Tag Archives: Roath Park Lake

Bundles of fluff

05 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by in birds, nature, spring

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As this year’s lingering wintery weather has delayed the true advent of spring by about three weeks, I certainly wasn’t expecting to see these four gorgeous Greylag goslings when I went for a wander around Roath Park Lake on Tuesday. But, as Greylag eggs take about 28 days to incubate, Mrs Goose may well have started laying just prior to the ‘Beast from the East’ storm on 1 March. Full praise to her for persevering through two heavy dumpings of snow, freezing temperatures, and some very heavy deluges of rain as well!

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A gathering of grebes

25 Thursday Jan 2018

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Six is the highest number of Little grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis) I’ve ever seen in one group – these were on Roath Park Lake a couple of days ago – but the really tricky thing was to get them all above water and in shot at the same time!

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One, two, plus two with their heads below water … and two circles of bubbles.

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One up, three on their way under … and two nowhere to be seen.

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Nope!

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Almost!

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YES! Success at last.

Autumn migration: Garganey

30 Saturday Sep 2017

Posted by in autumn, birds, nature

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When sightings of rare birds are reported, the birds are usually in out-of-the-way locations that are difficult to access by public transport so I can’t go looking but yesterday was different. A ‘scarce and very secretive’ duck had been spotted at Roath Park Lake, my old stomping ground, so I hopped on a train and was there like a shot.

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The bird was a Garganey (Anas querquedula) and it was certainly living up to its reputation: I spent 30 minutes or so walking and looking and couldn’t spot it (though the Teal and Shovelers were an added bonus amongst the resident water birds). A fellow birder told me he’d seen the Garganey briefly through his ’scope but it had then disappeared under overhanging tree branches. So, I went for a walk around the park, watched a young Heron fishing in the sluice and enjoyed the autumn colour, before heading around the lake again on my way back to the train. And there it was!

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The female Garganey looks much like a female Mallard at first glance but she is a much smaller duck, the markings on her face are stronger, with the eye stripe giving her quite an exotic look, and she has a bill that shows she’s a dabbler. She was very active, constantly ducking her head under the water for plant material and insects – in fact, most of my photos are of a headless duck!

Garganeys are only seen in small numbers in Britain, as they pass through during spring and autumn migration, so being able to see and watch this beautiful female was a treat indeed!

Bird babies

10 Monday Jul 2017

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While it was a pleasure to see the Little egrets at Roath Park on Thursday, it was the other birds that brought me the most joy, especially because there were so many babies to be seen.

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Cygnets, cootlets, ducklings, all at various stages of development, could be seen swimming, being fed by their parents and learning to feed themselves, and just sitting dozing in the warm sunshine.

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Even the base of the Scott memorial lighthouse has become a nursery for a family of seven little coots.

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I defy anyone to look at these and not smile!

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Gulls as kleptoparasites

24 Tuesday Jan 2017

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Some time ago at Roath Park Lake I was intrigued to notice Black-headed gulls using Coots as their personal fishers, and I have since noticed this behaviour between the gulls and Tufted ducks as well, though I haven’t yet seen them using this feeding method with the other water bird species at the lake.

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These gulls eat different food from the coots and ducks – gulls eat insects, worms, scraps, etc whereas the ducks and coots are mostly vegetarian, though the tufties will also eat some insects – so, presumably, the gulls aren’t actually stealing food the other birds would eat themselves.

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The ducks and coots dive down for food, while the gulls float patiently waiting for them to surface. When they do, the gulls paddle over to see if there’s anything interesting for them to steal. The coots and tufties don’t seem to object to the gulls, even though they’re doing all the work. I guess they would be doing the diving anyway and, if the gulls aren’t actually stealing their food, then they’ve nothing to lose. The official term for creatures that take the food other creatures have caught, prepared or collected is kleptoparasitism, hence my title.

When researching this post, I located an excellent article that goes into much more detail than I have about this and similar bird behaviour: ‘Food usurpation by waterfowl and waders’ by Juan A. Amat can be found here.

Roath Park Bird Walk

15 Sunday Jan 2017

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My imminent house-moving was getting to me today and, as I’m already about two-thirds packed with a week still to go, I allowed myself an afternoon off for a long walk around my local parks for a Nature fix.

