Shortish walk in blustery conditions this morning. Great Spotted Woodpecker in trees behind the dragonfly pond bench was a new one for quite a while, as was a Stock Dove which flew over. A Green Woodpecker was in the same tree as the Great Spot. In the conservation area two ‘Wood’ birds [-pecker and -pigeon] were keeping each other company [see photo below. There were 3 fly-pver Goldfinches by teh said bench, and over W and E lakes there were c.30 Sand Martins and c.10 House Martins, some of the latter of which were immature birds, being a brownish-black colour.

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News from other media. Common Tern feeding on R. Taff opposite Channel View 9:05 – 10:15 at least. 2 Black-necked Grebes on Lisvane Reservoir this morning.

News from the last couple of days: a Cuckoo and Sparrowhawk were seen briefly on 27th May. Yesterday there were 6 Swift, 30 Sand Martin and about 10 House Martin over the lakes, a Green Woodpecker calling near E. paddock and a Common Whitethroat in the fenced in paddock near the dragonfly pond – I’ve seen 1 there about three times this spring. For me personally it’s been a v quiet spring at Cosmeston apart from the Blackcaps. This morning there was a single Mistle Thrush in W. Paddock.

No sign of yesterday’s Cuckoo today. 20-30 Sand Martins fighting the wind over W lake plus a few House Martins, and an ad Grey Heron flew in there. A Buzzad was over W paddock and a Green Pecker flew by, and I had a friendly Pied Wag whilst I drank my take away latte. A lot of Small Skippers were ahout despite the wind.

A drake Tufted Duck was on E lake and a single Swift flew over E paddock. In W paddock a Blackcap flew out of the snipe area, and a Green Woodpecker was calling nearby. A Buzzard clumsily hovered over W paddock. On walking up onto the hill by dragonfly pond a Sparrowhawk flew from the snipe area direction, passing <3ft away low to the ground. On my cresting the hill a grey bird flew up off the ground to my right, and I assumed it was the Sprawk. At this time it was raining heavy fine horizontal drizzle. It landed briefly in a bush and for that brief moment my brain PC rang alarm bells and the term ‘Cuckoo’ registered on the ‘system’ but then it took off just as my one handed hold on my bins got on to it [I had the dog on a lead]. In the afternoon Alex Bevan saw a Cuckoo, so …..

A few Swallows passing through. The W lake GC Grebes now are 2 fully grown stripey imms [from a clutch of 4] and 3 half grown [from a second clutch of 4 of a different pair]. They were all just too far off to get decent photos. A few punky Coot chicks still around. Also had 3 Song Thrushes and a couple of Chiffchaffs singing.

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Only birds of note were a couple of Swifts and a Buzzard … and this Cormorant which had caught an Eel in ther middle of West Lake.

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The Pyramidal Orchids are doing very well in E paddock and 3 Mistle Thrush flew out of there this a.m. Met a friendly juv Robin in W paddock, where a Grey Heron flew over. O/W the 2 GC Grebe families are doing OK except I think the 2nd pair have now lost 1 of their 4 humbugs – the first pair had 4 also, and lost 2.
Downside – the car park is now open again as is the cafe for take-away drinks [not sure about food]. Car park pretty full but park in general OK with plenty of space. Incredibly I saw three people with looked like a kayak on the far shoreline of W lake, in the Conservation Area. I called the ranger who I know, and when she eventually went to investigate they were out on W lake paddle boarding! They were told to leave. Also idiot young lads jumping into E lake by the bridge despite the warning signs. Silly season!

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At the Cardiff end towards Roath Dock, Song Thrush, 1 Oystercatcher on the environment building docking ramp, 1 Common Sandpiper across flew from the direction of the Norwegian Church onto the shore somewhere by the new path, juv GC Grebe playing hide & seek, quite a few Greenfinch which seem to like that end of the barrage. No Swift, and the Swift tower call system making a weird croaking noise so the repair not successful. Lots of Sand Martins at the Roath Dock nest holes. Count the resting Sand Martins in the twiggy bush – they like perching up there. I reckon there’s 18 or 19.

Very pleased to see that a second pair of Great Crested Grebes have also hatched a family of 4 chicks. Let’s see if they can all progress to adulthood. The first cluthc of four are now down to 2 almost fully grown juvs now so they shd be safe. Yesterday there were 2 immature Herons by the far side of W lake but they weren’t there this morning. This morning there were a few House and Sand Martins over E lake and a Green Woodpecker near the dragfonfly pond. The drake Tufted Duck was also present on E lake yesterday but I couldn’t see the female.

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Very quiet at the moment bird-wise but here’s a few Corvid pix. A juvenile Crow was ‘anting’ in the empty car park [3 images of the bird by the kerb stones]. You can see the ants on the plumage if you look carefully. And the remaining two are portraits of a Cosmeston regular who hangs out around the entrance and car park and by the ‘swan feeding’ corner of E lake. He’s known to afficionados as ‘Beaky’ due to the extra long hook on the tip of his upper mandible. I say ‘he’ but of course its impossible to sex them on outward appearance as far as I know. For good measure there’s a nice photo of a confiding female/imm Blackbird I saw by the coast parth at Sully on Saturday 6th.

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4 Green Woodpeckers seen yesterday [5th] in a wet walk – 2 in E. Paddock and 2 in W. paddock. Today, 6th, small nos. of House Martin, Sand Martin and Swallow over W lake and the NE corner of E lake. There are 100’s of spikes of Pyramidal Orchid in E paddock – I don’t understand why these are doing well but the Bee Orchids have suffered or not appeared at all in the dry weather.

First visit yesterday to the barrage since lockdown started. Managed a shot of a pair of House Martins doing some refurbishment on a house in Penarth Marina. By the water taxi embarcation jetty a Mute Swan with 6 cygnets. At the Cardiff end of the barrage a Common Whitethroat was singing at the top of a tree and a rather tatty looking male Blackbird was on one of the old mooring posts. A Cetti’s Warbler was singing just before the old Roath Dock. Plenty of Sand Martins nesting in the holes of Roath Dock. No sign of any Swifts at all.

Rather hot walk this morning and not much excitement. There were 19 Canada Geese, a lot more than in recent weeks [no-one to feed them!] and 8 Mute Swans, Great Crested Grebe pair still have the two remaining young which are now 2/3 their size, 2 Little Grebes [no sign of any young as yet], 1 Cormorant [there were 4 y’day], a pair of Tufted Duck on E. lake, 3 Swift over W lake. Not many small birds – 2 Blackcap heard, 1 Reed Warbler seen brifely from a distance, at the dipping pond.

Managed a few shots of a Reed Warber this morning, in the small reed fringes by the now defunct first viewpoint as you exit the wooded path that passes the bird table. A few Swallows over the lake and the Gt Crested Grebe pair that had a record 4 chicks now only have 2, which are now about 2/3 adult size. I saw a KIngfisher briefly over W lake yesterday. Have not encountered the three juvs again but I expect they are around.