24 Friday Apr 2020
When out for my walk in Grangemoor Park yesterday, I had paused to watch a Whitethroat songflighting when I suddenly had the feeling I was being watched. And, indeed, I was, by this handsome Wheatear. It sat still for quite some time, perhaps exhausted from its migration journey, but then along came a dog-walking woman calling loudly for her wayward dog and off the bird flew. It was a delightful, if too short encounter.
20 Friday Mar 2020
Tags
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.
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.
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.
I simply had to include this male House sparrow, as today is World Sparrow Day.
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.
02 Thursday May 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Barrage, Cardiff Bay, spring migration, Wheatear
Finally, I spotted a Wheatear on the Cardiff Bay Barrage rocks this morning. Other birders have been seeing them on and off for a month or so now, as they pass through on their way back from wintering in central Africa to their breeding grounds in Britain’s sunlit uplands. I certainly didn’t expect to find one this late in the spring, so I count myself extra lucky to have seen this little beauty today.
13 Saturday Apr 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
birding, birding at Marshfield, birding at Pilning, birdwatching, British birds, Corn bunting, Little ringed plover, Red-legged partridge, Redstart, Ruff, Wheatear, Yellowhammer
Distant, blurry and bottoms. These three words tell the story of the photographs I took on today’s Glamorgan Bird Club trip to Marshfield and Pilning, both places across the border in Gloucestershire. But don’t be misled by the (lack of) quality of my photos – it was a superb day, with birds I don’t often see at Marshfield (Yellowhammers, Corn buntings, and Red-legged partridges), as well as several Wheatears and a stunning male Redstart. And at Pilning, at the water’s edge between the two Severn bridges, I was able to add Little ringed plover, Yellow wagtail and Ruff to my year list. And as for those photos … well, see for yourself …
The blurry bottom of a Yellowhammer
A distant, blurry Wheatear
The distant, blurry bottom of a Corn bunting sitting on top of a tree
There’s a distant Redstart in this picture
The blurry bottoms of two Red-legged partridges as they flew away
A distant, blurry Little ringed plover
A very distant, very blurry Ruff
29 Saturday Sep 2018
I try to time my walks at Sully with a mid-morning high tide – that way I don’t have to get up too early for the bus and I miss the early morning dog walkers. Yesterday was one such day and, though there was a cool wind blowing, it was a lovely day for a long walk. At first, I just sat and scanned the beach and the shoreline and the sea.
Several Turnstones were browsing the big deposit of seaweed the tide had rolled in and then this Dunlin flew in to join them.
With my bins I followed it in and saw it plop down to join a small number of Ringed plovers by the water’s edge. To me, their dark eye masks make Ringed plovers look like bandits, though very tiny and very cute bandits to be sure.
One of the banditos only had one leg but it seemed to be managing to hop along okay. That made me think of Hop-along Cassidy but I was mixing up my masked men – the Lone Ranger was the one who wore the mask and, of course, he was no bandit.
At that point a dog and its owner came tootling along the beach, which put all the birds up … and I realised there were, in fact, two Dunlins (the two lower birds in the centre of this photo).
I took this opportunity to walk further along the beach and found myself a spot on the stone wall edging a slipway, a location where my birding friend Ceri said he’d seen a large number of waders the previous day. I hadn’t been sitting there long when a Wheatear flew right over my head and on to a boulder about 10 metres in front of me. I’m not sure who got the biggest surprise!
A large group of waders flew across from Sully Island and landed on rocks near the water. They were a bit far away to see clearly but most seemed to be Ringed plovers, a group of perhaps 30.
People walking along the coastal path above me scared my little Wheatear friend away but then I realised there were actually two birds flitting along the rocks and scrub.
They’re such lovely little birds and this one managed to catch itself a snack, which reminded me that it was almost lunchtime, time for me to be moving along on my walk. More tomorrow …
20 Thursday Sep 2018
Tags
Barnacle goose, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Canada goose, Cormorant, Glamorgan Bird Club, Llandegfedd Reservoir, Wheatear, Yellow-legged gull
Knock-you-off-your-feet wind gusts, persistent rain showers, slippery-with-mud woodland trails, cross-country orienteering along steep-sided reservoir banks and through much-overgrown long-under-used footpaths … these all added to an adventurous and exhilarating day’s birding on yesterday’s Glamorgan Bird Club trip to Llandegfedd Reservoir, north of Newport.
The surrounding countryside is beautiful and the trail around the reservoir offers a good variety of different habitats, from woodland to wetland, for birds and other wildlife.
Some of our ten intrepid birders heading through the woodland, while the wind roared through the tree canopy overhead.
Looking back towards the dam you can see how low the water level is after this summer’s drought.
One of our frequent stops to check what birds we could spot along the water’s edge. In the foreground a congregation of Cormorants and Black-headed gulls, in the background some of the 300-plus Canada geese, all hunkered down in the face of the gale-force winds.
Can you spot the Wheatear that was dotting along the shore, prospecting for insects?
Alan spotted an adult Yellow-legged gull (centre right, above) amongst the Black-headed gulls, a good opportunity to point out its diagnostic features to those unfamiliar with this bird.