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It always amazes me how many species of birds I can see in a walk around Roath Park Lake. Today it was 28: Carrion crow, Magpie, Jay, Robin, Dunnock, Lesser black-backed gull, Black-headed gull, Canada goose, Barnacle goose, Greylag goose, Mallard, Manky mallard and Aylesbury duck, Coot, Moorhen, Pochard, Tufted duck, Teal, Shoveler, Pied wagtail, Grey wagtail, Redwing, Song thrush, Cormorant, Mute swan, House sparrow, Feral pigeon and Woodpigeon (though purists might not count the Aylesbury duck, Manky mallards or Feral pigeons as extra species). Still, I think it’s an impressive total. These are just a very small selection of the photos I took …

Fog

20 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by in nature, seasons, winter

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I can see it coming. Rolling silently over the house roofs and tree tops from the south, where the sea lies, where the ocean roars. Slowly, gradually, the light grows dim, eerie, the sun’s rays weaker, unable to penetrate the gloom. Trees vanish, leaving mere ghostly outlines.

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Sounds become muffled but, at the same time, strangely amplified. Voices echo, seem nearby yet, in reality, are hundreds of metres distant. Footsteps tap, tap, tap. Spectral figures appear, pass quickly by, disappear once more. Birds fall silent as if afraid to pierce the silence with their squawks, tweets, chirps.

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Fog is everywhere, blanketing the lake, flowing along the brook, shrouding buildings, hovering over bushes, making branches droop, making hair frizz. Creeping tendrils wind their way through tree branches, wrap themselves around park benches, slither between railings. Fog makes throats choke and chests heave, and seeps into old bones.

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On Roath Lake, the light-less lighthouse needs a light today and a horn to warn.

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Birds of Roath Lake

12 Monday Dec 2016

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Just to show that the birds of Roath Park Lake aren’t all vicious killers (see yesterday’s post for that horror story), here are some I photographed before the swans attacked.

There’s a little concrete ledge under the water at this end of the lake, which is just perfect for the water birds to sit on and preen but still have the chance for a quick watery getaway if needed. It’s also perfect for bird watchers to get a better look at the cute little Tufted ducks as you rarely see them out of the water. I think this little black-and-white male knows exactly how handsome he is!

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Further around the lake I was entertained by three Jackdaws searching through the leaf litter for food. Just as I’ve seen blackbirds and thrushes do, they would grab the leaves and fling them to one side, then look back quickly for signs of any insect movement.

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Still further along the path, I stopped and fed the seed from one of the two containers I was carrying firstly to one of the Barnacle geese, and then to the Greylag and Canada geese, Mallards and Feral pigeons that rapidly came to flock around me. This Moorhen came last but was still able to pick up a few seeds the bigger birds had missed. Their feathers have such beautifully rich colours.

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And last but certainly not least was this very sleepy Greylag goose, standing apart from all the rest on the edge of the pavement at the end of the lake. As I watched it tucked one leg up under its plump body and, though it tried to keep an eye on me just in case I was a threat, its eyes gradually closed for a mid-afternoon snooze.

To the death, almost

11 Sunday Dec 2016

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I saw something last Friday afternoon that I hope never to see again – two male swans fighting, almost to the death.

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I had just finished feeding seed to the water birds and pigeons when the battle commenced. I presume the second male had made a move towards the mate of the first, rather than it being a dispute over territory. This happened on Roath Park Lake in Cardiff, where the swans seem to move freely all around the lake and only get truly territorial in the mating season, which this was not.

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These males were vicious, flapping their broad strong wings at each other, using their necks to wrestle and push, biting each other’s wing feathers. At first I was intrigued and took quite a lot of photos but, as the fight continued and neither swan was prepared to give way, I became concerned.

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The female and this year’s two cygnets also grew more and more agitated. Both the female and one of the cygnets chased away other swans that came close, and the female tried to intervene but just got battered by the flapping wings of the males.

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After twenty minutes or so, it was obvious both swans were getting weary but one, the interloper, was definitely weakening more. The dominant male tried to climb onto the back of the weaker bird, to push it under the water, and grabbed its neck, holding its head under the water to drown it.

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By this stage a small crowd of people had gathered and we were all rather shocked and becoming increasingly horrified by what was happening. Luckily, the swans were very close to the edge of the lake where there is a concrete pavement and one rather brave man managed to grab the neck of the dominant swan and held on until the other male could get some air and recover enough to swim away. If it hadn’t been for his actions, the weaker swan would definitely have drowned. I know this is a natural occurrence, this is how Nature operates, but it was still really shocking to see such violence play out in what is usually such a calm and peaceful setting.