In a brief visit this morning, most of which was spent staring up into the Alder by the dipping pond, a feeding Siskin finally stayed long enough in the open for some half decent shots, plus a Goldfinch. Later, after I had left, Wayne Strong found 2 female Pintails on W lake.

News from VoG council is that the Aqua Park will not return to Cosmeston this year, whilst more detailed environmental and other investigations are carried out. Good news but it doesn’t preclude it returning in the future dependant on what the investigations reveal.

From 26th Jan when there were c.50 Redwings feeding in W paddock and resting in the trees by the Mile Road between sessions, a pic below of some Rewings in a tree.
Then this morning at the dipping pond a Biue Tit was feeding on reedmace heads. I’d have preferred it to be a Penduline Tit but it’s cute nonetheless.

15 folk attended a Club field trip today. We walked from the car park upriver as far as Portobello and back again and then spent a short while in a howling gale on the seafront looking for purple Sandpipers at high tide. Near Portobello there were 7 Goldeneye [2 males and 5 females] 2 Little Grebes, a lone drake Teal and a lone Shelduck. There were only 2 Redshank and a few folk saw a Common Sandpiper.
There were around 30 Black-headed Gulls feeding in the surf at the river mouth, and an adult Common Gull joined them from time to time. Along by the rocky foreshore a few lucky folk managed to find a couple of Purple Sandpipers but I only managed around 4 or 5 Turnstone. A small flock of waders did fly by and didn’t look right for Turnstone so they could have been Purple Sands but they had to remain as the ones that got away,. The wind at this stage was really fierce so we gave up.
Not a big list – just 27 species. Click here to see it.

Finally caught up with the imm female Scaup at Cosmeston this morning. She was fortunately quite active rather than asleep as the group of Tufties etc there usually are.

Ventured out in the wind & rain this morning. I was pleased to catch up with the wintering Common Sandpiper which has been present since December ’25 along the R. Ely embankment by the Marina. Also had brief view of the fem Black Redstart flitting across the rooftops. I went round to the beach area below Penarth Head, where a male Black Redstart has been seen but it was blowing a gale and raining so I gave up.

Beautiful day for a full Cardiff Bay Trail circuit, although the 10 km seemed a lot further than when we last did it! Goosander were out in force – I reckon 21 in all – 3f and 1m from the barrage, 2m 1f near the swift tower, 8 [3m and 5f] by the old dock [where the Sand Martins breed], a pair aty Prospect Place and 3f and 1m on the R. Ely by Penarth. There were 70 Cormorant lined up along the inner barrage jetty, 1 Rock Pipit on the barrage rocks and a couple of Redshank and Turnstone by the R. Ely embankment.

Caught up with the wintering Black Redstart at Penarth Marina this morning, hopping around the roofs, although at one point perched briefly in a tree, and caught a spider from a small palm tree.

Icy this morning! Couldn’t find the fem/imm Scaup that Graham Smith has reported. Roland rat was in the W lake viewing area. On the lake there, there were 5 Shoveler [incl 2 drakes] and 7 Pochard in with the tufties. There were 3 Mistle Thrushes feeding in W paddock and a smart adult Common Gull was by E lake [1st one I’ve seen there this winter although other folk have seen one occasionally.

Had a nice little 30 min session by the dipping pond this morning. A Cetti’s Warbler was foraging very actively in the vegetation below the Alder. Never in full view I only managed the single dodgy shot below. Also foraging around the pond edge there was a Water Rail which was even more elusive. The main body of the pond was frozen. Highlight was a female or immature Kestrel which seemed oblivious to me as it sat in trees overlooking the reedy area by the dipping pond boardwalk, looking for prey.
Spot the Cetti’s in the top LH photo …… not too difficult.

W lake had 13 Teal, 10 Gadwall and a drake Pochard with some Tufties. Most of the latter were on E lake [approx 160 of them]. Redwing were feeding on hawthorn at various locations [W paddock by the edge of Cogan Wood, in Cogan Wood, by Mile Road, and along Sully Brook].
The photo is of Rudolf the red-nosed Redwing!

A random collection with a thrushy bias, from a chilly saunter round Cosmeston this morning. In addition to the birds in the pix, there were 4 Gadwall on W lake and a pair of Pochard with the 100 or so Tufties on E lake at the golf course end, sheltering from the cold wind. I’m pretty sure the gull is an adult Yellow-legged Gull. The photo is a huge crop as it was right in the middle of E lake. The warm grey upper parts and v clean head are pointers for me. To left is Fieldfare, top right is Mistle Thrush.

Just a few common birds over the past few days, and the local hybrid Tufty x Pochard. Interestingly of the 120 or so Tufted Ducks now present only about 10% of them are females.

Yesterday, Sunday 7th, 14 club members braved the wet conditions and visited Slimbridge WWT [on the basis that most viewing is from hides]. We did pretty well and saw 61 species.Apart from a more or less ‘full set’ of common ducks, geese featured well with huge numbers of Barnacles, Canadas, Greylags, some distant Russian Whitefronts and a couple of ‘exotica’ – 2 Snow Geese and a Ross’s Goose. Highlight of the small birds was a very active Firecrest. From the Zeiss hide, a smart female Marsh Harrier flushed a large number of Teal. On the wader front yours truly managed to wheedle out a distant Little Stint in amongst the 100 or so Dunlin, and there were huge numbers of Lapwing and Golden Plover, plus an impressive 13 Ruff. The last shout that more or less topped the lot, was the arrival of 12 Cranes in front of the Zeiss hide, although they eventually landed out of sight below the sea wall.

Two Black-necked Grebes were on E lake Cosmeston this morning, found by Graham Smith. They were sheltering from the wind with Tufties, in the lee of the Mile Road. Light was pretty poor but they were nice to see. Last record there was on 7th May 2012 when 2 breeding plumaged birds were present.

Short walk at Cosmeston this morning before the rain. Tufties now number around 200. Today they were accompanied by 10 Pochard and 3 Gadwall [2m 1f]. There are notices about bird flu as there seems to be a local outbreak. There was a deceased Canada Goose on W lake recently.
This morning a Great Northern Diver was seen on Llanishen Reservoir.

Today a lone Fieldfare was surprisingly tolerant in a Hawthorn by the W lake viewpoint along the Mile Road. I’m sure this is the same bird that we saw on a Glamorgan Bird Club trip last week, and it has laid claim to that Hawthorn for its berries.

A few from a couple of days ago.. Reflections of Cormorant and Tufties, a distant drake Shoveler on W lake and a Coal Tit coming to food by E lake.