On a chilly grey day, a large troupe of us [24] set off from Parc Tredelerch car park and after as short walk along the Wentloog Road, we walked up beside Cors Crychydd Reen. The latter had Moorhen, Coot and Mute Swan, and ‘heard only’ Water Rail and Little Grebe. The first bird seen in fact was a Goldcrest in bushes by the road, plus a few Long-tailed Tits. There were Pheasants on the now unworked landfill site, and we logged Song Thrush [singing] and a fly-over Raven, and a Kestrel on a pylon, plus a few other common species. Reaching the seawall we headed west to view the area by Rhymney river mouth. The tide was very high and birds very distant but we did pick out just about identifiable Pintail and a tight roosting flock of Redshank on Green Point, and there were many Shelduck and a few Shoveler. Retracing our steps we then headed east along the seawall, walking as far as roughly the border between Cardiff and Newport. Closer views of Pintail were had for the beginners, and as the tide started to fall, waders started to appear, plus hundreds of Black-headed Gulls. A few flocks of Black-tailed Godwits flying westwards were quite impressive, totalling around 200 birds. A few small flocks of Dunlin and Oystercatcher also flew by. Ceri Jones picked out a Common Gull in an inland field [the only one we saw], and still on the gull front, two full adult Great Black-backed Gulls sitting on a groyne, were impressive when seen through the scopes. By now, tidal mud was appearing, and huge numbers of waders were in evidence. Careful scoping soon had us scoping up hesitant Grey Plover, and busy Dunlins and Knot, the latter two in large numbers. In the same field as the Common Gull there were about 30 Curlew, and a Little Egret suddenly appeared a dropped into a tidal pool on the foreshore. Quite a lengthy period was spent scoping the waders so that beginners could get a feel for their differing appearance and feeding styles.
A few folk were beginning to feel a bit cold as we had been standing still for some time, and as it was now 12:45 we started off back. A large flock of Herring Gulls suddenly flushed from a field and quick shout went up as a raptor with a pale head was spotted, and this soon morphed into a very smart female Marsh Harrier – bonus bird! A couple of Buzzards circled together as we walked back, and the pylon Kestrel was hovering … and had a go at one of the Buzzards. Back by the reen there were 2 Stonechat fly catching from a fence. Once back at Parc Tredelerch I at least was pretty pooped but some folk still had enough left in the tank to have a look at the lake. I haven’t included any birds from there although I know there are Tufted Duck and a pair of Great Crested Grebes.
All-in-all a successful foray east of Cardiff, and pleasing to be able to show some unfamiliar birds to a couple of visitors from Birmingham who attended with one of our members.
Click here to see the full list [this will be updated as & when necessary].
John Wilson