Common sandpiper

03 Tuesday Aug 2021

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Actitis hypoleucos, autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Common sandpiper

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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birding, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Pied wagtail, post-fledging dispersal

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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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Dipper, post-fledging dispersal

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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Dunlin in the Bay

13 Thursday May 2021

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bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay birds, Dunlin, spring migration

Though I live near the sea, I don’t get to see Dunlin very often as the coastline near me is mostly cliffs and rocks, not the stretches of mud or sand these little waders can easily feed on.

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So, it was a real treat during Monday’s walk around Cardiff Bay to see this single Dunlin foraging on the edge of the Barrage.

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Flocks of Dunlin, and other waders, pass along our shoreline at this time of year on their way to their breeding grounds and, very occasionally, drop in briefly to feed, as this one was. And to have a good scratch …

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After taking several photos, I left the bird in peace to forage further, grateful for the birding treat!

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Yellow wagtails

05 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, spring migration, Yellow wagtail

I’ve only seen Yellow wagtails a couple of times and never locally so, when they were reported flitting about Cardiff Bay, I went walking that way. On my first walk past where they’d been reported, I couldn’t find any – I dipped as they say in birder speak, and I’ve been dipping a bit lately so didn’t bother trying again the next day.

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Then, last Friday, I thought I’d pop over to the wetlands reserve to see if I could find any Sedge warblers to photograph. Those birds were being very vocal though visually elusive but then I spotted a couple of birders I know who were obviously looking at something interesting. Turns out, it was a Whinchat, my first of the year – good news! – and then both chaps said they’d seen more Yellow wags that morning, dotting around the grassy areas on the Barrage.

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So, a quick change of plan saw me strolling in that direction and, remarkably, the birds were still there. Four gorgeous little bursts of vibrant yellow, easily disturbed by walkers and dogs, but I managed to get some quality watching time and a few distant photos before they headed off over the water. Magic!

Bonaparte’s gull

20 Tuesday Apr 2021

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birding, birdwatching, Bonaparte's gull, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding

Identifying gulls, especially immature gulls, can be a nightmare so I was very chuffed with myself this morning when I managed to work out which of the many gulls floating and flitting around Cardiff Bay was the 2cy Bonaparte’s gull (2cy is birding shorthand for the bird’s age – this is the second calendar year since the bird’s birth).

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This sighting was a lifer for me, and it was the 100th bird species I’ve managed to see on my patch this year (my patch being as far as I can walk in any direction from home, an approximate distance of five miles as the bird flies – bearing in mind I then have to walk the same distance home again!).

210420 bonapartes gull (2)

Love story with a twist

08 Thursday Apr 2021

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birding, birds nesting in Cardiff Bay, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Great crested grebes mating

Great crested grebes are featuring here twice in one week but I can never resist a good story. When I arrived at Cardiff Bay wetlands yesterday, a pair was in the reeds near the boardwalk.

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The female was lying flat across the beginnings of a nest platform, making odd groaning noises. Having seen this before, I knew what was going to happen next …

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And it did. After a few minutes, the male jumped up on top of her and they proceeded to mate.

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The dismount with grebes would never score well in a gymnastics competition – the male sort of slides off, pushing the female’s head under the water.

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You could almost hear their after-thoughts: ‘Better get on with the nest building’, and both birds began gathering twigs to place on the nest.

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But a nearby Coot was having none of it. He didn’t want these noisy characters for neighbours and, faster than the grebes could place twigs on the platform, he was pulling them off again.

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There was a stand-off, much posturing and squawking, and eventually the male grebe charged the Coot. The grebe thought it had won but the Coot didn’t retreat far. The grebes might keep trying but my money’s on the Coot to win this territorial battle.

Gadwall up close

25 Thursday Mar 2021

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve, Gadwall

As well as the Wheatear I wrote about yesterday, Monday’s walk around Cardiff Bay also turned up another treat, this time at the wetlands reserve.

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Gadwall can be quite shy birds, and I’ve certainly never seen one as close as this beautiful female, who was mixing quite happily with the Mallards by the boardwalk. Apparently, she had even been coming to feed on the bread some people had thrown in the water.

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Several other people were on the boardwalk, waiting in anticipation of seeing one of the Water rails that have been quite showy in recent days, but ignoring this stunning duck right under their noses.

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Not me – I took a ton of photos of her, many of which turned out a bit blurry because she was almost too close for my long lens. And that’s not something that happens very often in the world of bird photography!

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First Wheatear

24 Wednesday Mar 2021

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bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, spring migration, Wheatear

Monday was warm and sunny, at last – sunny days have been few and far between so far this month – so I decided to walk a circuit of Cardiff Bay, hoping this might be the day I would see my first Wheatear of the year.

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I was already on the Barrage, bins out and scanning, when I got a message from a fellow birder that a Wheatear had just been reported. As I checked further along the Barrage, I could see someone, off their bike, camera with long lens in hand – that had to be where it was.

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It only took a few minutes to reach Tate, one of our star local birders, whose keen eyes had found this stunning male Wheatear. We’re lucky that these birds sometimes stop off for an insect break on the Barrage rocks before continuing their migration flight to their breeding grounds further north. Such a treat to see!

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When Coots attack

09 Tuesday Mar 2021

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve, Coot, coots fighting

Coots don’t do mediation. If a pair likes the look of or has already staked a claim to a particular nesting place, then they’ll fight to retain / defend that position.

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