Delighted to see this female Great Spotted Woodpecker at our garden peanut feeder this morning in the rain, although it was soon spooked by a marauding squirrel. Even more delighted when it was back again this afternoon and through the kitchen window, I managed to get a nice still and some video showing her having a real go at the peanuts. The video is via a link to my Youtube channel [file too big to upload to ths site].
I did a pretty productive Rhymney WeBS count this morning, conducted at Green Point. A veritable murmuration of Redshank and Dunlin, c.1000 and c.1500 respectively, 40 Lapwing, 32 Wigeon, 80 Pintail, 60 Teal, 86 Shelduck, 40 Mallard, just 1 Curlew, 2 Cormorant, plus 9 Pied Wags and 3 Meadow Pipits. The waders were very restless, settling then flying around en masse, and frequently the Redshank would settle on the water and swim around in a tight group. No pix as I didn’t take the camera. For those that don’t know, Green Point is the area by the rivermouth, on the opposite side of Rover Way to the Tesco superstore. Be v careful crossing Rover Way at the lights – it’s not a pedestrian crossing.
Avoided the mud of Cosmeston late morning and walked across the barrage instead. Just 3 Pied Wags on the barrage and the usual bunch of Sparrows, although there were 50 Cormorant resting on the inner ‘jetty’. At Porth Teigr just the male Black Redstart was on the favoured pile of rocks and wouldn’t come closer to the fence. On the way back a Kestrel was hovering across from the Swift tower and there were 5 Redshank on the mud outside the barrage.
Thanks to Dave Carrington who has sent me the Kenfig Ringing Group report for 2022, compiled and authored mainly by Colin Baker. It summarises ringing activities at KNNR itself, Ty’n-y-Caeau Farm near Monkton and also Dave’s Nottage – Porthcawl garden. Altogether fifteen folk were involved. Click here to see a pdf of the report [opens in new tab].
A large feeding party of Long-tailed Tits were by the lower end of Mile Road, with a Goldcrest in tow. Managed a miraculous couple of shots of a LTT despite having to hold the camera one-handed at full zoom, with the pup on the lead in the other hand! Whilst I was by the dipping pond, a Sparrowhawk made a couple of rapid passes. The Casualty filming is still going on at the far end of West Lake, despite its supposed status as a ‘conservation lake’. I hate to think what a quagmire the grassy bank there will be when they’ve finished. Anyway despite that there were 7 Gadwall in the middle of W lake, an increase on the 2 pairs of recent days – maybe the extra three have been pushed out of the reeds by the disturbance of the filming, which has involved the roof of a car in the water, and attendant frogmen, and a jetty being installed by ther waters edge to support equipment. The tree shot was just ‘cos it was nice to see them illuminated by the strange bright round object in the sky.! FInally there was ratty feeding on some spilt bird food seed.
Pretty quiet this morning – filming for ‘Casualty’ by the far end of W lake didn’t help. However sitting in the cafe having coffee with my ‘last of the summer wine’ pals, I was fortunately facing the windows and a female Goosander flew in and settled on E lake for a short while then few off and headed towards W lake and poss beyond.
At Cosmeston on 5th Dec, my first Treecreeper for a while, in the wooded area on the right, 50m beyond the main bridge.
On 9th Dec a circuit of the lake at Parc Tredelerch just gave 45 Tufted Duck and some Coot and a pair of Mute Swans.
Today, 10th Dec, at Cosmeston, east lake had 122 Tufted Duck in amongst which were 2 female type Scaup, and there were a further 45 Tufted on W lake. Also a fem Pintail was reported. I also logged 2 Little and 2 Great Crested Grebes. There were c.30 Redwing feeding around the conservation area and a small flock of Goldfnch were there too.
This morning, a Snipe flew out of the snipe enclosure and there were a good number of Redwing feeding in the bushes and flying back & forth across W. paddock. There were 2 pairs of Gadwall on W lake and 35 Tufties.
On Monday [4th] there was a pair of Pintail on W lake plus 2 female type Scaup with the Tufties, and a Common Gull, the first one I’ve seen in the park this winter.
Highlights: A first-winter Caspian Gull was identified in the Cardiff Bay roost. A female Ring-necked Duck present at both Lisvane Reservoir and Cardiff Bay was joined for a couple of days by a drake. Two individual Snow Buntings were observed at Nash Point. Kenfig Pool hosted two Whooper Swans and a Bearded Tit.
