Tag Archives: Cardiff Bay

The autumn migration is underway

11 Saturday Aug 2018

Posted by in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s that time of year, tinged ever so slightly with sadness but enlivened with occasional moments of great excitement, when bird populations begin their autumn migration. My local Swifts have headed south for the winter and I shall miss their dawn and dusk screaming, the sound of summer for me, and there have been good numbers of Swallows and House martins swirling above Cardiff Bay, in a final feeding frenzy before they too head south.

I’ve spotted small flocks of Willow warblers and Chiffchaffs, moving through my local nature reserves and parks, stocking up on nutrients before they also begin their long flights. And, this week, a Spotted flycatcher became my 186th bird species for 2018, when I saw it passing through Cosmeston.

180811 3 Spotted flycatcher

As well as those birds that are departing for sunnier wintering spots, there are also birds returning from their colder breeding locations to spend the winter in Britain’s relatively warm climes. I saw my first two returning Turnstones, still in their summer plumage, during a wander along the Ely embankment on Wednesday.

180811 4 turnstone

Also at Cardiff Bay this week have been a couple of those birds that provide birders, local and distant alike, with a quickening of the heart rate. First, a first summer Arctic tern arrived to join the Cardiff Bay bird population, and then a juvenile Little gull also joined the party, though neither bird has been welcomed by the local gulls.

180811 5 arctic tern

I saw both birds being chased and mobbed on Wednesday, and a little later that same day my friend John caught some amazing shots of a Black-headed gull almost drowning the Little gull – luckily, it escaped. (Bird xenophobia? No one seems to know why the local gulls are being so aggressive.)

180811 8 arctic tern being chased

Above, Arctic tern being chased; below, Little gull also being pursued

180811 9 little gull being chased

Let’s hope further newcomers are given a warmer welcome to our local waters and, indeed, let’s just hope for further newcomers – there’s nothing quite like an exciting sighting to quicken a birder’s pulse!

Ely embankment revisited

15 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in birds, flowers, nature, walks, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

My regular followers will remember that, over the winter months, when there were more birds around, I posted a regular monthly roundup of the action along the embankment where the River Ely flows in to Cardiff Bay. Today, for day 15 of #30DaysWild, I thought I’d take another look. Here’s what I found …

180615 1 Ely embankment

The embankment is a riot of colour, with both native wildflowers and garden escapees in full bloom.

180615 2 linnet

Two Linnets were foraging on flower seeds but were very skittish.

180615 3 wildflowers

Loving these Oxeye daisies.

180615 4 pied wagtail

A juvenile Pied wagtail was feeding near the waterline.

180615 5 feral pigeons

A flock of 7 Feral pigeons was also foraging amongst the flowers

180615 6 mallard

This Mallard had found a sunny spot for a snooze.

180615 7 mute swan

23 Mute swans were floating up the river, many taking the opportunity to preen as they went.

180615 8 coots

9 Coots were congregating at the water’s edge.

180615 9 small tortoiseshell

I saw my first Small tortoiseshell butterfly of the year.

180615 10 colourful embankment

Looking back up the river as an Aquabus shows sightseers the river. The black hulk is a new apartment block.

180615 11 carrion crow

And finally, a Carrion crow was prospecting for tasty morsels.

April on the Ely embankment

01 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by in birds, nature, spring, weather

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

I thought I’d avoid an April Fool’s Day visit to ‘my patch’ in case a long-extinct Dodo should suddenly appear before me (!) so my first wander this month was on 2 April.

180501 turnstones (2)

There were no particular surprises lurking, just the standard avians – two Pied wagtails and one Grey, and two Redshanks, but the treat was a total of 15 Turnstones, many now showing signs of their change to summer plumage. I assume these birds were enjoying a short stopover in Cardiff Bay before continuing their journey north. According to information on the Joint Nature Conservancy Committee website, the Turnstones that winter on the coasts of north-west Europe (including Britain and Ireland) are part of the Western Palearctic population and breed on Canada’s Ellesmere Island, and in north and east Greenland.

180501 turnstones (1)

A good comparison: lower bird changing to breeding plumage, upper bird in winter dress.

The rest of April reads pretty much like that first visit – the occasional one or two Redshanks, the occasional one or two Pied and Grey wagtails, and Turnstone numbers in the low to mid teens. The weather varied considerably, from damp and foggy winter-like gloom to brilliant blue skies with the water so still you could perfect reflections mirrored in it, but the bird numbers and varieties remained fairly static.

180501 weather fog180501 weather fine

So, what I think I will do in subsequent months is expand my monthly catch up to include the whole of Cardiff Bay. I walk right round on a regular basis and, as the habitats are more varied, there is more chance of spotting something a little more interesting. Let’s see what May brings …

180501 turnstone & redshank

180501 turnstones & redshank

Redshank and Turnstones: I still love ’em!

March on the Ely embankment

31 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by in birds, nature, walks, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

A month of superlatives!

180331 1 Ely embankment

4 March  The coldest! My first visit of March was in the aftermath of ‘The Beast from the East’ and Storm Emma, a weather combination that brought Cardiff an unseasonal covering of snow, with deep drifts in places. As the east-facing embankment had been subject to the full assault of those storm systems, it was not surprising to see piles of the white stuff still blocking the road alongside Cardiff Bay, and there was a smattering on the embankment itself.

Though I wondered if the storm might have blown in some European strays or other unusual birds, I wasn’t really surprised to find that the very exposed embankment was almost bare of birds. A smattering of perhaps 10 Coots, a couple of Mallards and Mute swans, and two Pied wagtails were almost the only avian wildlife. Even the gulls were sparse.