I don’t think I’d ever seen so many Canada geese in one place before. They sure can make a racket!
Even the geese were struggling with the wind gusts – here you can see them leaning into the wind as they waddle along.
And then someone spotted a Barnacle goose amongst all those Canadas and, though its origins were much debated – wild bird or escapee from a private estate or reserve? – seeing that lovely little Barnacle was the icing on the cake of a magnificent day for me, ’cause I sort of befriended the two Barnacle geese that used to be regulars at Roath Park when I lived in Cardiff. Seeing this bird was a nice reminder of those good times.
Full credit to the ten intrepid birders on yesterday’s trip as, despite the adverse weather conditions, we still managed to identify a very respectable 36 species. They were: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Barnacle Goose, Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Coot, Ringed Plover, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Jay, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Swallow, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Warbler, Wren, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Blackbird, Robin, Northern Wheatear, and Pied Wagtail.
01 Saturday Sep 2018
Tags
autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Chiffchaff, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, migrating birds, Pied plycatcher, Redstart, Wheatear, Whinchat, Whitethroat, Willow warbler
My local country park, Cosmeston Lakes, has been awash with migrating birds this past week. And it’s not just me getting better at finding them – according to birders who’ve been checking the area much longer than I’ve lived nearby, this has been a bumper year for sightings.
On 24 August I found two Redstarts, a male and another that may have been a female or an immature bird that hadn’t yet developed its full adult colouration.
Also on the 24th I had a very fleeting view of a Wheatear that popped up from grass to fencepost, then was off in the blink of an eye.
On the 27th my birding friend Della texted me to say she’d found a Whinchat. That was the fastest I’d ever walked to Cosmeston and, luckily, the bird waited for me – and, in fact, stayed around most of the week so I saw it several times.
During my frequent visits to Cossie this week, I’ve seen ones and twos of Whitethroat and Chiffchaff, and tens of Willow warblers. These are the ones I spotted on the 30th.
Also on 30 August, I spotted another Redstart and, from the dark head colours, I could tell this one was definitely a male.
The week ended with a bang! My birding friend, Graham, let me know that he’d seen a Pied flycatcher with a small group of Spotted flycatchers, a most unusual visitor. Luckily, I was on the coastal path heading homeward so was able to divert towards Cosmeston and, with Graham’s help, got distant views of this beautiful little bird catching flies along the tree line. What a stunning week it has been!
26 Monday Mar 2018
Tags
bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Oenanthe oenanthe, spring migration, Wheatear
I’ve walked miles – seriously, miles and miles and miles! – in the past ten days, trying to spot my first Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) of 2018. I was following up reported local sightings by my fellow birders – ‘Wheatear at Swanbridge/Sully Island this morning’, ‘Wheatear for 2nd day at Hayes Rd car park’, ‘Wheatear on Cardiff Bay barrage’ (two people saw that one on the same day – but did it show for me? Did it heck as like!), ‘Wheatear on the Barrage’ (4 days later), ‘Male wheatear Penarth Marina’ (my local patch and I couldn’t find that one despite three walks around about).
Then finally, on the 23rd, I got a fleeting glimpse of one (and a couple of fuzzy photos) just off Sully beach. And, just like the proverbial buses that don’t turn up at all and then all turn up together, I spotted another one on Cardiff Bay Barrage the very next day. That one’s the very handsome male in these photos.
Wheatears are just returning from having spent their winter in the tropical parts of Africa. The males arrive first, usually in March, followed not long afterwards by the females. We see them arriving along the south Wales coast for a few weeks, then they move inland to their breeding sites. Now, to keep an eye out for a female!
31 Tuesday Oct 2017
Posted in birds, coastal fauna, nature, walks
Tags
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
28 Thursday Sep 2017
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Dunlin, Glamorgan Bird Club, Goldcliff lagoons, Greenshank, Knot, Newport Wetlands, Shelduck, Spotted redshank, Wheatear
I am SO pleased I bought binoculars. My second trip to Goldcliff lagoons and Newport Wetlands with my Glamorgan Bird Club buddies last weekend was just so much better for having them, as there was an incredible diversity of birds to be seen but most were distant views from hides or platforms. Using the bins not only brings the birds closer but it also means I get to watch and learn more of each bird species’ habits and actions, which I really enjoy.
Though I’m not an obsessive twitcher, I am keeping a personal list of bird sightings this year and saw a few new birds to add to my list (which now totals a respectable but not huge 130). The Club’s list for the day totalled 77 species but I didn’t see (or hear) the Great Crested Grebe, Siskin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush and Yellow Wagtail, so my total was 69 species: Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Shelduck, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Cormorant, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Water Rail (heard), Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Knot,
and Little Stint (below with Ringed plover),
and Dunlin, Ruff (two below with a Greenshank),
and Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank,
and Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Kingfisher, Magpie, Jay, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, House Martin, Swallow, Cetti’s Warbler (heard, several times), Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Robin, Stonechat, Wheatear (they do like their fenceposts),
and House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Reed Bunting, and Mallard. It was a wonderful day’s birding.