Other Sites: Up to eight Dark-bellied Brent Geese frequented the flood at Sker, with four Pale-bellied and a single Dark-bellied at Breaksea Point, Aberthaw. A pair of Egyptian Geese was noted at Ogmore Estuary, Flemingston Moor and Kenfig Pool. Three Scaup were at Cardiff Bay. Two Eider passed Sker. Female Red-breasted Mergansers were seen at Aberthaw, Butetown Reservoir and Sker. Single Great Northern Divers occurred at Cardiff Bay and Llwyn-on Reservoir, with at least four in the Kenfig locality. A Cattle Egret was Sker and a Great White Egret dropped in at Ogmore Estuary. A male Marsh Harrier was at Kenfig. Common Sandpipers were at Lisvane Reservoir and Ogmore Estuary. Late Arctic Skuas were logged at Ogmore-by-Sea, Porthcawl and Cardiff Bay. A maximum of seven Yellow-legged Gulls came to roost at Cardiff Bay. Short-eared Owls were at Cosmeston and Lavernock. A Water Pipit looked set to winter at Ogmore Estuary. Black Redstarts graced Cardiff Bay (two), Aberthaw (two), Llantwit Major and Nash Point. Firecrests were at Penarth Head (three), Aberthaw (two), Boverton, Kenfig and Bute Park. Choughs wandered east as far as Aberthaw and Barry. A Hawfinch was at Michaelston-le-Pit.
Summary by Paul Roberts
V v cold and pretty misty this morning. Main highlight was a Little Egret just about discernible in a tree by W lake. There were 38 Tufties on the water but I was unable to find the Pochards or Gadwalls from the other day. There were plenty of Redwing & Fieldfare flying about but none settling anywhere decent for photos apart from one Redwing by the lower dovecote field. I walked through Cogan Wood but had no luck with Marsh Tit, just the usual Great, Blue & Coal Tits and Nuthatch. Other common birds were Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest and a couple of Bullfinch, plus I managed a couple of shots of Blackbird and Mistle Thrush.
There’s a scheduled trip to Penclacwydd WWT for Tues 5th Dec but as it’s the same day as the live indoor meeting that was announced in the previous post, it has been decided to postone the Llanelli [Penclacwydd] trip to Thursday instead.
So, there’s a trip to Penclacwydd WWT reserve on Thurs 7th Dec. I suggest meeting at the reserve car park at 10 a.m. or as near as possible.There an approx £10 admission charge for non WWT members. No pick up from St Marg’s Rd [it’s too difficult on weekdays]. Plse let me know if you intend coming. John Wilson – johndw1948 at gmail dot com.
A heads up that there’s a live indoor meeting on Tus next week 5th Dec, at Kenfig Reserve centre.
Peter Morgan of Cardiff, a long standing GBC member and well know bird ringer, will be giving us a talk on 45 years of ringing at Kenfig National Nature Reserve. Those who have been on the GBC Portland weekend trips will know Peter, who spends spring and autumn there.
The start time is 7:30 p.m. and be aware that there are car parking charges via an ANPR camera system, so you pay when you leave. The max charge is £4. Basically it’s £1 for 90 mins, £2 for 3 hours or £4 over that. Edit: payment is by card only
For the second of our newly introduced walks for women, there is one planned for Sun 3rd Dec at Cosmeston Lakes CP 10:00 to 12:00. There are parking charges [contactless or cash]. Coffee & optional cakes at the cafe afterwards. Please let Jean Haslam – haslamj@talktalk.net – know if you intend coming. More detail about these walks on this page.
Regular Cardiff Bay birder Gareth Stamp had an amazing 3 Firecrests together this morning, in scrub & trees near the old Custom House along the Cardiff side of Penarth Head. They had moved on to feed somewhere else by the time I arrived although I did check all the trees up the hill to Paget Terrace. As I walked back to the car park area, a Wren was scolding away from the top of a vertical twig stuck in the rocks of the outer harbour, so I got a few nice portraits.
ALERT – there’s info below about the Bristol ULEZ zone for which fees are payable if your vehicle is non-compliant. The zone is entered if you use the A4 Avon Gorge route.
A reminder that there’s a fied trip on Sunday next w/e [26th Nov] to Chew Valley Lake which many will know – basically a very large reservoir south of Bristol, good for wildfowl.
Unfortunately I am away visiting family in Derbyshire, so Alan Rosney has kindly agreed to be the leader. Please contact Alan alanrosney@gmail.com and not myself.
The arrangement is to meet at the long Heron’s Green layby on the B3114 which runs south from Chew Stoke village at 10:15 to 10:30. Heron’s Green is a viewing point on the west side of the lake.
Click here to see a map. The GR is ST551604.
To use any of the hides a permit is required – it is a complex business trying to get one and last year we didn’t bother as you can purchase them from a ranger if you meet one. In fact last year we didn’t use any of the hides. One which has been good in the past [Stratford] will be no good as the water levels are bound to be far too high. Another we have used in the past we found doesn’t exist any more.
Any further queries please get in touch with Alan.