9 March  The contrast between today’s weather and last weekend’s was almost unbelievable: it was 12°C, the sun was shining and it felt positively Spring like. Maybe that’s why the birds were out in force, with five Redshanks – the most I’ve ever seen on the embankment at once, 3 Turnstones – two venturing well up the stones away from the water’s edge, 2 Grey wagtails and 1 Pied.

And just to prove that I don’t only look at the birds, I noticed the Red campion was already in flower and I was most surprised to see a large area of Colt’s-foot flowers. They must be tough to grow in such a stony bank.

14 March   A bumper day along the embankment, in light drizzle, which almost put me off going out for a walk. I’m so glad I got off my chuff! There were 3 Redshank, 7 Turnstone, 2 Grey wagtails, 3 Pied wagtails, 1 Rock pipit, 4 Linnets, 1 Carrion crow, 4 Feral pigeon and, in the water adjacent, 8 Coots, 5 Great crested grebes, 1 Cormorant, 2 Mallards, and 6 Mute swans. The greatest variety!

20 March  This was another day of cold winds, blowing directly across the bay and slamming into the embankment, so the few birds that were around were sheltering further up the river, and there weren’t many to be seen – a single Redshank looking very unhappy, perhaps still recovering from our second bout of snow this Spring, last weekend’s ‘Mini-beast from the East’, plus 3 Turnstones and 2 Grey wags.

180331 21 unhappy Redshank

24 March  I was really heading across the Barrage in search of a Wheatear (more on that here) but figured I’d detour along the embankment path on my way, and I’m so glad I did as there were 10 Turnstones – a large number! – and a solitary Redshank bimbling along the shoreline.

180331 22 turnstones

28 March  Fourteen (14!) Turnstones on the embankment during this day’s walk (the most I’ve ever seen on one visit), plus 2 Redshanks and a solitary Pied wagtail. What a way to end my monthly walks along this bay-side path!

180331 23 redshank

Wild words: icicle

28 Wednesday Feb 2018

Posted by in nature, weather, winter

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

Icicle: noun; a hanging, tapering piece of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water (Oxford Dictionary). The word comes from the Old English word gicel, which morphed into ikyl or ikel, and later ickle, a word which is still used in parts of Yorkshire.

180228 icicle (1)

My photos were taken on the Ely embankment in Cardiff Bay yesterday, as Britain shivers its way through a blast of chilly Siberian air. The combination of freezing temperatures and the constant lapping of the water on to the branches that litter the shoreline resulted in some beautiful icicles.

180228 icicle (2)

Winter walk around Cardiff Bay

14 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by in birds, nature, walks

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

I haven’t tried using one of these Google maps for a blog post before – not sure I will again as they’re quite labour intensive (and this one is very simple!), but it’s good to try something different. If you’ve not seen one of these maps before, you can click on the little bird markers to see a photo and some text about the bird I spotted there, and the red line shows, very approximately, my walking route.

December on the Ely embankment

30 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by in birds, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

My first embankment stroll this month was on the third and I saw not a single solitary Turnstone – that hasn’t happened since I started doing a regular weekly count along this embankment back in September. The only birds on the stones were three Grey wagtails, and, though there were two Little grebes in the water, even the numbers of Coot and Mute swan were much reduced.

The 8th of December was a bitterly cold day, with the wind so strong it was whipping up small waves against the stones of the embankment. I’m sure that’s the reason I saw so few birds – a single Grey wagtail flitted back and forth, and only six hardy Coots braved the chilly waters, a tiny number compared to usual. There wasn’t a single Mute swan or Mallard or Turnstone, and even gull numbers were low – those that were about were flying quite low around me, as if hoping for food. I had none to give but I did try to grab some flight photos, this Black-headed gull being the best of a blurry bunch.

171230 Ely embankment (4)

The 16th was cold but not sub-zero so relatively pleasant, and perhaps that’s why the Turnstones had returned – well, two of them had, and it was lovely to see them foraging along the water’s edge. I didn’t think there were many gulls about until a Black-headed gull about 50 metres from me found some food and then gulls flew in from every direction – 37 Black-headed and 5 Lesser black-backs, all wheeling and screeching and squabbling over one slice of bread.

171230 Ely embankment (5)

Apart from those, there were two Mute swans, 3 Mallards, about 6 Coots, 3 Great crested grebes and 1 Grey wagtail. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the littlest of all, a tiny Wren bopping in and out of the rocks in search of insects.

November on the Ely embankment

30 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by in birds, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

171130 9th Ely embankment

The 9th of November was a ‘5 Turnstone, 2 Rock pipit, 1 Grey wagtail’ kind of day at Cardiff Bay, with a cool wind blowing through huge banks of clouds and the odd rain shower. That didn’t deter the birds browsing along the embankment edge though.

On the 15th, a beautifully marked Song thrush was feasting on berries in the small front garden of one of the apartments that sits on the edge of the embankment (see Berries and Birds a few days ago), and, as well as 2 Rock pipits and 6 Turnstones, there were 3 Redshank grazing along the water’s edge – a nice treat. Also, a Lesser black-backed gull was looking exceedingly pleased with itself for finding a huge dead fish and vociferously defending its prize with loud screeching.


171130 15th LBB and fish

On the 17th – a ‘3 turnstone’ day – the star of the show was a lovely little Linnet. I’d seen a family party of parents and two fledglings grazing amongst the rocks here back in August so perhaps this bird was one of those.

My last November wander by the Ely was on the 25th, when 3 Turnstones, 2 Linnets (nice to see them again), 2 Pied and 2 Grey wagtails, and 1 Redshank were joined by a Dunnock and a small flock of Long-tailed tits passing through the shrubs edging the walkway. Also, something freaked out a group of Coots and, rather than ‘run’ rapidly across the top of the water as they usually do, they actually flew. I’d never seen coots fly before.

171130 25th Long-tailed tit171130 25th Flying coots