On 4th Jan a Snipe flew out of the fenced in enclosure beyond the dragonfly pond [what I call the snipe paddock]. Then on 5th Jan there were 245 Tufted Ducks [230 on E lake and 15 on W lake], 26 Pochard [19 on E lake, 7 on W lake], the most this winter so far. Today, 6th Jan an adult Common Gull was on W lake for a short while [they have been in short supply this winter, even in Cardiff Bay], and a drake Wigeon was skulking around the reedbed fringe of W lake. Pic below of fem Blackbird in Cogan Wood and the ad Common Gull.

On W lake this morning, there were 10 Teal, a pair of Wigeon, 9 Pochard, 100+ Tufties, and a Common Gull. A Cetti’s Warbler sang near the bird table and there were around 10 Chaffinch there. Someone has put up a couple of feeders and there was seed on the ground. In the total of around 120 Tufted Duck on both lakes, I would estimate that around 80% at least of them, are drakes.

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New year’s day dog walk. A good selection of wildfowl – 120 Tufties, 16 Pochard [7 E lake 9 W lake], 3 Shoveler (2m 1f) on E lake, a pair of Wigeon and a hiding drake Teal on W lake, plus Mallard, Mute Swan and Canadas. Other watefowl were Coot, Moorhen, 3 Little Grebe, 2 GC Grebe, 1 Cormorant, Water Rail heard in the snipe paddock. Gulls – 1 Common Gull on W lake posts, plus LBBG, HG and Black-headed Gull. A smattering of common birds including a Green Woodpecker made the total in just a 45 min walk, 32 species.

There were 120 Tufted Ducks [100 on E lake and 20 on W lake], 12 Pochard [3 on E lake 9 on W lake] and 1 drake Wigeon well hidden in the edge of the W lake ‘island’.

Highlights [such as they are] at Cosmeston this morning: best was an adult Common Gull initally on W lake then in the SW corner of E lake. There have been very few this winter. A couple of drake Pochard were hiding in the reed edges on W lake and about 20 Fieldfare were in trees near the small pond in the dip by the N corner of W lake, and feeding on the ground to the right thru the gate. Couple of Mistle Thrushes with them too.

From yesterday there was a remarkable record [and photo] of a Red-breasted Merganser well inland on the lower lake at Clydach Vale CP. They are scarce enough in E Glam [maybe 1 record a year, if that]. Possibly due to storm Bella.

On a calm but cold day: about 90-100 Tufted Duck on E lake with a lone drake Pochard. Great and Little Grebes present, but very quiet on land birds. The very wet ground means that worms are accessible so I logged 10+ Blackbirds feeding on the ground around our route. By Sully Brook by the Lower Dovecote field there was a single Redwing with the Blackbirds, and a small flock of Long-tailed Tits were foraging in low vegetation at ground level. There was a Nuthatch and a Coal Tit feeding by the kissing gate that leads off Mile Road by Sully Brook.

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Walked the Bay Trail as our exercise today. From the Ice Rink boardwalk there was a female Scaup in amongst the Tufties. I didn’t scrutinise closely enough to see if the fem Ring-necked Duck was present – they were all asleep. The Bay water level has been allowed to fall so there was a stony shore there, with 2 Grey Wagtails. On the R. Taff by Hamadryad park a Long-tailed Duck with a few Tufties was a nice surprise – it’s probably the one seen by others before Christmas round by Prospect Place. Also 2 drake and 2 ‘redhead’ Goosander on the R. Taff there.

There was no sign of yesterday afternoon’s Gt Northern Diver so that had presumably left at first light. The Long-tailed Duck was apparently viewable from the Prospect Place area but I couldn’t locate it with just binoculars, from the barrage. It was very quiet on the barrage side. I noted a pair of Goosander in the R. Ely by John Bachelor Way level with the inner marina of Penarth Marina. 2 Ravens flew low along the barrage as we were returning to try & beat the incoming rain.

Late news re Cardiff Bay from Twitter. 2 Caspian Gulls were in the gull roost [at least one has been regular for a while now], and also late this afternoon a Long-tailed Duck and a Great Northern Diver, seen from near the Ice Rink.

I finally caught up with the Marsh Tit in Cogan Wood this morning, having failed on every other visit this year. It was taking seed someone had put on a stump on the RHS at the bottom of the slope down from the south entrance to the wood. Just outside the north entrance to the wood, a Greenfinch was bathing in a puddle on the very muddy path there. I took a load of shots [8 posted on Facebook] but I’ve put a selection here. Also noted Green Woodpecker near the dragonfly pond, and Redwing in that area.

For the third visit in a few days, the male Sparrowhawk was again in a tree in the snipe paddock. It seems to have taken up residence there and I’m guessing it’s using the ‘rides’ that have been cut through the vegetation there, as hunting alleys. A Green Woodpecker was also in that vicinity, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. A few pix of the Sparrowhawk below, plus one of the ‘rides’ as an example. In case folk are not familiar I’ve incuded an image of an annotated map which I produced and a larger version of which can be found on the ‘Cosmeston’ page of my blog https://greybirder.wordpress.com/.

Sparrowhawk was present again this morning in the ‘snipe paddock’ and allowed for a better photo. It had its back to me but I made a not too loud ‘ticking’ noise and it turned its head. Thx to the binocular toting person near W lake, who alerted me to its presence. There were 9 Mistle Thrush feeding in the middle of W paddock, with a single Redwing. Fieldfare were present but mostly in tree tops along the mile road and also in trees adjacent to the golf course in E. paddock. Didn’t really check out the wildfowl although there were a lot of drake Tufties on W lake.

Highlight of this morning’s walk with the dog around Cosmeston was this male Sparrowhawk sitting in a tree in the snipe paddock [just beyond the dragonfly pond]. It was quite distant from me so these are big crops. I tried to stalk closer but it shot off and then settled in amongst the branches of another tree [see photo]. When it finally took off it flew right past me low over the high ground behind the dragonfly pond where I was standing. Very impressive. Other than that west lake held a pair of Shoveler and two Gadwall were also present. I didn’t check the Tufties for anything else. W paddock had 6 Mistle Thrush as I left.

On and off rain made for a wet walk today. All five thrush species were very active feeding on what berries they could find. On W lake a very distant duck was I’m pretty sure the Pochard x Tufted Duck hybrid that keeps reappearing. Cropped as much as poss record shot below. Best of all 2 Goldcrest were feeding in Ivy halfway along the mile road central path. One photo below of them both disappearing! One did eventually feed in one place for a short while, played peekaboo a couple of times then came into the open just long enough for me to grab some shots. I love the orange feet!

We had a Covid restricted walk to these three locations in the east of Cardiff, with just 7 participants. We had a good session, recording 60 species, the highlight undoubtedly being a Short-eared Owl, which we weren’t expecting, that flushed from very close from the foreshore where the Reen meets the sea wall. It flew along the shore westwards and we later relocated it on the west flank of the Lamby Way landfill. Other highlights included a Peregrine sitting up on an electricity pylon, a Kestrel on the landfill site, Lamby Lake had loafing gulls, Tufted Duck and Great Crested Grebes. Little Grebes were on the reen, and a Black Redstart was seen on foreshore rocks on the Great Wharf. 160 Pintail near the R. Rhymney mouth was a good count, with about 30 Shoveler with them. Waders comprised Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, and Knot. Click here for a pdf of the full list.