John Wilson
PS IMPORTANT info re the Bristol ULEZ [Low eimissions] zone. If your vehicle is non-compliant it’s £9 per day for each entry and there’s a hefty fine if it’s not paid promptly [£120 reduced to £60 if paid within a few weeks.] So, best route I use is to join the southbound M5 and come off at Gordano services J.19 [ the first one you neet] and then the simplest route is to follow the A369 Martcombe Road [1st exit at the rbt after you come off the M5] until it reaches the A370. You then go west on the A370 and at the next big roundabout take Colliters Way which is a new link road that takes you down to the A38. This route avoids the OLEZ zone. There’s also a wiggly cross country route from Gordano to Barrow Gurney, but it’s too involved to explain to people. The junction of the A360 with the A370 is complicated. SIgns are for Bristol Airport and A370 but there’s plan below annotated with arrows – you can see how it is easy to take the wrong route. Once on the A370 continue to a main roundabout and take the A4174 1st exit ~ Colliters Way – which leads down to the A38.
Had a pleasant walk around Bryngarw Country Park this morning, secretly arranged by my fellow GBC trustees [bar the two Davids who had to be elsewhere]. So, myself & Anne plus our dog Poppy, together with Strinda Davies, Alan Rosney, Jean & Rod Haslam, Paul Denning, Rob Bradshaw, and John Western did a circuit of the park and returned to the cafe where Anne & I were kindly treated to a coffee and toastie. It was a dull & grey morning but thankfully no rain arrived. The birds were pretty quiet but we managed to build up a reasonable list of 23 species. Long-tailed Tits were the most numerous, with around 3 feeding groups totalling around 30 birds in all, which were nice to see. Unexpected was a smart drake Mandarin duck on the small lake, squeaking away and apparently vaguely displaying to the female Mallards. Other highlights were Grey Wag, Dipper and 2 ‘redhead’ Goosander on the river. Full list: Mandarin, Mallard, Goosander, Woodpigeon, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker [heard from the car park as we left], Jay [2], Jackdaw, Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest [3], Wren [heard], Nuthatch [3]. Treecreeper [2], Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush [4], Blackbird, Robin, Dipper [1], Grey Wagtail [1], Chaffinch [2]. Diolch yn fawr everyone. John Western was the official list keeper so if I’ve missed anything do shout. No photos apart from the team one courtesy of Rod.
Very quiet this morning, the highlight being a Sparrowhawk that did a couple of circuits above the dipping pond area, trying to spook some Goldfinches which were feeding in the Alders there. A Cetti’s Warbler gave a quick burst of song there, and a Water Rail squealed.
A damp walk at Cosmeston this morning, mainly on the main paths. Incredibly muddy in the paddocks! Only birds of note were a flock of about 10 Fieldfare flying over, calling, in an easterly direction. The Tufted Ducks number around 30.
Walked across the barrage this morning, coffee at Coffi Co shipping containers, then checked out Porth Teigr waste ground and succeeded on the Black Redstart, a very smart adult male. It’s usually pretty distant on the rock piles in the middle of the area. It did once come to the piles of bricks near the fence but I was in the wrong position. There was a fem Goosander in the bay off the path that goes past the Swift tower. Also with the Redstart was a MIstle Thrush which had a bathe in a puddle. Also impressive in the dock were 2 adult Mute Swans with 7 fully grown young.
Highlights: A Richard’s Pipit flew over at Sker (29th), where a juvenile Glaucous Gull was also briefly present (31st). The female Ring-necked Duck remained at Lisvane Reservoir all month. Snow Buntings were noted from Mynydd Pwll-yr-lwrch (Maesteg, 24th), Nash Point (28th onwards) and Sker (31st). Two Spoonbills were seen over Lavernock and then Cardiff Bay (12th). Cattle Egrets were noted in ‘ones and twos’ at Kenfig, Barry, Flemingston Moor, St Brides Major, Cardiff Bay and Cwmbach Wetlands. A total of at least six Woodlarks was observed on passage over Lavernock, with further sightings over Kenfig (10th) and Cardiff Bay (two on the 12th).
Other Sites: Late migrants concerned a Common Tern at Llanishen Reservoir (19th), a Whitethroat at Sker (29th) and a Hobby at Kenfig Pool (31st). Great Northern Divers called in at Lisvane Reservoir and Kenfig Pool (31st), where a Bittern and three Great White Egrets also occurred. Further Great White Egrets were at Ogmore Estuary, Aberthaw and Rumney Great Wharf. Kenfig hosted two Hen Harriers and a Marsh Harrier. Another Hen Harrier went through at Lavernock. The only Osprey sighting came from Ogmore Estuary. A Greenshank overflew Lisvane Reservoir, where a Little Gull remained from September into the start of the month, with another Little Gull calling in at the Watermill, Ogmore Estuary. Short-eared Owls were logged at Lavernock and Kenfig. Two Black Redstarts were at Aberthaw. Ring Ouzels stopped off at Kenfig (two), Mynydd Pwll-yr-lwrch (two) and Cwm Nash. A Dartford Warbler was found in clifftop scrub at Nash Point (23rd). Firecrests were at Kenfig (two trapped for ringing), Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve and Gwaelod-y-Garth. Up to nine Choughs were frequenting the coast in the vicinity of Porthcawl, away from their more usual Vale of Glamorgan haunts. A visible migration of 270 Crossbills was recorded during a single hour at Dunraven (16th).
Glamorgan Bird Club 
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