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Tag Archives: Great Crested Grebe

333/365 A Bay full of birds

29 Friday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 4 Comments

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.

191129 1 goosander

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.

191129 2 turnstone

My favourite little Turnstones, again four along the Ely embankment and more near Mermaid Quay.

191129 3 linnet

Linnets, a small flock of six flitting about the grassy slopes of the Barrage.

191129 4 pied wagtail

Pied wagtails – I lost count of these cheery little characters who appeared wherever I wandered.

191129 5 Great crested grebe

One of several Great crested grebes that live in the Bay, constantly diving for fish.

191129 6 black-headed gull

I was getting ‘the look’ from this Black-headed gull, in the pond at the wetlands reserve, for not supplying food!

191129 7 coot

This Coot was also hoping for food.

191129 8 chiffchaff

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.

191129 9 kingfisher

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.

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144/365 Humbugs

24 Friday May 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Great Crested Grebe, Great crested grebe chicks, Humbugs

Some days it’s only Nature that keeps me sane – today was one of those days and these gorgeous creatures played a big part in restoring my sanity and making me grin from ear to ear. In case you don’t know, this is a Great crested grebe and its two chicks, which are often referred to as Humbugs because of their resemblance to the black-and-white-striped sweet of that name.

190524 Great crested grebe (1)

I think this is their Dad who’s carrying them – Mum, a smaller version of Dad, was nearby. The parents take turns protecting their chicks by carrying them on their backs. I’m not sure if that gaping beak is a yawn or a wish to be fed – I suspect the former.

190524 Great crested grebe (2)

Dad was getting quite upset at this point because a fight between a Coot and a Mallard was coming a little too close for comfort.

190524 Great crested grebe (3)

Calm restored. Snoozing bookends!

190524 Great crested grebe (4)

Curiosity! Soon after this, the closest chick ventured out on to the water for a very brief moment before deciding it was much safer and more comfortable on Dad’s back.

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43/365 Spring in the air

12 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birds mating', birdwatching, British birds, Great Crested Grebe, Great crested grebes mating

The scent of Spring was strong in the air today or, at least, all the birds I saw thought so. The Great crested grebes were being particularly amorous. First, though, this female fancied some lunch – just a little snack to keep her energy levels up.

190212 great crested grebe (1)

Then she climbed on to the minimal nest that she and her mate had created and got herself ready. The male seemed unsure – perhaps he was shy because I was watching.

190212 great crested grebe (2)

After a couple of minutes when nothing had happened, the female stood up, gave herself a little shake and directed some stern squeaks at the male.

190212 great crested grebe (3)

He had obviously got the message!

190212 great crested grebe (4)

The end made me laugh out loud as he slid unceremoniously over the female’s head in to the water. Let’s hope their efforts were not in vain. I’ll be keeping an eye on them, from a suitable distance.

190212 great crested grebe (5)

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Synchronised grebes

04 Tuesday Dec 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Great Crested Grebe, synchronised swimming

These two Great crested grebes put on a delightful display of synchronised swimming for me at Cardiff Bay Wetlands today, gliding first one way, then the other. I scored them a perfect 10. I almost applauded … but that would’ve scared them off. Gold to the grebes!

181204 great crested grebes (1)181204 great crested grebes (2)181204 great crested grebes (3)181204 great crested grebes (4)

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Fisher extraordinaire

12 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, fish, nature, winter

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bird fishing, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay wetlands, Great Crested Grebe, grebe fishing

It was a lovely late autumn day, with a bit of a nip in the air but gloriously blue skies overhead and still a little heat in the sun. It was the perfect day, in fact, to stand on the boardwalk at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve and watch this Great crested grebe catching itself breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper, all in the space of just 6 minutes (I can tell from the times on my photographs).

181112 great crested grebe (1)181112 great crested grebe (2)181112 great crested grebe (3)181112 great crested grebe (4)181112 great crested grebe (5)

No wonder this successful little fisher-bird was grinning so broadly as it headed into the reeds for a snooze!

181112 great crested grebe (6)

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Lunch … mmmmmm!

18 Saturday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bird with fish, birding, birdwatching, Black-headed gull, British birds, Great Crested Grebe, grebe with fish, juvenile Great crested grebe

Raw fish might not be everyone’s idea of a tasty lunch but it’s the staple diet for this juvenile Great crested grebe.

180818 great crested grebe (1)

And here it comes now …

180818 great crested grebe (2)

‘Thanks, Mum.’

180818 great crested grebe (3)

‘It’s a slippery sucker.’

180818 great crested grebe (4)

‘It’s a bit big, Mum. I’m not sure how to eat this thing.’

180818 great crested grebe (5)

‘Ooops, almost dropped it.’

180818 great crested grebe (6)

Seeing the young one struggling to down its lunch, a Black-headed gull swoops in to try to steal the fish. Both grebes dive immediately.

