There were apparently 3 SEOs at Kenfig NNR this afternoon. Waxwings were reported in Thornhill, Cardiff but location checked and no birds seen.

Other news from various media: Red-rumped Swallow still at the bottom of the hill at Cwm Ivy, by the small tor; Red-necked Grebe at Llangorse Lake; Merlin nr Southendown/Dunraven; 4 Cattle Egret still at Zig-Zag lane, Porthcawl.

Missed you Alan Cripps. Ditto re Beardies between 11:15 and 13:00 although I did go for coffee in that time. In addition to your birds there was a Common Chiffchaff by the boardwalk.

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Glamorgan Bird Club had a pretty successful trip to the above yesterday. 17 people attended. Highlights of the 73 species seen were:

Dryslwyn – Goosander, 100’s of Fieldfare, Wigeon, Teal, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Red Kite, 100’s of Gulls incl GBBG and Common Gull, but no Tree Sparrows sadly. At Cilsan there were 4 Whooper Swan, 3 Red Kite in a tree, and a very pale Buzzard.

Highlights at Kidwelly were 2 Long-tailed Duck, 11 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1000+ Golden Plover, 500+ Lapwing, Redshank, Curlew & Dunlin, numerous R-b Merganser, Peregrine, Red Kite, ringtail Hen Harrier over the saltmarsh, and Chiffchaff and 2 Goldcrest by the sewage works.

A summary of today’s excitement. In addition to the Firecrest at Kenfig NNR [in trees behind the small pool below the RH corner of the car park], an unseaonal Red-rumped Swallow was discovered on the Gower OS trip to Whiteford Pt, first seen at around 1 p.m and still present near the ‘blockhouse’ [by where the path from Cwm Ivy turns right into the conifer plantation] at around 17:30. Then finally a Red-necked Grebe was videoed at Llangorse Lake GBC are off to Dryslwyn and then Kidwelly and poss Burry Port. Maybe we can find something too!

30+ Redwing and a Mistle Thrush in W paddock this a.m. and a Med Gull on W lake.

A drake Goosander was on W lake Cosmeston when I arrived this morning but was gone by the time I returned to the cafe. A Grey Wag flew along Sully Brook by the Medieval Village. Both birds I haven’t seen at Cossie for a while. Around 20 Redwing were in W paddock.

Have discovered a report of a pr of Lesser Peckers on 4th Jan on Taff Trail in woodland betw R. Taff and Cardiff Met playing fields/Llandaff Cathedral cemetary.

Walk from Sully cricket field along the coast to Sully sports field and back. 2 [a pair] Stonechat by cricket field. On the sports field –  22 Curlew, 150 Starling, 10 Oycs and 50+ Black-headed Gulls and 1 AdW Med Gull with them which looked like the one that was at Cosmeston the other day from the blackish pattern on the head.

At Cosmeston this morning an AdW Med Gull was on the W lake posts for a while. a Gt Spotted ‘Pecker was drumming briefly in Cogan Wood near the dragonfly pond and a Green ‘Pecker was calling.

Delayed WeBS count [from yesterday]. At Green Pt – Rhymney Est – c.800 Redshank, c.2500 Dunlin, 13 Lapwing, 2 Oycs, 11 Teal, 8 Gadwall, 24 Shoveler, 65 Pintail, 90 Shelduck, 1 Jack Snipe.

At Heliport Bay – an exc count of 51 Shoveler, 10 Pintail and 21 Oycs.

AdW Med Gull on Cosmeston W lake posts just now. Prob now in middle of w lake. GSPecker drumming briefly nr dragonfly pond.

Local news from the web today: Slav Greb & Otter at Kenfig Pool; Black Redstart stiil at Caravan site Trecco Bay/Newton Pt; 4 Cattle Egret still Zigzag lane Porthcawl; 3 Jack Snipe Peterston-super-Ely moors; Purple Sand Ogmore rocks and also Newton Pt; Water Pipit and Common Sand Ogmore Est; GW Egret Tirfounder Fields.

Cosmeston. 1 redpoll briefly in alder nr cafe. 1 prob Jack Snipe flushed low & short from hollow nr dragonfly pond, 1 water rail and 2 common snipe in snipe paddock. There were also 2 Gt Spotted Woodpeckers in a tree by the mile road/boardwalk path ‘T’ junction. In addition there was a drake Aythya hybrid – a Pochard x Tufted Duck drake – very smart bird, and a pair of Gt Crested Grebes showing signs of display.

For those not on Twitter or in any of the closed groups, there were 7 Waxwing this morning in a roadside tree by the zebra crossing at the A40 end of Everest Drive Crickhowell.

A very smart Pochard x Tufted duck drake hybrid was in the bay at the RH end of W lake this morning. The only other thing of note was a Green Woodpecker in W paddock which flew into an adjacent tree, and another was heard calling.

Pretty quiet this morning, the only thing of real interest, a lone Fieldfare feeding on Hawthorn by E. Lake near the main bridge. The Tufty flock remains at about 100 and Pochard about 15, and the usual Gadwall, GCG and Little Grebes. A few Goldfinch were feeding in the Alders near the cafe but no sign of any Siskin [seen by Wayne Strong yesterday].

Elsewhere in other media/fora male Hen Harrier at Cwm Cadlan yesterday afternoon, and Gt Grey Shrike still in the nearby clearfell, SEO over fields by Saltmarsh Lane, Goldcliff, Gwent, Green Sand, 2 Common Sand, 2 Water Pipit and fishing Otter near Portobello – Ogmore TODAY.

Was hoping to tick off the final one of the 5 ‘British’ grebes before the end of Jan but no sign of the Cardiff Bay Black-necked this morning along the whole length of the inner barrage shoreline. 2 redhead Goosander were in the bay near the big blue ‘dome’ that was Dr. Who experience. On R. Ely shoreline by Penarth Marina 1 Redshank [usual one with yellow leg ring], and 1 Grey Wag. 60 Cormorant were on the inner barrage ‘jetty’ and 4 Common Gull on the orange floats. Also on Barrage 1 Rock Pipit, several Meadow Pipits in the fenced grass area where the funfair was.

There was a successful GBC trip to Kenfig NNR and sites in Porthcawl dodging the showers today. Some or all of 14 participants had these highlights amongst 57 species: At Kenfig Pool – Slavonian Grebe, Gt White Egret, and drake Goldeneye, plus Oystercatcher {unusual by the pool}; at Wilderness Pond – 5 Goosander {3m, 2f} and an AdW Med Gull; at nearby Zigzag Lane – 4 Cattle Egret; and at Newton Point – 2 Purple Sandpiper, 6+ Grey Plover, 1 Sanderling, several Turnstones. Only ‘no’show’ was the recently seen Black Redstart around the Beach Cafe by Rhych Point.

The other recent GBC trip was to Whiteford Point on Gower, where an amazing 34 participants saw 70 species. I couldn’t make that trip but the list can be seen here: Click here

This takes you to a pdf of the list.

Records!! My thanks to the nine people who have already sent me their records for 2018. If you are someone who sends in their records direct to me rather than using BirdTrack or SEWBReC and haven’t done so yet, then please get them to me ASAP, so I can get on with consolidating them all. Many thanks in anticipation. John Wilson