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Tag Archives: Cosmeston Lakes Country Park

Not so Common gull

17 Wednesday Feb 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, British gulls, Common Gull, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park

I was standing at a regular feeding spot on the edge of one of the lakes at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, checking the gulls that were floating on the choppy waters, watching them watching me. Amongst the many Black-headed gulls, there was one Common gull, a species which, despite its name, is not so common in my local area.

210217 common gull (1)

There was a bitter easterly blasting across the lake and I knew the birds were hungry, hoping for a handout. So, I obliged, sprinkled the contents of the seed container I had brought with me on to the grassy bank.

210217 common gull (2)

The reaction was instant, a screeching of throats, wings flapping, an excited flurry of hungry gulls heading for the bank, knowing they had to be quick, to beat their fellows, to gain even one seed.

210217 common gull (3)

As I’d hoped, the Common gull came with them, and its slightly larger size meant it had an advantage, used its bulk to muscle in and claim more than its share of seed. And, of course, that meant I was also able to get some reasonably close photos of it. A win for the gulls, and a win for me.

210217 common gull (4)

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First frog spawn

07 Sunday Feb 2021

Posted by sconzani in amphibian

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Common frog, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, first frog spawn, frog spawn, signs of spring

Yesterday it was my first caterpillar; today saw another, rather different first sighting for 2021. Though it’s a bit earlier than the last couple of years, I spotted my first frog spawn, at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, not in any of the official ponds but rather in an area of the west paddock that is so water-logged from all the rain we’ve had this year that there are several large temporary pools.

210207 frog spawn (1)

I wonder if frog spawn can survive freezing and thawing? We’ve not had any snow but there’s a bitterly cold wind blowing straight from the Arctic and our temperatures are forecast to be mostly below zero for a few days. It will be interesting to see if the spawn can survive this chilly blast and continue to develop into tadpoles. I’ll keep you posted.

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Hungry Marsh tits

11 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cogan Wood, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Marsh tit

On my Christmas Day walk I wanted to spread some good cheer to my fellow creatures so, with humans being off limits, I went bearing seed to the small hungry birds in Cosmeston’s Cogan Wood. And I was delighted, and more than a little amazed, when the first bird to appear, before I’d even spread the seed about, was one of the resident Marsh tits, which came and sat in the bramble bush just a foot from my hand, waiting impatiently for me to back off. So, I was able to get probably my best photos yet of this charming little bird.

210111 marsh tit (1)

And, though I missed seeing a Marsh tit on my first visit to Cosmeston for 2021, I did see one on my second, and, once again, it was the first bird I saw when I got to one of their regular feeding spots. In fact, this tit was poking around for seed at the bottom of the tree stump, and then perched up on the bushes until I had sprinkled the stump top with seed. What a little star!

210111 marsh tit (2)

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Freezing

09 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds, weather, winter

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birding, black-headed gulls, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, frozen lake, wintry weather

We’ve been experiencing sub-zero overnight temperatures over the past week or so and, some days, when the cloud or fog is particularly thick and dense, the daytime temperatures have also been very low. Still, I was surprised to see, on Thursday’s walk, when freezing fog had rolled in off the Bristol Channel, that the west lake at Cosmeston had partly frozen over. The birds looked a little confused by the conditions as well.

210109 freezing

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348/366 Cosmeston treasure hunt

13 Sunday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, December wildflowers, winter wildflowers

This was hard work! The paddocks at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park get shaved of all vegetation at least once each year, usually in autumn, and that process happened late this year, just two weeks ago. So, it took me three visits, covering almost every inch of the site, checking the field boundaries in particular, searching for any wildflowers the tractor’s blades might have missed.

I’m actually amazed I managed to find this many species still flowering: Bramble, Carline thistle, Creeping buttercup, Creeping thistle, Daisy, Herb Robert, Hogweed, Oxeye daisy, Sweet violet, Wild radish, Winter heliotrope, and Yellow-wort.

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312/366 Deformed

07 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds

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bird with deformed beak, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Herring gull, Herring gull with deformed beak, juvenile Herring gull

This juvenile Herring gull that I spotted amongst the gull flock at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park a couple of days ago had an interesting beak deformity. Presumably it can eat okay and it was preening but still looked scruffy, so I guess the twisted beak doesn’t work well for grooming.

201107 herring gull (1)

201107 herring gull (2)
201107 herring gull (3)

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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)

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300/366 Four-spotted orb weaver

26 Monday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in spiders

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Araneus quadratus, British spiders, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Four-spotted orb weaver

If you suffer from arachnophobia, look away now! This spider, found recently in one of the outer fields at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, was the biggest spider I’ve seen in Britain. That’s still not big when compared to Tarantulas or Huntsmen or other large species but it was big enough to make me feel both a teeny bit freaked out and totally fascinated at the same time.

201026 four-spotted orb weaver (1)

This is a female Four-spotted orb weaver (Araneus quadratus), a species that’s apparently quite common in Britain and can be found in a variety of habitats, from grassland and bogs to gardens and woodlands. As with many spiders, females are larger than males. In this species, females can grow to 17mm long, while the males are only half that size.

201026 four-spotted orb weaver (2)

This beauty was slowly making her way through the long grass at the edge of a bramble patch. Because of the size of her body, she was struggling to stay upright, and several times overbalanced. But those long striped legs are obviously quite strong and she easily managed to pull herself upright again.

201026 four-spotted orb weaver (3)

I spotted this orb weaver because her apricot colour stood out from her surroundings but, according to the Naturespot website, adult females are like chameleons, able to change their colour to coordinate with their surroundings, though that process can take about three days to complete. Fascinating!

201026 four-spotted orb weaver (4)

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296/366 A gull’s history

22 Thursday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, colour-ringed gull, colour-ringed Lesser black-backed gull, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Lesser black-backed gull

Yesterday’s inbox contained an email with the life history of this ringed Lesser black-backed gull I found at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park and reported to the BTO’s ringers on 5 October. This bird was first ringed on Flat Holm Island, in the Bristol Channel off the south Wales coast, on 1 July 2017. A couple of months later, on 6 September, it was spotted at Cosmeston, and then it headed 1200 kms south to Matosinhos, a port and fishing town in Portugal, where it was seen twice in October 2017, on the 27th and again on the 31st. The bird wasn’t seen again until my recent report so it’s anybody’s guess where it’s been for the past three years.

201022 ringed lesser black-backed gull

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294/366 Goldeneye

20 Tuesday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, British ducks, Bucephala clangula, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, diving ducks, Goldeneye

No, I’m not blogging about a James Bond film, though our recent visitor to Cosmeston Lakes Country Park is almost as exotic, and certainly as handsome as any of the many James Bonds. This is a drake Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), a diving duck that’s a little smaller than a Mallard.

201020 goldeneye (1)

This drake was first picked up by our best local birder last Friday evening so I strode along to the lakes early Saturday morning and had distant views of it on the west lake. The Goldeneye appeared to have left Saturday afternoon, as another local birder couldn’t find it, but I was back at Cosmeston early Sunday, sitting quietly on a bench next to the east lake, when Mr Goldeneye popped out from the vegetation right in front of me and I was able to get these closer photos of him.

201020 goldeneye (2)

Though Goldeneye are known to spend their winters in small groups on reservoirs and inland lakes, and in sheltered coastal bays, they are not a common sight in my part of south Wales, so it has been a treat to have the chance to see this stunning bird.

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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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