Tag Archives: Cosmeston Lakes Country Park

First chicks of the year

30 Tuesday Apr 2024

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When I first noticed this brood of initially five, now reduced to four Moorhen chicks at Cosmeston’s dipping pond, they had just hatched and, though I tried to get photos, the tiny bundles of black fluff were staying well concealed behind clumps of reeds. Six days later, on a subsequent visit, the chicks had grown enormously and were much more confiding. And – this always amazes me but these Moorhens generally have three broods a year – mother Moorhen was already sitting on a new nest, while dad tended to the first brood.

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Waxwings, still

22 Friday Mar 2024

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I know, I know, this is my third post about Waxwings this year but what’s not to love and celebrate about these stunning birds, and it could well be several years before we experience another Waxing winter like this one. Since they were first found at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park on 2 March, we locals have had the opportunity to observe and get to know these birds a little better.

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Photos taken 14 March, after the extra 4 birds had arrived and all were feasting on rose hips

As food supplies have dwindled, the (first four, now eight) Waxwings have changed their diet from Hawthorn berries to rose hips to Ivy berries, with a little fly-catching on sunny days. It’s just such a privilege to have had these beautiful birds with us for such a long time.

Photos taken 21 March, after the birds had moved on to eating Ivy berries

Cosmeston’s Waxwings

09 Saturday Mar 2024

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For the second time this winter, we’ve been blessed with visiting Waxwings at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

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First spotted by our resident expert birder last Saturday, 2 March, they’ve alternated between feeding low down on the remaining Hawthorn berries and hips of wild rose bushes and, when the sun’s been shining, flycatching from the tree tops.

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I’d seen them distantly twice flycatching, so I was absolutely delighted during Thursday’s wander around Cosmeston to find all four birds snacking on hips in a location where I could use a hedge as a hide to get very close views.

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Waxwings are such stunning birds, and this has been a magnificent Waxwing winter!

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Pochard, red-listed

02 Saturday Mar 2024

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Even in the short time I’ve lived in Wales, the numbers of Pochard (Aythya ferina) I see each winter have declined, and my observations are confirmed by the facts: Pochards are now red-listed in the UK. According to information in the British Trust for Ornithology’s publication Into the Red, both the breeding and non-breeding populations of these birds have declined as have the ranges both breeding and non-breeding birds occupy, and they are classified as globally threatened by the IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature).

240302 pochard male

So, it’s always a great pleasure when I do see Pochards on the local lakes and waterways. This male, with his fiery russet head, and female, with the mottled brown plumage that is so typical of female ducks, have been present at Cosmeston Lakes Country Lake this past week.

240302 pochard female

Alder seeds are delicious

10 Saturday Feb 2024

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Alder seeds are delicious. That statement seems indisputable, judging by the gusto with which this small flock of Siskin were tearing apart the Alder cones and munching continuously and vigorously on the tiny seeds. And aren’t Siskin just the most glorious little birds? It was truly joyful to watch them at their feasting today at Cosmeston.

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Cattle egrets

07 Wednesday Feb 2024

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Okay, one more post about nature journaling and, hopefully, that will be the last for a while. The reason I’m focusing on my journal again today is due to the abysmal state of weather forecasting in this country. After several days of un-forecast rain and drizzle, yesterday’s forecast was for more drizzle and rain, so I went out in full waterproofs and with just my cheapo camera. What happened? You guessed it – not a single drop of water fell from the sky until late afternoon, and I didn’t have my good camera with me to take photographs of my first ever local sightings of Cattle egrets. So, this is where drawing comes in handy, to illustrate what I’ve seen.

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p.s. The gold star is not me marking my own homework. It’s a visual indication of how superb it was to see these gorgeous egrets in my area.

Y is for Yellow wagtail

30 Saturday Dec 2023

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The absolute highlight of autumn migration this year was an influx of Yellow wagtails at Cosmeston (Yellow wags, 7 September). By sheer co-incidence, their passage coincided perfectly with the grass in one of the outer fields being cut for hay, which created the perfect habitat for these insect-eating wagtails. The presence of a few attracted more birds as they passed through so that there were more than 30 birds present at one stage, a record for the park according to long-time-birding locals. It was an absolute delight to watching them hopping through the clumps of cut grass, searching for the food that would help fuel their onward journey, and they only moved on when, after a week’s drying, the hay was baled.

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Fungi at Cosmeston

20 Friday Oct 2023

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After a few wet, grey and gusty days being battered by Storm Babet, I thought we could do with some Friday night bright colour so here are some recent fungi finds from Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

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The fungi above are Persistent waxcap (Hygrocybe acutoconica), the yellow beauties at the top above, and Mousepee pinkgill (Entoloma incanum), the lovely little green mushroom with the wonderful name. And, below, these are all Honey waxcaps (Hygrocybe reidii), in various stages of development.

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39

24 Sunday Sep 2023

Posted by in autumn, flowers, wildflowers

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39. That’s the number of wildflowers I photographed as I wandered around Cosmeston Lakes Country Park yesterday. I was also on the look out for American birds (if you’re not local or a birder, you may not know that there’s been an unprecedented number of American birds found in western parts of Britain after the remnants of Hurricane Lee swept through last week), but the sheer numbers and varieties and colours of these wildflowers were very welcome compensation.

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These beauties are in the order I found them as I walked: Oxeye daisy, Common ragwort, Common knapweed (with unusual contrasting petal colours), Eyebright, Bird’s-foot trefoil, Red clover, Black medick, Agrimony, Wild parsnip, Devil’s-bit scabious, Selfheal, Wild carrot.

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Goat’s-beard, Yellow-wort, Meadow buttercup, Bramble, Creeping thistle, Large bindweed, Great willowherb, Common mouse-ear, Hogweed, White clover, Meadow vetchling, Daisy

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Carline thistle, Scarlet pimpernel, Common centaury, Musk mallow, Flax, Rough sow-thistle, Blue fleabane, Creeping cinquefoil, Mouse-ear-hawkweed, Yarrow, Hemp-agrimony, Common fleabane, Tufted vetch, Spear thistle, Red bartsia.