276/366 A splendid Skylark

02 Friday Oct 2020

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Linnet, Skylark, south Wales coast, Swallow

With rain forecast for the following few days, I was determined to enjoy my meander along the coast, and it was certainly not difficult to do. So many Swallows, perhaps thousands, were swooping low over the fields, feeding up before heading out across the water, that I spent rather a lot of time just standing, watching, smiling at the sight of them.

There were Linnets too – one flock held more than 200 birds, and a smattering of Meadow pipits and Skylarks, though it wasn’t until I got back to town that I had wonderfully close views of one particular Skylark.

201002 linnets

It was rather incongruously poking about a large grassed area on top of the seaside cliffs, optimistically labelled a ‘park’ by the local council, which is usually devoid of anything but human and canine life. What a splendid bird!

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80/366 Today’s Bay birds

20 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay birds, house sparrow, Linnet, Sand martin, Stonechat, Wheatear

Finally, we’ve had a rain-less day and, though there was a bitterly cold wind blasting across Cardiff Bay, I had to take advantage of the dry weather so walked an 8-mile circuit right round the Bay. The first highlight was my first two Wheatears of the year, a bit distant, and only popping up very briefly from amongst the huge Barrage boulders, but it was lovely to welcome them back for the summer.

200320 1 wheatear

The Bay was buzzing with Sand martins – I must’ve seen at least 20, perhaps more, at various times during my wander, and it was a joy to watch their aerial antics.

200320 2 sand martin

Though it’s now several weeks since the big floods pushed a ton of rubbish into the Bay, the huge accumulations have still not been cleared. In fact, most of the rubbish slicks have seen no clearance action taken at all. The ONLY positive thing about this is that the Goldfinches and Linnets seem to be finding plenty of food amongst the garbage.

200320 3 linnet

I simply had to include this male House sparrow, as today is World Sparrow Day.

200320 4 sparrow

This lovely female Stonechat was dotting back and forth across the footpath through the wetlands reserve, and let me get quite close for photos. There was no sign of the male today though.

200320 5 stonechat

360/365 Christmas birding

26 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay walk, Cetti's warbler, Common Gull, Great spotted woodpecker, Grey wagtail, Linnet, little grebe, Moorhen, Stonechat, Turnstone

Normal weather service (i.e. wind and rain) has resumed here today but yesterday, Christmas Day, was glorious – blue skies, cold but no wind, so I took myself on a 6-hour 8½-mile walk right around Cardiff Bay. I saw 44 species of bird (and dished out some Christmas seed to a few), and had some nice chats to random strangers. The birding highlights included …

Grey wagtails and my favourite little Turnstones on the Ely embankment

191226 3 linnets

Seven Linnets in a tree

A Moorhen and a Little grebe at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve

191226 6 great spotted woodpecker

The day’s surprise, a Great spotted woodpecker in trees, also at the wetlands reserve

Two Cetti’s warblers seen (and more heard), plus a lovely male Stonechat

191226 9 common gull

A Common gull puddling for worms with the Black-headed gulls in Hamadryad Park

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.

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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.

The ones that got away

24 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Goldfinch, Goldfinch plumage, Goldfinches eating seeds, Linnet

These are just a few of the Goldfinches that have managed to escape the talons of the Sparrowhawk I featured yesterday (and other hungry birds of prey). This seems to be a particularly good year for these little birds, as small flocks of them have been everywhere in recent weeks, in local parks and reserves, flying along Penarth’s cliff tops, in the neighbour’s garden over the back lane, even in the tree outside my living room window.

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Although it’s not the sharpest of shots, I particularly like this photo of the Goldfinch flying with a flock of Linnets as it shows its distinctive yellow wing-bars so well.

181024 goldfinches (3)

The juveniles take a while to get their full bright red and yellow colours so look a little scruffy for a time … but very cute with it!

Sparrowhawk goes a’hunting

23 Tuesday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

birding, birds of prey, birdwatching, British birds, Goldfinch, Lavernock coastal fields, Linnet, Penarth-Lavernock coastal path, Sparrowhawk, Sparrowhawk trying to catch prey

Until the farmer decided to plough them last week, the fields alongside the coastal path between Penarth and Lavernock were alive with birds, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Linnets and Goldfinches.

181023 Sparrowhawk hunting (1)

For those fascinated by birds, it was a feast for the eyes but for the local birds of prey, it was just a feast … or, at least, this Sparrowhawk was fervently hoping it would be a feast.

