Whooper swan

18 Monday Jul 2022

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay birding, Cygnus cygnus, Whooper swan

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

Posted by sconzani in animals, mammal

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American mink, British mammals, Cardiff Bay, invasive mammal, Mink, Neovison vison

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.

220323 mink (2)

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.

220323 mink (1)

Garbage Bay

01 Tuesday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay birds, Grey heron

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

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay birding, Little egret

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.

210916 little egret (1)

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.

210916 little egret (2)

Making a splash

28 Wednesday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in coastal fauna, fish

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British fish, Cardiff Bay, Chelon labrosus, Grey mullet, Thick-lipped grey mullet, Thick-lipped mullet, Thicklip mullet

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

Posted by sconzani in lichen

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British lichens, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay Barrage, lichens on concrete

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!

210204 Barrage lichens (1)

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

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds birding, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay birds, Ring-necked duck, Scaup, Tufted duck

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

341/366 Blooming on the Barrage

06 Sunday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers

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#winter10, British wildflowers, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay Barrage, winter wildflowers

During Tuesday’s walk across the Barrage in Cardiff Bay, I searched for as many wildflowers in bloom as I could find. I spotted just ten species, but it’s quite a small area and the grounds are frequently cut and strimmed by the Council’s grounds staff, so I thought that was a good number for the time of year. And the list included a few species I don’t see elsewhere, like Viper’s-bugloss (very stunted from the too-frequent cutting), Black nightshade, and Common stork’s-bill.

The wildflowers in the video are Daisy (Bellis perennis), Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale agg.), Common stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium), Viper’s-bugloss (Echium vulgare), Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), Nipplewort (Lapsana communis), Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum), Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum), Smooth sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), and Hoary mustard (Hirschfeldia incana).

330/366 The Bay on Monday

25 Wednesday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, walks

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

Monday’s walk saw me striding out on a circuit of Cardiff Bay, a walk of just under 8 miles that day as I meandered here and there to look at particular things. (This panorama of the Bay was taken in April a couple of years ago and a few things have since changed but I just wanted to give those unfamiliar with the Bay a general idea of my walk. The Bristol Channel is to the right; Cardiff city centre at the top, slightly left of centre; the view is as seen from the town of Penarth.)

201125 1 Cardiff Bay

These are some of the birds I encountered on my circuit: three of four Redshanks that flew in to the embankment of the River Ely where it flows in to the Bay.

201125 2 redshank

A Grey heron using some of the old dock infrastructure as a lookout.

201125 3 grey heron

A pair of Goosanders on the embankment near Mermaid Quay – the red-headed female mostly snoozing, her partner using the time out of the water to spruce himself up.

201125 4 goosander female 201125 5 goosander male

One of a pair of Mute swans also preening, then snoozing.

201125 6 mute swan

One of many Great crested grebes that make their home in the Bay.

201125 7 great crested grebe

I counted 20 Turnstones in total on Monday; this one had lost a chunk of feathers on its back, perhaps an encounter with a bird of prey that the Turnstone was fortunate to survive.

201125 8 turnstone

And, last but probably the most numerous, one of hundreds, perhaps thousands of Black-headed gulls to be seen around Cardiff Bay.

201125 9 black-headed gull

303/366 Ring-necked ducks

29 Thursday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds

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Aythya collaris, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay birding, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Ring-necked duck

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen a Ring-necked duck (Aythya collaris) so I was delighted when, ten days ago, a juvenile female was spotted at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, and I managed to get a very distant view of it on 18 October.

201029 ring-necked ducks (1)

I’m the first to admit I would not have been able to identify this bird without the local, much more experienced birders sharing their photos on social media. When its head is tucked in, which seems to be most of the time, only its pale eye ring distinguishes this bird from the female Tufted ducks that surround it, at least to my inexperienced eye.

201029 ring-necked ducks (2)

Late last Sunday, 25 October, the exciting news came that a second Ring-necked duck had been sighted at Cosmeston, this one a 1st winter drake, so I headed along on Monday for a look. I got much closer views of the first bird, the juvenile, but couldn’t find the other – turns out, it had flown over to Cardiff Bay. This is a common phenomenon during the winter months – the various duck species fly regularly back and forth between the lakes and the Bay.

201029 ring-necked ducks (3)

So, for yesterday’s exercise walk I headed down to Cardiff Bay where, in spite of occasional heavy rain showers, I managed to locate both Ring-necked ducks, though this time the drake kept its head tucked in throughout my visit. That’s the juvenile braving the weather in the photo above, and the 1st winter drake below. If I manage to see the drake again and get a photo of it with its head up, I’ll be sure to share.

201029 ring-necked ducks (4)