Spreading its wings

11 Wednesday Jan 2023

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Ring-necked duck

To get this photo, I got drenched, hailed on, flashed by lightning and rumbled by thunder … but it was worth every drop of rain. Seen here with the Tufted ducks it has befriended and a local Gadwall, this female Ring-necked duck is one of two that have been in the local area for several months. They have mostly spent their days together on Lisvane Reservoir in north Cardiff but the turn of the new year has seen this particular duck spread its wings, spending a day or two in Cardiff Bay, and several days, as today, at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

230111 ring-necked duck

Little limper

27 Tuesday Dec 2022

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Moorhen

This morning’s weather was dismal, drizzle turning to steady heavy rain, so it was a delight to watch this little Moorhen. I’ve seen it before – it’s a juvenile, I think, from one of this year’s early broods, and it has a limp – its right leg looks weaker than its left, perhaps broken and rehealed when it was younger. But that doesn’t hold it back. It hobbles around as well as its kin and, perhaps to its detriment, it is quite fearless. When I walked slowly along the path, it popped up out of the water and headed straight towards me, presumably equating humans with the provision of food. Fortunately, it can still fly well too, so was able to flit quickly back to the safety of the lake when a dog headed our way.

221227 moorhen

Frost and flowers

20 Sunday Nov 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, wildflowers

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autumn colour, autumn wildflowers, British wildflowers, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, frost, frosty leaves

Yesterday saw our first real frost of the season, with the ground crunchy and vegetation covered in a sparkling layer of ice crystals.

221120 frost

Despite these signs of the cooler weather to come, there were still plenty of wildflowers in bloom so, as I meandered up and down the east and west paddocks at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, I photographed those I found: Blue fleabane; Bramble; both Creeping and Meadow buttercups; the ubiquitous Daisy and Dandelion; one or two Devil’s-bit scabious and Flax flowers hanging on in the more sheltered spots; Wild carrot enjoying a second flowering; and Yellow-wort, whose little bursts of bright sunshine yellow dotted much of the west paddock.

221120 cosmeston wildflowers

Movement, 2

08 Tuesday Nov 2022

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Great tit, hungry birds

As I mentioned in last Saturday’s post, the birds at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park are currently not being fed by visitors because of the danger of spreading bird flu, but the birds are confused by this neglect.

221108 great tit (1)

And, as they’ve come to expect people feeding them, if you’re walking through Cogan Wood and stop to look at something, anything, the small birds come flying in, hopefully. This Great tit was particularly cheeky and kept flying straight at me, making me felt guilty that I had no seed, even for one hungry bird.

221108 great tit (2)

Little Coalmouse

05 Saturday Nov 2022

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, coal tit, Coalmouse, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park

There’s a kissing gate between the sections of a paddock at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park where passers-by frequently leave seeds on the tops of the wooden posts for small hungry birds. When avian flu appeared amongst the local birds, the park rangers put up signs asking people not to feed the birds so that their close association did not spread the flu, and mostly people have complied with these instructions.

221105 coal tit (1)

The birds, of course, can’t read the signs and so they still lurk in the bushes near the regular feeding places, expecting seeds to appear when walkers pass through. This little Coal tit – historically, it would have been called a Coalmouse, according to my Fauna Britannica – was disappointed not to find a few seeds when I walked this way on a recent rainy day.

221105 coal tit (2)

Teal yoyos

05 Monday Sep 2022

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, British ducks, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Teal

Teal obviously like Cosmeston’s dragonfly pond but they’re easily freaked by passing walkers and their dogs, and fly in panic back to the safety of an inaccessible pond on the other side of the nearby woodland.

220905 teal (1)

But if you’re patient and wait, perhaps slightly obscured behind a shrub, sometimes no more than ten minutes, like avian yoyos, the Teal will return to the dragonfly pond once again. On Saturday morning, five little beauties were doing just this … and all the while the Mallards wondered what the fuss was about.

220905 teal (2)

The last orchids

28 Sunday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, wildflowers

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Autumn Lady’s-tresses, British orchids, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, orchids, Spiranthes spiralis

Perhaps it’s a consequence of this summer’s exceptionally hot dry weather or maybe it’s due to the location’s proximity to the recently rejuvenated children’s playground and trampling by eager feet; whatever the reason, this year’s display of Autumn lady’s-tresses at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park is disappointing to say the least. Last year (Spiralling orchids, Sep 2021), I counted at least 30 flower spikes; this year so far there are just five.

220828 autumn lady's-tresses

Thousands of Pyramidal orchids

26 Sunday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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British orchids, British wildflowers, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, native orchids, Pyramidal orchid

I learned, earlier this week, that the rangers and volunteers at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park do an annual count of the orchids growing in the east paddock. On Friday 17 June, they counted an amazing 4828 Pyramidal orchids (as well as 5254 Common-spotted and 155 Bee orchids). These are just a few of those splendorous Pyramidals.

220626 pyramidal orchids

Red-crested pochard

22 Tuesday Mar 2022

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Netta rufina, Red-crested pochard

Last Monday it was a Little gull in Cardiff Bay; yesterday a Red-crested pochard at Cosmeston Lakes – I’m already wondering what next Monday might bring.

220322 red-crested pochard (1)

According to the BTO website, the Red-crested pochard (Netta rufina) usually spends the summer in Europe and central Asia, and overwinters in north Africa, India and Japan. In Britain, where the earliest record of this bird dates to 1818, the population is tiny and originated from birds that escaped captivity.

220322 red-crested pochard (2)

This particular Red-crested pochard was most likely the bird that was first seen at Kenfig National Nature Reserve on 10 March. It stayed on Cosmeston’s west lake all day Monday, diving often to find weed to munch on and contentedly preening between times. Unfortunately, it remained quite distant so I couldn’t get any decent photos but it was still a treat to watch this handsome exotic visitor.

First Spring Wheatear

12 Saturday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, spring migration, Wheatear

I was just about to head home from Cosmeston when I got word there was a Wheatear in the southern end of the west paddock – I was at the northern end. Back I stomped and splashed – it’s exceedingly muddy there after all the recent rain – and enjoyed close views of this very handsome bird, as well as a lovely catch up with a female birding friend. I’ve since seen reports of Wheatears in other locations today – Spring migration has begun!

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