181023 Sparrowhawk hunting (2)

However, although I watched it for over an hour one day, flap-flap-flap-gliding effortlessly overhead and then swooping very low and very fast over the fields, I never saw it actually catch anything.

181023 Sparrowhawk hunting (3)

It seems the Sparrowhawk mostly went hungry and most of the little finches lived to fly another day.

181023 Sparrowhawk hunting (4)

Flocking Linnets

13 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, flocks of Linnets, Linnet, Linnet flocks

I seem to be seeing Linnets everywhere at the moment.

181013 linnets (5)

There have been little flocks of four, six and ten browsing for seeds amongst the wildflowers that grow on the stones of the Ely River embankment in Cardiff Bay.

And then there have been much bigger flocks of 50 to 100 birds (sometimes joined by Goldfinches) grazing in the maize fields along the edge of the coastal path between Penarth and Lavernock.

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And, when those Linnets feel threatened by a predator (like the bird of prey in the top left of the second photo below), they very quickly join together to form enormous flocks of at least 500 birds that whirl and swirl to try to confuse the hunter. I’ve seen this incredible phenomenon twice recently and it is truly amazing to watch and to hear all those birds tweeting and twittering at once.

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A family of Linnets

09 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, plants, wildflowers

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Ely embankment, Herb Robert, Linnet, Linnet family, Linnets feeding on Herb Robert

I went for a wander along the Ely embankment yesterday and was delighted to discover a family of five Linnets, two adults and three exceedingly cute juveniles, all feeding on Herb Robert seeds. They started off with Mum and Dad feeding the youngsters but the kids soon got impatient and wanted more food more quickly.

180809 linnet (1)

Mum or Dad has just plucked one of the Herb Robert seed pods while …

180809 linnet (2)

… youngster is watching to see how this food-gathering process works.

180809 linnet (3)

“Now if I can just reach …”

180809 linnet (4)

“Gotcha!”

180809 linnet (5)

“Now I’ve got the idea, I can help myself.”

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Youngster looking rather pleased with itself.

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Birding at Rhossili and Mewslade

02 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, insects, nature, walks

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Glamorgan Bird Club, Grayling, Great black-backed gull, Kestrel, Linnet, Rhossili, Small tortoiseshell, The Worm

Yesterday was my second visit to Rhossili with my friends from the Glamorgan Bird Club, though I still haven’t walked along this magnificent beach.

180702 1 Rhossili beach

Our group of 15 met in the National Trust car park at Rhossili, then slowly meandered along the cliff tops towards the point, birding as we walked.

180702 2 Heading towards the worm

I saw my first Choughs, Fulmars were spotted gliding majestically below us, and a Great black-backed gull flew in and landed on a headland.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, here I also saw my first Grayling butterflies. The first, pictured here on a discarded Coke bottle, was spotted by eagle-eyed Tate, and the second by another birder, Rob.

At the point, we enjoyed superb views, and the last of the bright sunny weather, while eating our lunch. Then, despite the rain starting, 11 of our intrepid team headed across the causeway to The Worm, where their scrambling and climbing and drenching were rewarded with views of Guillemots, Razorbills, Puffins and Manx shearwaters.

180702 7 Crossing to The Worm

Three of us chose, instead, to do the circular walk around the headland, seeing lots of Linnets and Meadow pipits in the fields, a Kestrel hovering in search of prey, and two lovely fresh-looking Small tortoiseshell butterflies.

180702 8 Linnet

After some of the team returned from The Worm, four of us went for a brief visit to nearby Mewslade, a beautiful little valley that runs down to a sheltered cove. Here we had incredibly close views of a Lesser whitethroat feeding young, spotted two very yellow-faced Great tit fledglings in an area of burnt gorse, and watched more Choughs and another Kestrel flying through. It was yet another superb field trip with my bird club friends.

180702 11 Kestrel

Ely embankment revisited

15 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, flowers, nature, walks, wildflowers

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#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, Cardiff Bay, Carrion crow, Coot, Ely embankment, feral pigeon, Linnet, Mallard, Mute swan, Pied wagtail, River Ely, Small tortoiseshell

My regular followers will remember that, over the winter months, when there were more birds around, I posted a regular monthly roundup of the action along the embankment where the River Ely flows in to Cardiff Bay. Today, for day 15 of #30DaysWild, I thought I’d take another look. Here’s what I found …