Despite the rather wet start to the day, 10 participants attended the field trip to Parc Cwm Dare. We were rained on for about 45 minutes but we were soon observing breeding activity with juvs of Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Bullfinch being fed by adult birds. Other highlights were 2 immature Peregrines chasing each other around the face of the Tarren Y Bwllfa cliff, several Green Woodpeckers including some juvs, and lots of Siskins. Two adults and an immature Little Grebe were on the lower lake and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over. House Martins and Swallows were around the lower parts of the park. The absence of any Swifts over the distant houses was worrying and we’ve never previously failed to see any there. Fine ‘scope views were had from the top viewpoint of one imm Peregrine sitting up on the cliff [well done Alan for carrying your ‘scope all the way]. Thanks to all who came despite the weather. Sorry no photos – weather wasn’t conducive for taking the camera! John Wilson
Click here for the full list.

On a quick walk round, down to the old searchlight building and back, I was lucky enough to initially flush a Cuckoo in the second field, which did a circuit and disappeared.Fortunately it was still present on my return leg and after foraging in the dense ground cover, sitting briefy in the open on the dirt path, flew around and settled in a tree. There were many Ringlets on the wing and one settled nicely for an underwing shot.

A small group [just 7 of us] had a successful trip to Ham Wall RSPB in the Somerset Levels yesterday [25th]. The heat wasn’t too bad as there was some shade, plus the afternoon cloud and stiff breeze helped. 51 species were logged with highlights being 4 or poss 5 fly-by Bitterns, a Hobby, a Cuckoo, many Marsh Harriers and Great White Egrets [outnumbering Littles]. Also a Bearded Tit was seen by Alan Rosney and a few others were heard. There were very many dragon & damselflies, the best of which were Red-eyed Damselflies alighting on the floating vegetation [as is their habit] and a Lesser Emperor dragonfly flying back & forth in front of the Avalon hide. Thanks to all who came along. Click here for the full list. Images below L>R: female Marsh Harrier, Whitethroat, Great White Egret, Red-eyed Damselfly, 4-Spotted Chaser, Common Blue Damselfly.

Not overly birdy at Cossie at the moment, so amongst the birdy pix there are some invertebrates. The GC Grebe ‘humbug’ is now as big as the adults. Two adult Herons were in a tree near the main bridge. Managed to grab a shot of the Jay which was very busy in the grove of trees behind W lake. The day-flying moth is Pyrausta purpuralis,always nice to see. The pair of Damselflies ‘in cop’ were by the dragonfly pond [either Common or Azure – not sure you can tell from the image]. The hoverfly is Leucozona laternaria [confirmed on the Hoverflys FB page] – a new sp for me. Finally the Comma was one of two seen near the Medieval Village.

On a sunny day 12 members enjoyed a walk around the beautiful Dinas RSPB reserve, north of Llandovery. We logged 38 species including all the ‘targets’ of Pied & Spotted Flycatchers, Common Redstart, and Wood Warbler, with Garden Warbler, Marsh Tit and other common woodland species thrown in for good measure. Adult Wheatears were feeding juvs by the access road to Llyn Brianne reservoir. By the afternoon it was getting pretty warm and folk were wilting, and the leader succumbed to an ice cream cone and then an ice lolly after watching the Wheatears! A few record shots by yours truly below. Thanks to all for coming. John Wilson. Click here for the full list.

Today was pretty quiet but I noted a Green Woodpecker near the dragonfly pond and a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling by the Mile Road next to W. paddock but not seen. A Chiffchaff was feeding in a tree there and a WIllow Warbler has been singing from a tall bare tree near the snipe enclosure for several days. One Great Crested Grebe pair has a single well grown ‘humbug’ [usually on E lake] and this morning I saw that the other pair have at least 2 small chicks, still being carried on the adult’s back [1 visible in the pic below]. There’s a Moorhen with 3-4 young on the dragonfly pond. Yesterday a Stock Dove was in W paddock then flew obver to feed just beyond the dragonfly pond. Was pleased to see and whole lot of Honey Bees nectaring on the mass of Alexanders near the dipping pond this morning [there’s been a noticeable absence of bees & hoverflies up til now]. Whilst there I saw a Reed Warbler singing in the ‘open’ amongst the Alexanders and took a couple of shots for the record [see the pix to see the difficulty through swaying vegetation]!

