02 Wednesday Mar 2022
After a mild winter, the local birds are already feeling the need to breed, and yesterday’s walk took me past a Mute swan and a Coot both sitting on nests, as well as this pair of Great crested grebes.
During the time it took me to walk first along one side of the waterway, then back along the other side, the grebes mated twice, so I’m sure they’ll soon be sitting on nests as well.
22 Saturday Jan 2022
Posted in birds
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Great Crested Grebe, Great crested grebe courtship dance, Great crested grebe courtship display, Great crested grebes dancing with weeds
I consider myself fortunate to have seen the courtship of Great crested grebes many times during my years residing in Britain but last Thursday was the first time I’d seen the part of their display that includes them dancing with weeds in their beaks.
I recognised the noises the birds make as they work up to their display and was lucky enough to be very close by, so quickly got my camera out of my backpack. As I did, both birds reached down under the water’s surface before emerging with long strings of slimy weed in their beaks. Pushing rapidly against the water with their feet helped them raise their bodies almost fully out of the water and their bellies bumped together as they moved their heads from side to side, almost slapping each other with the weed.
After a couple of minutes of this strenuous activity, they subsided back into the water, first one grebe then the other dropping the weed, but they continued with their usual display routine of head shaking and dipping from one side to the other. Several more minutes passed before, presumably satisfied that their pair bond had been sealed, they sailed off to carry on with their day. For me, the experience was magical, birdwatching at its absolute best!
05 Tuesday Oct 2021
Posted in birds
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Great Crested Grebe, Humbug, juvenile Great crested grebe
It seems late in the season to be seeing a juvenile Great crested grebe that’s still constantly nagging its parent for food and still sporting the head stripes that have earned these birds the nickname ‘Humbug’ (for those unfamiliar with the word, it’s a black-and-white-striped boiled sweet) but there are still a couple in my area.
I presume these juveniles are the result of second breeding attempts by the adult birds after their first attempts have failed. Their parents may not agree but I think they’re incredibly cute!
08 Thursday Apr 2021
Tags
birding, birds nesting in Cardiff Bay, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Great crested grebes mating
Great crested grebes are featuring here twice in one week but I can never resist a good story. When I arrived at Cardiff Bay wetlands yesterday, a pair was in the reeds near the boardwalk.
The female was lying flat across the beginnings of a nest platform, making odd groaning noises. Having seen this before, I knew what was going to happen next …
And it did. After a few minutes, the male jumped up on top of her and they proceeded to mate.
The dismount with grebes would never score well in a gymnastics competition – the male sort of slides off, pushing the female’s head under the water.
You could almost hear their after-thoughts: ‘Better get on with the nest building’, and both birds began gathering twigs to place on the nest.
But a nearby Coot was having none of it. He didn’t want these noisy characters for neighbours and, faster than the grebes could place twigs on the platform, he was pulling them off again.
There was a stand-off, much posturing and squawking, and eventually the male grebe charged the Coot. The grebe thought it had won but the Coot didn’t retreat far. The grebes might keep trying but my money’s on the Coot to win this territorial battle.
05 Monday Apr 2021
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, British freshwater fish, Great Crested Grebe, grebe eats fish, Perch
It amazes me sometimes how birds manage to swallow the seemingly too large fish they catch. This was one such event, witnessed during a walk around Cardiff Bay on Friday, when I witnessed a Great crested grebe lunching on a Perch. I presume it wouldn’t have required dinner after this feast!
28 Tuesday Jul 2020
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Ely embankment, Great Crested Grebe, House martin, Mute swan, Pied wagtail, River Ely
This morning’s wander took me down to Cardiff Bay to walk the path along the embankment of the River Ely, my first walk that way for a while, as there tend to be less interesting birds to see during the summer months and more people to avoid. And so it was, though there is never nothing to see.
House martins were still filling the air with their calls and zipping swiftly back and forth, hunting low over the water then taking insects back to feed their young, which must be second or even third broods now.
Large numbers of Coot and Mallard were feeding on the water weed or sitting preening on the water’s edge of the embankment, and several Swan were floating regally past. A couple fell out and were half-heartedly chasing each other.
I saw only three Great crested grebes, a low number for this location. Two were adults and one a well grown juvenile that was snoozing amongst the weed.
And I saw only two Pied wagtails, which is also a small quantity for the embankment. Their jaunty striding back and forth always makes me grin.
24 Wednesday Jun 2020
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay wetlands, Great Crested Grebe, Great crested grebe chicks, Humbugs
Monday’s walk was a delight, my first of the new-fangled socially distanced walks with a friend. As well as each other’s good company, we enjoyed a lovely wander around part of Cardiff Bay, including the wetlands reserve. There is always an abundance of Great crested grebes in the waters around the reserve and this day we also spotted two pairs breeding.
One pair was perhaps making a second attempt, as this is late in the season to begin their breeding cycle. While one bird brooded their single (so far) egg, the other was keeping itself busy gathering extra materials to add to the nest.
We then noticed another pair of grebes that already had two chicks (birders commonly call them ‘humbugs’ because of their striped colouring) and, while the two little ones sheltered on one adult’s back, the other went fishing for sprats for its offspring. It was wonderful to watch them.
07 Friday Feb 2020
Grebes were much in evidence today.
As well as these two Great crested grebes, I saw several other pairs, some displaying and, once, a couple of males engaged in a noisy dispute, over a fine nesting spot perhaps.
Making a lot of chattering noise as they swam, two Little grebes also seemed to be searching for potential nest sites amongst the reeds. We might be expecting a mighty storm in the next couple of days but the birds are thinking it’s Springtime.
25 Saturday Jan 2020
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Great Crested Grebe
Today’s seven-mile walk was through thick grey drizzle-like mist and, except for the raucous gulls at the edge of Cosmeston’s east lake (where everyone feeds the birds), the land was hushed and still. Not wanting to get my gear wet, I only got my camera out of my backpack once, for a few shots of this handsome Great crested grebe.
29 Friday Nov 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, Black-headed gull, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay birds, Chiffchaff, Coot, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Kingfisher, Linnet, Pied wagtail, Turnstone
What a wonderful long walk I had around Cardiff Bay today! Here are some of the birds I spotted along the way.
There were nine Goosanders in total, four in the River Ely where it flows in to the Bay and another five further east, in the Bay proper.
My favourite little Turnstones, again four along the Ely embankment and more near Mermaid Quay.
Linnets, a small flock of six flitting about the grassy slopes of the Barrage.
Pied wagtails – I lost count of these cheery little characters who appeared wherever I wandered.
One of several Great crested grebes that live in the Bay, constantly diving for fish.
I was getting ‘the look’ from this Black-headed gull, in the pond at the wetlands reserve, for not supplying food!
This Coot was also hoping for food.
This Chiffchaff was a surprise – it’s either very late migrating or has decided to over-winter in Britain, as some now do. Interestingly, I saw a Chiffchaff yesterday too, in a different location.
The best possible end to my walk – a Kingfisher peep-peep-peeped in to the pool near Hamadryad Park and perched on a branch over the water.
earthstar 
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