these mussels, and he was a little surprised to see a Coot also predating them, though did say that the mussels are ‘a lipid, protein and calcium-rich source for waterfowl’.

230311 coot and zebra mussel (2)

As for my Coot, it seemed to have worked that out for itself. Having dived for the mussel, it swam over to the water’s edge and proceeded to pull off all the vegetation and, presumably, any smaller mussels attached to the big one and ate all that. It then bashed the bigger one on the rocks like a Song thrush smashes snails on a stone, and down the hatch that went too. Happy Coot, and happy me, after watching and learning about something new!

230311 coot and zebra mussel (3)

Alix, Muriel, Richard J. Knight & Steve J. Ormerod, ‘Rapid colonisation of a newly formed lake by zebra mussels and factors affecting juvenile settlement‘, Management of Biological Invasions, 2016, Volume 7, Issue 4, pp. 405-18.

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Cold weather Skylark movement

09 Thursday Mar 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, cold weather movement, Skylark

Despite almost constant rain, I trekked down to Cardiff Bay today to see for myself an example of what’s called ‘cold weather movement’ in bird populations. As you can see from this photo, the hills behind Cardiff are still white with the snow that fell across much of Britain yesterday, though none remains here at sea level.

230309 skylarks and snow (1)

And it’s that snowfall that caused a large number of Skylarks to leave their usual hilly pastures and head down to the Bay to feed on the grassy areas of the Barrage. One local birder counted 88 Skylarks there yesterday. Today, in a fenced off area, protected from the returning dogs and their humans, just a dozen birds remained, but it was still worth getting soaked to see such a phenomenon.

230309 skylarks and snow (2)

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A grebe does lunch

04 Saturday Mar 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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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.

230304 great crested grebe eating fish

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A Chiffchaff from Siberia

23 Thursday Feb 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Chiffchaff, Siberian chiffchaff

It’s been three years since I saw a Siberian chiffchaff, though one or two seem to appear in the county almost annually these days, blown off course as they move from their Siberian breeding territories to their usual over-wintering grounds south of the Himalayas. I first spotted this one in early February and thought it a Common chiffchaff but a more expert local birder did tell me then that he thought it had the look of a Sibe about it (the Siberian birds look rather grey and have darker legs). Almost a fortnight passed until that same birder saw the bird again and, more importantly, heard it call, because that is the clincher when it comes to these birds. Though it has been very elusive, I’ve managed two further sightings but have yet to hear that distinguishing call.

230223 siberian chiffchaff

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Peter the Redshank

07 Tuesday Feb 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Peter Redshank, Redshank, ringed Redshank

I try not to anthropomorphise wild creatures but this handsome Redshank is one exception, and that is mostly because by naming him Peter, I can more easily remember that he was ringed at Peterstone, just along the coast from Cardiff. I hadn’t seen Peter since last January and was a bit concerned that something had happened to him, so I was relieved and delighted when another local birder spotted him on 30 January, and extremely happy when I finally saw him on 2 February.

230207 peter the redshank

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A Raven family

04 Saturday Feb 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, early breeding of Raven, Raven, Raven family, Raven fledgling

Ravens are amongst the earliest of breeders in the bird world but, even knowing that fact, I was very surprised to see such a well-grown youngster with its parents at a local beach on Thursday. I struggled to find breeding information other than on Wikipedia, which gives figures of 18 to 21 days for incubation and 35 to 42 days for fledging. Counting back, that would mean this pair were egg-laying at the beginning of December, which I would not have believed if I hadn’t seen this family with my own eyes.

230204 raven family

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Encounters with grebes

28 Saturday Jan 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, little grebe

I’ve had two interesting encounters with Little grebes in the past week. The first was being relatively close to this little cutie having a bath, a delightfully splashy affair.

230128 little grebes (2)

Then, a couple of days later, I noticed this gang of Little grebes floating along the River Taff. At this time of year they often seem to congregate around the area where the Taff flows in to Cardiff Bay (I counted 28 thereabouts recently). I don’t know the reason for this but I wonder if it is some kind of pre-breeding behaviour, where the single grebes come together to appraise each other, looking for potential mates.

230128 little grebes (1)

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And then there were three

18 Wednesday Jan 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, drake Goldeneye, female Goldeneye, Goldeneye

I know I’ve blogged about this drake Goldeneye very recently but I want to share yesterday’s magical experience. The drake was much closer than usual to the boardwalk along the edge of Cardiff Bay so I was able to watch its almost constant diving for food and to admire its stunning plumage when it washed and flapped its wings.

230118 goldeneye (1)

Suddenly, a flock of Tufted ducks flew in to join the couple of hundred already present and, amazingly, they were accompanied by two female Goldeneyes. It took ten minutes or so for the three Goldeneyes to find each other, and then I was able to watch all three interacting. It was enchanting!

230118 goldeneye (2)

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Drake Goldeneye

14 Saturday Jan 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, drake Goldeneye, Goldeneye

Almost a month ago we had the pleasure of two Goldeneyed gals cruising around in Cardiff Bay. Now, and for the past few days, perhaps due to the very blustery weather we’ve been experiencing, we’ve had a drake Goldeneye visiting. He mostly maintains a discrete distance from the water’s edge but, yesterday, was close enough for slightly better photographs. He’s a very handsome bird, his head a glossy dark green, his body and wings a stunning pattern of blacks and whites, and I particularly like his white cheek patches. If yet another squall hadn’t come in, I would’ve stayed longer to watch him but I’m hoping he will linger and provide more viewing opportunities in more clement weather.

230114 goldeneye drake

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The Fab Seven

05 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, starling

230105 starlings (1)

They flew up to the sign after being disturbed from their grass-grazing by a mad spaniel, spent a minute or two sprucing up their appearance, then these glorious Starlings began to sing. And I had a front row seat. Now that’s what I call entertainment!

230105 starlings (2)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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