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Tag Archives: Pied wagtail

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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92/365 Barrage wags

02 Tuesday Apr 2019

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

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Barrage, Pied wagtail, wagtails

190402 pied wagtail (1)

Over the past couple of weeks local birders have been finding migrating Wheatears stopping over on the huge pile of rocks that is the Cardiff Barrage, the man-made structure that was built in the 1990s to cut Cardiff Bay off from the Bristol Channel and turn it in to a virtual lake. The Wheatears are returning from over-wintering in tropical Africa and, after taking a short breather on the Barrage, they head further north to their breeding grounds in- and up-land. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate any Wheatears today but the many Pied wagtails were entertaining, flitting busily hither and yon.

190402 pied wagtail (2)190402 pied wagtail (3)

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Birding at Goldcliff and Uskmouth

18 Tuesday Sep 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

birding, Birding at Goldcliff, birdwatching, British birds, Curlew, Curlew sandpiper, Goldcliff lagoons, Hobby, Little egret, Pied wagtail, Yellow wagtail

On my way to Goldcliff, I told Tim and Alan, our leader for the day, that I wanted to see a Curlew sandpiper, a Little stint, a Hobby and a Marsh harrier, as they would all be year ticks for me to add to my 2018 birding list. Amazingly, I saw three of those four – only the Marsh harrier failed to appear – and I still managed to add four new birds to my list as we also had a fly-over of four Pintails.

180918 birding goldcliff (1)

Our small but enthusiastic group of eight started the day at Goldcliff, where the lagoon water levels are still very low after summer’s drought conditions – in fact, the fresh water pool is just a sea of cracked mud, awaiting some decent rainfall to refill it. It was a couple of hours before high tide and the birding started very slowly as small flocks of waders began to fly in from feeding out in the channel.

180918 birding goldcliff (2)

A Curlew probed the mud for small molluscs, and one of several Little egrets flitted from place to place.

180918 birding goldcliff (3)

Then the cattle started heading our way, shepherding along with them a veritable herd of Yellow and Pied wagtails.

180918 birding goldcliff (4)

How entertaining these little birds are as they flit lightly up and down, snapping up the insects stirred up by the cows’ feet.

180918 birding goldcliff (5)

The wagtails seem incredibly brave as they strut between the cattle’s relatively enormous legs and dice with death within an inch of a cow’s be-whiskered face, yet the cattle ignore them, probably happy to have their very own and very active insect catchers.

180918 birding goldcliff (6)

The high tide was crashing against the sea wall when we eventually made our way to the furthest hide and we sheltered there, checking out Wheatears, water birds and waders, while a couple of heavy rain showers blew through. By that time, more and more flocks were landing in the pool in front of the first hide so back we stomped to turn the ’scopes and bins on those birds.

180918 birding goldcliff (7)

Almost as soon as we returned, a friendly local birder put us on to some of the more special birds, and they were my year ticks, the Curlew sandpipers, the Little stint and that stunning bird of the prey, the Hobby.

180918 birding goldcliff (8)

No sooner had I said I’d like to see the Hobby fly that up in to the air it went, flew a swift circuit of the pool and landed back near where it had started. Magical!

180918 birding goldcliff (9)

Eventually, we left Goldcliff’s lovely lagoons and headed along the road to the RSPB’s Newport Wetlands reserve at Uskmouth. After a welcome drink, we had a wander down to the lighthouse at the sea wall, adding a few more birds to our day’s tally as we went. One of our Tims (we had two Tims on this trip) was very lucky to see a Bearded tit in flight and our other Tim spotted a couple of Porpoises just off the coast, which was a delightful way to round off a most excellent day.

My total list for the day was 59 species: Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall, Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Cormorant, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Hobby, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Eurasian Curlew, Greenshank, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Swallow, House Martin, Long-tailed Tit, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Starling, Robin, Northern Wheatear, House Sparrow, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Reed Bunting, and Wren. And there were 3 species I didn’t spot (Stock Dove, Sand Martin, Skylark) so the trip list was a whopping 62 for the day.

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White vs Pied wagtails

13 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, difference between Pied and White wagtail, Motacilla alba alba, Motacilla alba yarrellii, Pied wagtail, White wagtail

It’s taken me a couple of years to find and recognise White wagtails for myself. I would hear other birders talk about them and look at the photos they posted, but not really see any difference between Pied and White wagtails. Finally, I found some and it was immediately obvious they had a different look.

180913 white wagtail (1)

To be clear, these are not two different species of bird: Pied Wagtails (Motacilla alba yarrellii) and White Wagtails (Motacilla alba alba) are different subspecies of the same species, which rather confusingly is known as the White Wagtail (Motacilla alba).

180913 white wagtail (2)

In Britain, we mostly see Pied wagtails, with the Whites passing through during the spring and autumn migration periods, and the White wagtails tend to have a much lighter grey back and a very clean, white belly and flanks.