180818 great crested grebe (7)

‘Where’d they go?’

180818 great crested grebe (8)

Seconds later, the gull flies off, Mum and junior both surface, and Mum’s come up with the second course.

180818 great crested grebe (9)
180818 great crested grebe (10)

This is one contented-looking Great crested grebe!

180818 great crested grebe (11)

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Nests

09 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, Buzzard, Carrion crow, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Magpie, Mute swan, nesting, nesting birds, signs of spring

Just like their makers, nests come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re made of all sorts of materials: twigs and branches, feathers, moss, paper and plastic, mud. They can be seen high in trees and on buildings, hidden secretively away in hedges and behind reeds, or plonked in a hole in a concrete platoon, as I saw some Coots do recently in Cardiff. Some are messy and loosely constructed, others are cosy and snug, still others are miniature works of art.

180409 buzzard

This is prime bird-nesting season so it’s quite likely you’ll see nests when you’re out walking. Please stay well away and do not disturb parents, eggs or babies. In Britain (and I’m sure in most countries) it is, in fact, an offence under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to ‘intentionally take, damage, destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built’ and to ‘intentionally take or destroy  the egg of any wild bird’. (You can read more details here.) And, rest assured, my photos were all taken with a long lens, well away from the birds, so as not to disturb them.

180409 crow
180409 coot
180409 coot (3)
180409 magpie
180409 unknown
180409 great crested grebe
180409 coot (2)
180409 swan

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March on the Ely embankment

31 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

#BeastfromtheEast, Cardiff Bay, Colt's-foot, Ely embankment, Great Crested Grebe, Linnet, Pied wagtail, Redshank, River Ely, Rock pipit, snow in Penarth Marina, Turnstone

A month of superlatives!

180331 1 Ely embankment

4 March  The coldest! My first visit of March was in the aftermath of ‘The Beast from the East’ and Storm Emma, a weather combination that brought Cardiff an unseasonal covering of snow, with deep drifts in places. As the east-facing embankment had been subject to the full assault of those storm systems, it was not surprising to see piles of the white stuff still blocking the road alongside Cardiff Bay, and there was a smattering on the embankment itself.

180331 2 snow
180331 3 pied wagtail contemplates snow

Though I wondered if the storm might have blown in some European strays or other unusual birds, I wasn’t really surprised to find that the very exposed embankment was almost bare of birds. A smattering of perhaps 10 Coots, a couple of Mallards and Mute swans, and two Pied wagtails were almost the only avian wildlife. Even the gulls were sparse.

9 March  The contrast between today’s weather and last weekend’s was almost unbelievable: it was 12°C, the sun was shining and it felt positively Spring like. Maybe that’s why the birds were out in force, with five Redshanks – the most I’ve ever seen on the embankment at once, 3 Turnstones – two venturing well up the stones away from the water’s edge, 2 Grey wagtails and 1 Pied.

180331 6 redshank
180331 7 redshank
180331 8 redshank
180331 9 redshank
180331 10 redshank
180331 11 turnstone

And just to prove that I don’t only look at the birds, I noticed the Red campion was already in flower and I was most surprised to see a large area of Colt’s-foot flowers. They must be tough to grow in such a stony bank.

180331 4 colt's-foot
180331 5 colt's-foot

14 March   A bumper day along the embankment, in light drizzle, which almost put me off going out for a walk. I’m so glad I got off my chuff! There were 3 Redshank, 7 Turnstone, 2 Grey wagtails, 3 Pied wagtails, 1 Rock pipit, 4 Linnets, 1 Carrion crow, 4 Feral pigeon and, in the water adjacent, 8 Coots, 5 Great crested grebes, 1 Cormorant, 2 Mallards, and 6 Mute swans. The greatest variety!

180331 12 Grey wagtail
180331 13 Carrion crow
180331 14 Feral pigeon
180331 15 Rock pipit
180331 16 Mute swan
180331 17 Linnet
180331 18 Coot
180331 19 Pied wagtail
180331 20 Great crested grebe

20 March  This was another day of cold winds, blowing directly across the bay and slamming into the embankment, so the few birds that were around were sheltering further up the river, and there weren’t many to be seen – a single Redshank looking very unhappy, perhaps still recovering from our second bout of snow this Spring, last weekend’s ‘Mini-beast from the East’, plus 3 Turnstones and 2 Grey wags.

180331 21 unhappy Redshank

24 March  I was really heading across the Barrage in search of a Wheatear (more on that here) but figured I’d detour along the embankment path on my way, and I’m so glad I did as there were 10 Turnstones – a large number! – and a solitary Redshank bimbling along the shoreline.

180331 22 turnstones

28 March  Fourteen (14!) Turnstones on the embankment during this day’s walk (the most I’ve ever seen on one visit), plus 2 Redshanks and a solitary Pied wagtail. What a way to end my monthly walks along this bay-side path!

