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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: Forest Farm Nature Reserve

Male Bullfinches

20 Thursday Feb 2025

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, bullfinch, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, male Bullfinch

For me the male Bullfinch, with his glorious apricot breast feathers, is the most exotic-looking of Britain’s birds. He looks like he belongs in a tropical rain forest, not in the sub-zero temperatures of a British winter. These two particularly handsome chaps were busily nibbling the new buds from the trees at Forest Farm Nature Reserve earlier this week, which is why these birds are never much liked by orchardists.

There were female Bullfinches about as well, though, for some reason, they tended to be skulking in the furthest reaches of the branches, out of this photographer’s lens range. Perhaps it’s just that male birds in general like to advertise their presence more as we approach spring and the breeding season.

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N is for newt

19 Thursday Dec 2024

Posted by sconzani in amphibian, reptiles

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British newts, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Palmate newt

My very first newt encounter was a sad one to witness, as I watched a Moorhen whacking a Palmate newt to death in one of the dipping ponds at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park (My first Palmate newt, 29 February). Fortunately, for me and the newts, I saw several alive and thriving in the dragonfly pond at Forest Farm Nature Reserve three months later (Newts alive, 30 May). I must remember to look for them again in 2025 as they were spellbinding to watch as they floated serenely in the clear water.

241219 n is for newt

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K is for Kingfisher

16 Monday Dec 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Glamorgan Canal, Kingfisher

Kingfishers featured on this blog back in January (Flashes of teal, 20 January), though I’ve actually enjoyed even better sightings of these stunning birds during several recent visits to Forest Farm Nature Reserve in north Cardiff. The reserve is a well known local hotspot for these birds, and some Kingfisher aficionados spend hours sitting in the hides there, hoping to get the perfect diving photo. Personally, I prefer walking the canals to try to find these beautiful birds in a less contrived situation, and that’s exactly where the sequence of three images below was taken. I managed to catch the moment the bird spotted a fish and began its dive but, sadly, both its speed and my slow reaction meant I didn’t capture the instant the bird hit the water. Still, it was a magical moment.

241216 k is for kingfisher

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Stock dove days

28 Thursday Nov 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds

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Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Stock dove

Another day, another bird blog. I was going to apologise for the proliferation of birds this week but I don’t think we can ever have enough birds in our lives and, hopefully, some of you feel the same. Fortunately, today’s bird was much closer than those I’ve featured in the last two days.

241127 stock dove (2)

In fact, seeing one strutting happily along the towpath at Forest Farm last Friday and then this one in a grassy field, also at Forest Farm but during a second visit on Monday, was a particular treat as my usual, and sadly infrequent, views of Stock doves are as distant specks in farm fields, where they can be difficult to pick out from their Woodpigeon cousins.

241127 stock dove (1)

And they are such beautiful birds that they need to be seen up close to appreciate the subtle colours and patterns of their plumage.

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Little egret on the canal

23 Saturday Nov 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds

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Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Little egret, Little egret fishing

This gorgeous Little egret was foraging for food along the old Glamorgan Canal at Forest Farm Nature Reserve in north Cardiff yesterday.

241123 little egret

I took a short video to show how it uses its feet to stir up the sediment in the bottom of the canal to release tiny invertebrates and fish to feed on. It was fascinating to watch, and seemingly quite effective, and I couldn’t help but think it was almost like a dance, a leg shimmy, a Michael Jackson moonwalk in reverse.

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Newts alive!

30 Thursday May 2024

Posted by sconzani in amphibian

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Tags

British amphibians, British newts, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, newt

As the only other time I’ve featured a newt on this blog was when a Moorhen at Cosmeston Lakes was in the throes of killing it (My first Palmate newt, 29 February 2024), I thought it would be nice to show a live newt.

240530 newt (1)

I’m not sure which species of newt this was (it had a yellow belly, so possibly Palmate) but it was a delight to watch it, and several others of its kind, swimming, gliding, drifting, diving, all in a very restful kind of slow motion, in the dragonfly pond at Forest Farm Nature Reserve last week.

240530 newt (2)

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Siskins in the Alders

30 Tuesday Jan 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Siskin, Siskin feeding on Alder cones

It was easy to hear their sibilant chatter (if you’ve never heard it, SoundCloud has a good recording). With their green, yellow and black colouring, they were well camouflaged so it was hard to pick them out among the Alder branches and cones. And, because of all those twigs, branches and cones, it was even harder to get photographs, which is my excuse for not getting better images of the noisy Siskins I found feeding near the Glamorgan Canal at Forest Farm Nature Reserve last week.

240130 siskin

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Flashes of teal

20 Saturday Jan 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm Country Park, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Kingfisher

My most frequent views of Kingfishers are as passing piping flashes of teal, streaking around the edges of Cardiff Bay. So, it was a delight, on Thursday, to walk along the Glamorgan canal at Forest Farm Country Park and find one sitting on a branch, staring at the water, intensely focused on finding its next meal.

240120 kingfisher

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Awkward oviposition

27 Thursday Jul 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British dragonflies, British odonata, dragonfly, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Southern hawker, Southern hawker ovipositing

She was my first Southern hawker dragonfly of the year and she wasn’t making life easy for herself. There must have been a male Southern hawker in the vicinity as this lovely lady had already mated and was busy laying her eggs. However, she picked a very difficult location for ovipositing, underneath the wire netting that secures the wooden edge of the dragonfly pond at Forest Farm Nature Reserve. This did mean she was almost a captive subject for my lens, though the wire obscured her quite a bit, and the location wasn’t exactly easily accessible for her – I heard her wings rubbing against the wire as she entered. Her body was also squashed, making it a little difficult for her to manipulate herself in to the best position to place her eggs. I took a few photos and left her to her awkward endeavours.

230727 southern hawker

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Streaks of teal and turquoise

20 Thursday Jul 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Kingfisher

I timed yesterday’s arrival at the second hide at Forest Farm Nature Reserve perfectly – some birders sit patiently in the hide for hours waiting for a Kingfisher to fly in and perch on the strategically placed stick.

230720 kingfisher (1)

And, in fact, I was doubly lucky as I later had two Kingfishers streak past as I walked along the canal path. They are the most gorgeous birds!

230720 kingfisher (2)

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About me

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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