180913 white wagtail (4)

Thanks to an excellent blog post I found, I discovered the reason why it was easier for me to tell these particular Whites from the Pied wagtails they were with. The blog has much more detail but, essentially, the Whites complete their moult sooner (usually by the end of August) because of their need to migrate in peak condition from northern latitudes (most of our western Britain White wagtail migrants pass through from Iceland to the southern Mediterranean and Africa, and vice versa), whereas the Pieds, being mostly resident in Britain, don’t complete their moult until mid to late September.

180913 white wagtail (3)

So, the plumage of the Whites I saw looked clean and crisp and fresh, whereas the Pieds were still looking rather scruffy, as you can see below.

180913 pied wagtail (1)
180913 pied wagtail (2)
180913 pied wagtail (3)
180913 pied wagtail (4)
180913 pied wagtail (5)
180913 pied wagtail (6)

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Ely embankment revisited

15 Friday Jun 2018

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

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Tags

#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 …

180615 1 Ely embankment

The embankment is a riot of colour, with both native wildflowers and garden escapees in full bloom.

180615 2 linnet

Two Linnets were foraging on flower seeds but were very skittish.

180615 3 wildflowers

Loving these Oxeye daisies.

180615 4 pied wagtail

A juvenile Pied wagtail was feeding near the waterline.

180615 5 feral pigeons

A flock of 7 Feral pigeons was also foraging amongst the flowers

180615 6 mallard

This Mallard had found a sunny spot for a snooze.

180615 7 mute swan

23 Mute swans were floating up the river, many taking the opportunity to preen as they went.

180615 8 coots

9 Coots were congregating at the water’s edge.

180615 9 small tortoiseshell

I saw my first Small tortoiseshell butterfly of the year.

180615 10 colourful embankment

Looking back up the river as an Aquabus shows sightseers the river. The black hulk is a new apartment block.

180615 11 carrion crow

And finally, a Carrion crow was prospecting for tasty morsels.

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The wise wagtail

23 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Pied wagtail, Wagtail and Baby, Wagtail poem by Thomas Hardy

180423 Pied wagtail (1)

A baby watched a ford, whereto
A wagtail came for drinking;
A blaring bull went wading through,
The wagtail showed no shrinking.

180423 Pied wagtail (2)
180423 Pied wagtail (3)

A stallion splashed his way across,
The birdie nearly sinking;
He gave his plumes a twitch and toss,
And held his own unblinking.

180423 Pied wagtail (4)
180423 Pied wagtail (5)

Next saw the baby round the spot
A mongrel slowly slinking;
The wagtail gazed, but faltered not
In dip and sip and prinking.

180423 Pied wagtail (6)
180423 Pied wagtail (7)

A perfect gentleman then neared;
The wagtail, in a winking,
With terror rose and disappeared;
The baby fell a-thinking.

180423 Pied wagtail (8)
180423 Pied wagtail (9)

~ ‘Wagtail and baby’, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), a comment on how the natural world is in harmony with itself but ‘with terror rose’ at the approach of man.

180423 Pied wagtail (10)
180423 Pied wagtail (11)

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March on the Ely embankment

31 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks, wildflowers

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#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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January on the Ely embankment

30 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Carrion crow, Ely embankment, Goosander, Grey wagtail, little grebe, Pied wagtail, Redshank, River Ely, Rock pipit, Turnstone

31 December 2017 I’m being a bit sneaky here as I managed to fit in one last walk along the embankment before the start of 2018 but after I’d written my December summary. So, on the last day of last year there were 5 Turnstones, 2 Redshanks, 2 Pied wagtails and 2 Grey wagtails, 1 Rock pipit and a couple of Crows.

180130 Ely embankment birds (1)
180130 Ely embankment birds (2)
180130 Ely embankment birds (3)
180130 Ely embankment birds (4)

1 January 2018 The very next day, New Year’s Day, I passed this way as part of a complete circuit of Cardiff Bay. It was a glorious blue-sky day but there were just 3 Turnstones present.

180130 Ely embankment birds (5)

11 January This was another glorious day and another circuit of Cardiff Bay, though in the opposite direction. And it was a bumper day for the Ely embankment, with four Redshanks (including the ringed bird, shown above, which I’ve seen and written about previously), 6 Turnstones, 1 Pied and 4 Grey wagtails, and a Rock pipit.

180130 Ely embankment birds (6)
180130 Ely embankment birds (7)
180130 Ely embankment birds (8)

16 January With 40-mph winds blasting down from snow-covered areas further north, the air temperature was hovering below zero when I walked along the embankment late morning. I wasn’t surprised, then, to find very few birds around – a single Turnstone that was wandering along half way up the embankment (not wanting to put its feet in the chilly water?), which was good for me as it was closer for photos, and just two Grey wagtails. There weren’t many birds on the river either, just a couple of coots, one Great crested grebe and several Black-headed gulls looking hopefully in my direction.

180130 Ely embankment birds

20 January I didn’t get out till late afternoon as it had rained most of the day, so the light was going as I strolled along the embankment path. But I was pleasantly surprised to see a few birds: my friends the Grey wagtails never disappoint (two of those); just one Turnstone poking away amongst the stones; and two Redshanks, including my little buddy the colour-ringed bird. Floating along the river were a Little grebe, a Great crested grebe and a pair of Goosanders – the latter were scared away by a boat cruising by and flew off towards the other side of Cardiff Bay, where I had seen a pair a week or so previously – perhaps the same birds.

