Rhymney WeBS this morning. V cold onshore wind – v choppy water. There were about 400 Redshank on Greent Point, which was almost completely under water. They flew around and the flock contained about 30 Dunlin. In the river mouth, there were about 27 Pintail. Other birds present were about 9 Teal, 27 Shelduck, 4 Cormorant and a few Mallard. At Heliport Bay there were another 28 Pintail.
Author: John Wilson
Birder and traveller
Cosmeston
A smart male Wheatear was in W paddock Cosmeston, on the hill behind the dragonfly pond, seen during the very heavy rain shower. There were 7 Gadwall on W lake and a small group of folk were looking for the Bonaparte’s Gull which I found on 9th and has re-appeared a couple of times since, on its forays from Cardiff Bay.
Cardiff Bay
Late afternoon, rain stopped, so I popped over to the Ice Rink boardwalk by Cardiff Bay to try & see the adult Little Gull that had been reported. Pulled up and stopped the car …. rain started again! It stopped after 10 mins so I headed out, and scanning with binos and immediately got onto the bird in the middle of the Bay. They’re pretty easy to pick up as the jet black underwings of the paddle shaped wings flash at you as the bird tilts and jigs tern-like low over the water. Enjoyed some nice scope views as it flew up & down in a regular pattern. Also mid Bay was a pair of Goosander.
Rest Bay > Sker Pt
Successful trip today with a Glamorgan Bird Club group. Despite a rather damp start which soon cleared, 16 participants walked from Rest Bay along the coast to Sker Point and back. Rest Bay car park gave us views of all significant ages of Mediterranean Gulls and a couple of Common Gulls. Along the coast we had around 10 Purple Sandpiper on rocks at Pink Bay. Sker Point gave us lots of Turnstone, around 6 Ringed Plover, c.30 Sanderling, 4 Grey Plover, a few more Purple Sandpipers, 20 Curlew, a few Dunlin, and eventually [they were well camouflaged] about 150 Golden Plover. Alan got us on to a Red-throated Diver flying up-channel. Thanks to all who attended. John Wilson. Full trip list is here: https://drive.google.com/…/1okgRxvi70Sjp68Wsm47…/view…
Cosmeston
On the usual dog walk at Cossie this morning, first thing was a posing Wren, albeit in dense shade but managed to retrieve a passable shot. Then 9 Gadwall on W lake was a good count. Then – wow! – scanning through the loafing Black-headed Gulls on W lake by the centre viewpoint, a smaller individual with a black, shorter bill …. Bonaparte’s Gull! A first in the park for me. Quickly got a Tweet and a Whatsapp out then got some photos. Fortunately it wasn’t right out in the middle of the lake. Also of note, a Chiffchaff singing by the conservation area gate, and a Cetti’s Warbler singing in E lake reeds.
Swift Bricks
As folk who follow or are involved in the Swift project, we are keen to encourage the installation of Swift bricks into new build housing and the like, to compensate for the loss of Swift nesting apertures in the eaves of older properties which are increasingly being improved with UPVC soffits. There is an interesting leaflet on the construction and use of these bricks which is now viewable below. Click within the image and you can scroll through it. Hit the black ‘pop-out’ button top right and you can view in Google Drive and download it.
Friends of Nant Llwynog Park – Bedlinog
Nestbox installation and nest record scheme
Marginal bird species can be encouraged to thrive and be part of Nature’s Recovery. It is surprising how many species can be found in woodland edges and parkland areas. Many bird species can be supported and protected by the careful placing of nesting boxes, including Nuthatch, Redstart and Pied Flycatcher. Other timid birds such as Willow Tits can be given sheltered spots in old or rotting timber. If the place is right they will use it. The Friends of Nant Llwynog Park are supporting this scheme and more details and illustrations can be found in the leaflet which is viewable below. Click within the image and you can scroll the pages. Click the black pop-out button top right and you will see it in Google Drive where it can be downloaded.
Forest of Dean
A Club trip with 20 participants to the Forest of Dean finished up logging 40 species. The full list is here. At New Fancy View some had distant views of two displaying Goshawk, a Sparrowhawk, many Buzzards and a very showy male Crossbill. At Parkend some finally had views of a Hawfinch high in a tree, plus a GReat Spotted Woodpecker. Highlights at a very busy Cannop Ponds, were the Mandarins, Grey Wagtail and a Marsh Tit. Full trip list is here.
Cosmeston 23rd & 24th Feb
This morning, 24th there was a small flock [6 or maybe a few more] of very vocal Siskin feeding on an Alder just past the main bridge. On 23rd there was much finch activity just beyond the dragonfly pond, with Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Goldfinch. I had 8 Greenfinch together in one bush which is pretty unusual these days, and I got a shot of one singing. In the fenced off ‘snipe enclosure’ two Blue Tits were feeding on the bullrush heads and nearby there were two lone Fieldfare up in the trees.