The feeder dock in Cardiff Bay just before Porth Teigr is now busy with Sand Martins claiming holes in the dock wall. The photos were taken on Sat 20th, when there was also a House Sparrow pretending to be a new species – Brown Wallcreeper! There were also a good number of House Martins inspecting nest sites at Penarth Marina, although it was disappointing to see that the residents in an apartment that faces the lock control room, had obviously hacked off several HM nests from last year from their roof facias. Sadly no Swifts were seen at all.

21 GBC members enjoyed a visit to the Castell Nos upland area near Maerdy this morning. Ceri Jones led us round this new location for a field trip and Mike Shewring of the Lost Peatlands project gave us an overview of this important project. Being upland the number of species is not huge, but we logged 36. Highlights were 2 Cuckoos seen from the parking laybay, and 1 or poss 2 later on. Several Whinchats were seen and 2 Stonechats. Tree Pipits and Willow Warblers were singing and 2 Crossbills came down to a puddle to drink. We eventually overlooked the Tarren Y Bwllfa cwm cliff at the top end of Parc Cwm Dare and managed to ‘scope up a Peregrine sitting on a ledge. A selection of my photos below. The bird ones pretty poor as they were always quite distant, plus a couple of interesting invertebrates. The images are individually captioned. Here’s the list [updated 22 May]. John Wilson

An adult Night Heron currently roosting at Cosmeston, found at 4:50 by Graham Smith. Mostly well concealed in trees on the west lake ‘island’, but did preen for a while at around 7 p.m. and showed its head and long white plume, and yellow feet. V difficult to find unless someone is there with their ‘scope on it.

I led a GBC field trip to the above yesterday, 11th May. The Cwm had Tree Pipits, Redstart and other common species but sadly no Pied Flys or Wood Warbler that we have had there before. By the road above the Cwm as we picniced a Little Ringed Plover dropped in to feed on the grass – bit of a surprise although they do occur at Trefil, over the other side of the hill. A male Wheatear also made an appearance but we failed to fnd 2 Cuckoos seen earlier. At Llangorse the were very vocal feral Barnacle Geese, a Comomon Sandpiper seen briefly but best of all a nest bulding Reed Bunting gave some good photo opportunities 48 Species were logged by the 10 participants. Click here for the list.

A smart male Blackcap was in full flow at Cosmeston this morning, adj the golf course. There were small numbers of Swift, Swallow and Sand Martin feeding low over W lake, a Grey Heron on the far shore and 5 Cormorant on the posts [usually only 1 or 2]. East paddock in particular has some nice patches of Cowslips.

There were about 6 Swift over W lake this morning, some quite high, 1 House Martin and c.10 each of Sand Martin and Swallow. A Lesser Whitethroat was singing in the snipe enclosure and at one point sat briefly next to a Common Whitethroat, which promptly shooed it off.

An uncharateristically showy Lesser Whitethroat was rattling away at Cosmeston this morning, in a block of scrub in the large field above Sully Brook, where it has been mostly in cover for the past few days. It gave a rare opportunity to get some half decent photos. Not something that’s a problem with its Common cousin.

Yesterday morning I led a GBC field trip to Goldcliff lagoons on the E. side of Newport. Fortunately it was a pleasant sunny day and we were pretty successful in logging 52 species. The first bird I saw as I entered the first hide was a Great White Egret, but it soon flew off, and the second bird I ‘trapped’ in my scope was a very smart breeding plumaged Spotted Redshank. For those not familiar, in this plumage it looks like a black Redshank. There were many Avocets, quite flighty at times, some apparently already sitting on nest scrapes. Amongst a few Ringed Plover we found a single Little Ringed Plover and a Dunlin. Other waders comprised Redshank, Oystercatcher, Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwit, and a Whimbrel on the sea wall rocks. On the wildfowl front the highlight was a smart drake Scaup which I spotted drifting by just offshore from the sea wall. Also there, was a Wheatear. All in all a good morning’s birding although hoped for migrants such as Whinchat and Yellow Wagtail were absent, but we did see all three hirundines.
Click here for the species list. If necessary this wiill be updated if I’m told I’ve missed something! 🙂