180130 Ely embankment birds (9)
180130 Ely embankment birds (10)
180130 Ely embankment birds (11)

25 January I detoured along the embankment on my return from a longer walk and was delighted to find six Turnstones (lovely to see so many), two Redshanks (but not my little ringed mate), two Grey and two Pied wagtails.

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On a grey Bay day

04 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, walks

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

birding, birds, birdwatching, black-headed gulls, British birds, Canada geese, Cardiff Bay, Coot, Cormorant, fog, Great Crested Grebe, little grebe, long-tailed tit, Moorhen, Mute swan, Pied wagtail, starling, walk around Cardiff Bay

171104 1 Cardiff Bay fog

Thick fog hung over Cardiff Bay as I set out on a round-the-bay circuit yesterday morning and, though the fog thinned as the day went on, the day remained grey. Still, never let it be said that grey is boring. Birds there were aplenty (and wildflowers, too … but that’s for tomorrow’s post).

171104 2 Cormorant
171104 2 Little grebes

This cormorant was enjoying a successful spot of fishing in the old Penarth dock area, though it was slim pickings for the three Little grebes around the corner in the River Ely.

171104 3 Pied wagtail (1)
171104 3 Pied wagtail (2)
171104 3 Pied wagtail (3)
171104 3 Pied wagtail (4)

All around the Bay, on almost every man-made structure and clump of rocks near the water, Pied wagtails bobbed, wagged and ‘chisicked’.

171104 4 Coot
171104 4 Moorhen

Coots were even more numerous, and an occasional Moorhen prospected along the shoreline.

171104 5 Cormorant171104 5 Flock of Canada geese

As I was watching this Cormorant drying its wings, our peace and tranquillity was interrupted by the loud honking of a large skein of Canada Geese flying in from the west.

171104 6 Long-tailed tits
171104 6 Starlings and gull

Where concrete and buildings dominate the shoreline and there’s a notable absence of trees, the birds have adapted and perch on tree-like things.

171104 7 Great crested grebe
171104 7 Mute swan

I saw perhaps half a dozen Great crested grebes around the Bay: I always admire how long they can stay underwater when fishing. Mute swans were more numerous. They are birds of such contrasts, looking anything but decorous when flaunting their glorious white bottoms as they feed, yet the picture of elegance when preening.

171104 8 Black-headed gull (3)

The most abundant came at the end of my walk. It was standing room only for the Black-headed gulls on the Barrage.

171104 8 Black-headed gull (1)
171104 8 Black-headed gull (2)

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October on the Ely embankment

31 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by sconzani in birds, coastal fauna, nature, walks

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Ely embankment, Great Crested Grebe, Linnet, little grebe, Pied wagtail, Redshank, River Ely, Rock pipit, Turnstone, Wheatear

At least once a week I take a turn along the embankment where the River Ely flows out into Cardiff Bay as it makes a nice circular walk from my home on the cliff-top above in Penarth. (It’s good exercise too, as what goes down there must walk back up!) I always record what I see – usually birds – so thought I would share my sightings in an end-of-monthly post.

171031a Ely embankment map
171031b turnstone & coot

A variety of birds make their home in this stretch of water, which they share with a yachting marina and associated water traffic coming and going. There are almost always Turnstones in varying quantities (from one to nine), Mallards, Mute swans, one or two Great Crested Grebes (including their progeny this year), a proliferation of Coots, the occasional Cormorant fishing, usually a couple of Grey wagtails and a couple of Pieds. Gulls fly overhead and there are plenty of hirundines, in the season.

171031c Wheatear
171031d Pied wagtail
171031e Rock pipit

2 October: A Wheatear, an unusual visitor, almost certainly on a migration stopover, was dotting about on the embankment stones; a Pied wagtail was doing its morning stretches, and a Rock pipit was browsing for titbits.

171031f Little grebe

171031g Great crested grebe (1)
171031g Great crested grebe (2)
171031g Great crested grebe (3)

16 October: This was the day before ex-hurricane Ophelia made her presence felt, the day of the jaundiced yellow sky and the rusty red sun, which you can see reflected in my photo of the four Little grebes that were sheltering from the incoming weather. A juvenile Grey wagtail was dotting along the embankment, calling incessantly for its parent; and a Great crested grebe was enjoying a very successful fishing session, coming up with fish in two successive dives.

171031h Linnet

22 October: The day after Storm Brian I walked the embankment to see if any unusual birds had been blown in. The usual suspects were present, except that, most unusually, there wasn’t a single Turnstone. A solitary Linnet flitted back and forth from pavement to stones, and three rather exhausted-looking Redshanks dozed warily along the water line. One of these was colour-ringed and might possibly be the bird I saw back in March but I couldn’t see its rings well enough to be sure.

171031i Redshank

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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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