03 Thursday Jun 2021
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
I was delighted yesterday, as I walked up the west paddock at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, to spot my first two flowering Common spotted orchids of the year. This is just the beginning of what will, I’m sure, be another stunning display, as both the east and west paddocks are usually awash with orchids in the summer months.
19 Wednesday May 2021
Posted in insects
Tags
Azure damselfly, British damselflies, British odonata, Common blue damselfly, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, damselfly
My first damselflies (still no dragonflies) of 2021 have been a long time coming but, finally, yesterday, at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, before a thunderstorm drenched both the insects and me, I saw a small number of both Azure and Common blue damselflies in some of the more sheltered places around the fields … and it was magical!
Azure damselfly
Common blue damselfly
11 Tuesday May 2021
Tags
British birds, British mammals, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Ratty, Reed warbler, Sully Brook, Water vole
It was all happening in the reeds along Sully Brook at Cosmeston on Sunday afternoon. I spent 20 minutes watching this very cute and confiding Water vole munching on reeds, and all the while the Reed warbler was singing his funky tune.
Times like these are what keep me sane and bring me happiness and joy. I hope you have a Ratty and Reedy (or their equivalents) in your life.
24 Saturday Apr 2021
Tags
British butterflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Dingy Skipper, early emergence of Dingy skipper, skipper butterflies, spring butterflies
Well, this was a surprise! My first Dingy skipper of 2021 flitted up from the ground as I walked a path at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park yesterday, settled briefly nearby, then floated off and promptly disappeared. Luckily, I managed to fire off a couple of quick shots, and I think these show how easily this little butterfly can ‘disappear’ in the landscape – it’s incredibly well camouflaged.
In my five and a half years in Britain, this is the earliest I’ve seen a Dingy skipper by at least a week, and my average first sighting has been a little later still, around the tenth of May. I presume our recent warm dry weather has led to these butterflies emerging earlier than usual, though the lack of rain could be an issue for them as the ground is very dry and the usual flush of spring wildflower growth delayed.
15 Thursday Apr 2021
Posted in birds
Perhaps surprisingly, we don’t see Greylag geese very often at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park so when two paid a brief visit a few days ago, I walked past the lake for a look.
I’m fairly sure this pair were day-trippers from Cardiff’s Roath Park Lake because they were much more friendly and people-aware than truly wild birds would be. One of them even recognised the sound of seed being shaken inside a plastic container and came swimming over to snaffle its share of the seed I sprinkled in the water.
15 Monday Mar 2021
Tags
British mammals, brown rat, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, rat, rats eating bird seed, Rattus norvegicus
Three cheeky rats. Three cheeky rats.
See where they hide. See where they hide.
They poke out their noses to check all’s clear
Then rush out to grab seeds, showing no fear
Even when people like me are quite near.
Three cheeky rats.
17 Wednesday Feb 2021
Posted in birds
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.
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.
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.
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.
07 Sunday Feb 2021
Posted in amphibian
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.
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.
11 Monday Jan 2021
Posted in birds
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.
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!
09 Saturday Jan 2021
Tags
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.
earthstar 
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