Kenfig Pool
The Black-necked Grebe found by Mike Cram this morning was still present up til 4:30 p.m. at least, on the far side of the pool, often mingling with the numerous Pochard, Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Gadwall, making a ‘scope a necessity. Also present the drake Ring-necked Duck and the Scaup. Too far away for pix, sadly.
Cosmeston
There was an adult winter Mediterranean Gull on W lake this morning, and a Cetti’s Warbler sang briefly by the dipping pond.
Cosmeston 17th Feb
On a quick walk round, W lake had 5 Gadwall and 2 female Wigeon. There were moderate numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare in both E and W paddocks.
Portobello – Ogmore
A 1stW Glaucous Gull was seen at Potobello Island this morning by David Rich. Nice one!
GBC/WOS Rookery survey 2022/23
We are just getting involved with a major Rookery survey, both for our local area and in partnership with the Welsh Ornithological Society, who are organising a Wales wide survey. It involves surveying Rookeries to see which have breeding activity, as Rooks are in serious decline. There’s a full page on this site here, which gives all the detail and how to get involved – do take a look.
Julian Hughes’s talk this evening
What a fascinating talk we were delivered by Julian Hughes, editor of the Welsh Bird Report and co-editor of the recently published “The Birds of Wales, Adar Cymru”, for which GBC sponsored the summaries of two species. Forty participants were treated to 90 minutes of how the book was researched and put together, historical facts about Wales and its birds, conservationists, habitats, lost species, new colonisers …. you name it, we heard about it. An absolutley fascinating talk, so a big diolch yn fawr to Julian.
Ty Tanglwyst Farm [S. Cornelly]
On Monday 7th February, 6 GBC members undertook a Big Farmand Bird Count at Ty Tanglwyst Farm, a partner of GBC, where we have previosuly installed nestboxes in an area of woodland on the farm. They spent from 10:00 until 12:45 walking a route around the farm, making a note and count of every species seen. This resulted in a count of 30 different species, covering a good range of common species including both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 4 thrush species {Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush and Redwing], and many others. See the full list here. With apologies to the purists, it’s not in taxonomic order. Well done to the team tho’.
This count is orgamnised by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, sponsored by NFU, with many other partners. Full details can be seen on the website here.
Zoom presentation – Tues 15th Feb – 7:30 p.m.
We are pleased to announce that we have booked a Zoom presentation from Julian Hughes, the editor of Birds in Wales, the publication of the Welsh Ornithological Society. The presentation is entitled ‘Birds of Wales‘. Julian is also one of the editors of the recently published major work, The Birds of Wales, which GBC contributed to by sponsoring the chapters of two species. As a reward for this, sponsoring clubs and societies have been offered the presentation by Julian. Hope to ‘see you there’, as it were. The date and time are Tues 15th Feb starting at 7:30 p.m. The proposed start time is 7:30 but Zoom will be started at 7:15. to give people time to join. Members on the email news group have been notified with a link. If you are not in that group then contact John Wilson for details. John will be away from Fri 11th Feb and will be driving home on the day of the meeting, getting back in time. However he might not have WiFi whilst away so other members of the committee have been given the meeting details and link as well and can be contacted for it. John Wilson
Cosmeston – Cogan Wood
Fab moment in Cogan Wood Cosmeston late a.m. In Cogan Wood we became surrounded by 20-30 Great & Blue Tits, which always expect food. We had a small bag of seed so soon I had Great Tit and a Blue Tit both feeding on my hand and a Marsh Tit sitting at arms length. It didn’t quite have the courage to come to me so we rewarded it with some on the ground. Had further GT and BT both sitting on my hand at the same time at the Dragon Tree. First thing in the morning, Graham Smith saw 10 Hawfinch in the trees lining the edge of Cogan Wood just past the dragonfly pond, but they didn’t put in an appearance as we passed late morning.
Field trip – Whiteford Pt, Gower
Just a heads up that there’s a field trip next week, on Thurs 10th Feb, to Whiteford Point on N Gower. The plan is to meet at the Cwm Ivy car parking field at 09:30 – timing to allow us to get out to the point without rushing, with the tide nearly high, but still rising [approx high at 12:53]. We would hope to also visit Llanridian Marsh at dusk, hoping for Harriers & Owls. Be aware that this is quite a long and arduous walk, the outer stretch possibly being quite muddy. The car park is at the top of a steep tarmac hill which you have to climb on return. Whiteford Point provides the possibility of seeing divers, rarer grebes, Eider, Geese & waders. As always please email me if you intend to come [unless you’ve already done so, in which case you’re on the list]. Here’s a link to a map of the meet point:
http://streetmap.co.uk/map?X=244094&Y=193577&A=Y&Z=120
John Wilson johndw1948 at gmail dot com
Cosmeston
2 Adult Common Gulls still present this morning, 1 on W lake 1 on E lake. GS Woodpecker calling in the trees by the edge of the Mile Road and most impressive, 100 – 150 thrushes feeding in E. paddock, about an 80/20 mix of Redwing and Fieldfare. Short vid on youtube linked below – not the best as it was drizzling!
https://youtu.be/3EjaxYEZ0WY
Glamorgan Bird Club 
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