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! 🙂

In the wet this morning, Swallows [about 10], and 2 each of Sand Martin and House Martin were feeding low over the lakes, and a Cetti’s sang in the E lake reds. There were 2 Reed Warblers singing there yesterday.

The April WeBS count. I’ve been doing WeBS there since the late 90’s and this was the fist time I’ve had virtually no waders, in particular Redshank. Bascially there was an angler stting on the shoreline right near where they normally roost, and couple of blokes on the shore with a dog which they were throwing sticks for it into the water. So, the dog flushed 2 Whimbrel and there was a single Oyc on Green Point itself. Upstream near the Lamby Way rbt there was a single Common Sandpiper. Wildfowl comprised just 22 Shelduck, 11 Teal and 4 Mallard and there were 6 roosting Cormorant.
At the heliport bay there were 2 more Common Sandpipers and a single Shelduck.

Two days ago at Cosmeston, a Treecreeper gave a rare opportunity to get some nice photos of it doing what it does best, creeping up a tree!, and also a couple of shots showing the camouflage and the cryptic upper part markings. A Song Thrush posed nicely near the dipping pond. Today a Grasshopper Warbler was found reeling in a hedge at the top of the field above Sully Brook, by Graham Smith. Sadly it had stopped and gone into hiding when I got there. There were 2 possibly 3 Common Whitethroats song flighting in that field and a Lesser Whitethroat was singing from cover, in the central area of vegetation. Also Cetti’s Warbler singing from down by the brook itself. This morning whilst leading a walk in the grounds of the Kymin in Penarth, we saw a pair of Sparrowhawks mating in a tall tree. Something I’ve never seen before.

No song or sight of yesterday’s Common Whitethroat, but a Lesser was singing down by Sully Brook near the new bridge (possibly yersterday’s bird having moved location?). . Also there, was a singing Reed Warbler which refused to show. A few Swallows were passing through. There’s a nice show of Cowslips in the field above Sully Brook and a Holly Blue briefly settled on Celandine.

A brief walk around this morning via the Medieval dovecote field and the adjacent large field above Sully Brook gave me a couple of ‘year ticks’ in the form of a singing Common Whitethroat in scrub near the dovecote ruin itself, including two brief ‘butterfly’ song flights, and then farther on in scrub in the large ‘island’ of vegetation in the next large field, a singing Lesser Whitethroat. Neither bird was particularly showy due to the pretty cold stiff wind.

Yesterday morning at Cosmeston, I had my first Willow Warbler of the year, singing by the Mile Road, but too high in the trees for a decent photo. Farther up by the main bridge a Chiffchaff was more obliging and I got a couple of nice shots of it singing. A female Wheatear was in the newly planted sapling area by Sully Brook and there may have been a male too. Earlier someone had seen 4 there. The drake Pochard was still present. I also saw my first hoverfly of the spring – a Tapered Drone Fly {Eristalis pertinax}.

In the afternoon I took my camera to Cardiff Bay to have another look at the 1stW Little Gull, and hopefully get some pix. The light wasn’t as good as the other day but it was still in the same area off the Ice Rink boardwalk, very active as usual, catching insects. I managed one shot where an insect is about to be snapped up.

I surveyed a tetrad in the Vale of Glamorgan today for the Welsh Ornithological Society all Wales Rook survey this afternoon, sadly with a nil result – it was around Penmark, centred on ST050690. Driving home I thought it’d be rude not to call in at the Bay to see the Little Gull which was first reported this morning. One of my favourites – they’re so great to watch in flight. This was a ‘W’-winged’ first winter bird. No camera but hopefully it’ll stay put and be there tomorrow and not decide to head out to the middle of the Bay!.

At Cosmeston in intermittent rain this morning a few Sand Martin were present and what sounded like a tidy flock of feeding vocalising Siskin but they were well hidden and I only managed to get eyes on 1! Haven’t had a flock there for quite a long time. They were above the far end of the E lake boardwalk.

Finally caught up with a Wheatear on the barrage this morning – a smart male which insisted on hiding on the seaward side of the outer rocks after very brief views in the open [too brief for a pic]. Rock PIpits [3] were more obliging and there were 4 Pied Wags and 6 Linnet briefly.

During a walk round this morning, decided to take the path through Cogan Wood. First encounter was a nice Red Admiral, although it had lost part of each hind wing. Best surprise was hearing an unfamiliar song, which turned out to be a Marsh Tit singing up in tree. I’ve only ever heard the “pitchu” call before, but this was a fairly rapid “seew seew seew seew seew seewv …”. Promising sign tho’ – a pointer to possible breeding – there’s certainly a pair resident even tho’ they’re not always obvious.