180331 23 redshank

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March at Cosmeston

29 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, flowers, nature, reptiles, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Chiffchaff, Common frog, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Hawfinch, Meadow pipit, primrose, Reed buntin, Sand martin, Scaup, treecreeper

11 March  This visit to Cosmeston started with me being yaffled at by a Green woodpecker – I always think they’re jeering at me, trying to lure me into stalking them for that ever-elusive close-up. I resisted and walked on, then paused to watch a Magpie trying to carry off a very large twig / small branch, proof that nest-building has begun.

180329 1 primroses

Masses of pale Primroses were flowering prettily along the western boundary path, and the lake was overflowing the boardwalk at the west end due to recent heavy rain.

180329 2 drake Scaup

I paused near there, as I always do, to look at the gulls and finally, FINALLY, spotted the drake Scaup that’s been visiting the Cosmeston lakes on and off in recent weeks, this time in company with a female Tufted duck, which could be why some interesting hybrids are occasionally sighted locally.

180329 3 Treecreeper
180329 4 Gadwall & Tufted ducks

I walked up Mile Road and then off the main track to where the bird hide used to be (it was burnt down by vandals last year and has not been rebuilt), and spotted a Treecreeper hopping up a nearby tree, then turned to see a group of five Gadwall on the east lake, much closer in than usual.

180329 5 Great crested grebes

I watched them a while then was charmed to also watch a pair of Great crested grebes displaying – more on those here. I wandered on, up Mile Road to the top end where I head back in to suburbia, and was farewelled by a large flock of perhaps fifty Fieldfare and Redwing that flew up from the area of Old Cogan Farm and landed in the trees above me.

180329 6 Scaup
180329 7 Common frog

16 March  I only walked through Cosmeston as part of a longer walk from Sully to Penarth, so I didn’t linger long but I did manage to get closer views and better photos of the Scaup, as it was sitting right off the boardwalk and ‘swan feeding area’ near the cafe. And I also detoured past the dipping pond to check out the Common frog eruption – see more on the frogs here.

180329 8 Meadow pipits
180329 9 Meadow pipits

19 March  I stomped off to Cossie with snow still on the ground (but steadily melting) after the ‘Mini-beast from the east’, the second instalment of cold weather to blast us this month. The most notable wildlife effect was in the large numbers of Meadow pipits to be seen, sometimes in singles, at one point a flock of at least 20 grazing together.

180329 10 Chiffchaff

It was also a day of confusing birds: there was a female Blackbird with a pale bib, making me think she might be a Ring ouzel, and two Chiffchaffs pretending to be Reed warblers, presumably because there were more insects to be had close to the water – behaviour also seen at another site in south Wales that day.

180329 11 Sand martin

And, another sign of spring, I saw my first Sand martins of the year, three of them, hawking back and forth on the east lake.

180329 12 Reed bunting

23 March  Once again, this was a walk through rather than around Cosmeston, as I was doing the same walk as a week ago, from Sully back home. As I had recently stocked up on bird seed, I was sprinkling small amounts here and there as I strolled, and was delighted to see three male Reed buntings come down for a snack in one spot – such handsome birds. The other highlight was the Chiffchaffs, at least six crisscrossing the lane between the two lakes, flycatching the multitude of little gnatty things flying about on this sunny day.

180329 13 hawfinch

29 March  Well, I wasn’t intending to make another visit to Cossie this month but then one of my birding friends spotted a Hawfinch there on the 27th and I couldn’t let that pass without at least having a look for it. (For non-birders, Hawfinches are usually difficult to find, though they have been having a good winter this year.) So, trying, somewhat unsuccessfully, to dodge heavy rain showers, I headed over to Cosmeston early this morning. I knew the approximate location to look but it certainly wasn’t easy spotting anything in the dense trees. Luckily, I had listened to the bird’s call on the RSPB website before I set off and that’s how I found it … by listening very very carefully and then following that sound. The bird was very high in a tree and almost obscured by intervening branches (my photo is a heavy crop) … but I was very chuffed to find it!

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Wild words: display

28 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

#WildWords, bird courtship display, bird displays, birding, birds displaying, birdwatching, British birds, Great Crested Grebe, wild words

Display: Verb; the Oxford Dictionary defines this as: ‘(of a male bird [though, from what I’ve seen, female birds also respond to and/or participate in displays], reptile, or fish) to engage in a specialized pattern of behaviour that is intended to attract a mate’. The word comes from the Anglo-French desplaier or desploier, meaning literally, ‘to unfold’.

180328 Great crested grebes displaying (1)

The birds section of the Stanford University website has a really thorough description of this behaviour, including a diagram of some of the display postures adopted by their Western Grebe. In Britain, the equivalent bird is the Great crested grebe, which also gets a mention and which has a particularly lovely display to watch, as you can see in these recent shots of local birds displaying.

180328 Great crested grebes displaying (2)180328 Great crested grebes displaying (3)

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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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