An additional bird from yesterday which I forgot to post here, was this melanistic Green Woodpecker which I saw briefly in the ‘snipe paddock’ in the morning. Pretty unusual I think – certainly generated a lot of interest on social media.

Mainly young birds seen today. Juv Blackbird at Lavernock, juv Magpie at Cossie, inquisitive scruffy Mallard, GCG with just 1 young now [were 2].

2 Swift and 2 House Martin over W lake and 2 Swallow over E lake. Lesser Whitethroat still singing by W paddock hedgerow. Pretty quiet other than that.

Wet walk across the barrage & back this morning. Wet weather had brought the Swifts down, although not as many as one would hope – I guestimate 30+, some flying across the barrage at head height. Similar with Sand Martins and a few House Martin, a number of the former landing to rest on the pontoons by the environment building. A pair of Ravens were sitting on the railings by the ‘sails’, and there were a number of Pied Wags including juvs.

15 GBC members attended a mid-week field trip to this delightful area just north of Abergavenny, below the slopes of the Sugarloaf. Cold to start but warming up later. A total of 32 species were seen. The delightful oakwoods were a little quiet with not much bird song but Wood Warbler was heard [and seen by some], plus Common Redstart and 3 Garden Warblers were heard, and one seen – conveniently the song could be compared directly with the several Blackcaps which were also singing. Once up on to the open higher ground we found at least 2 pairs of Stonechat, 2 pairs of Whinchat which showed very well, a couple of Tree Pipits, 10+ Linnet, 3 Buzzards playing in the thermals, lots of Meadow Pipits and a few Skylark. A distant Cuckoo was heard calling, and a distant Red Kite over Abergavenny, was seen by me as we prepared to leave. The list can be seen here. The ‘1’s merely indicate a species was seen – they are not counts.

Update – Forgot that new members Alun & Sue Reynolds heard a Tawny Owl in the woods.

My first visit here for the GBC Willow Tit survey [in fact first time ever]. SAdly no Willow Tit this time. Only tits seen were 3 Coal Tit. The small lake had 2 pairs of Mallard with 9 and 5 ducklings, 1 ad Little Grebe, 2 Coot, a pair of Teal asleep at the edge. Passerines comprised, inter alia, 4 singing Blackcap, 6+ Blackbirds, pr of Dunnock displaying and another carrying food, and singing Whitethroat. Leps comprised Orange Tip Small Tort and Speckled Wood. An interesting little reserve tucked away by the railway line.

At Lavernock reserve: 4 Magpie, 7 Blackbird, 4 Woodpigeon, 2 Blackcap, 4 House Sparrow, 1 Chiffchaff, Dunnock, 3 Robin, 10 Jackdaw, Wren, 2 Crow, 2 Swallow. Then Leps were – 3 Orangetip, 2 Speckled Wood, 4 Holly Blue, 1 Brimstone, 2 Large White. Finally I saw 1 Early Purple Orchid in flower in the wood and there were a few nice patches of Cowslips. At Cosmeston it was pretty quiet – distinct lack of birdsong everywhere. A Moorhen pair have 3 small chicks in the green weedy pool at the start of the Med. Village boardwalk. The Mallard pair on the dipping pond are down to 1 duckling out of an original 6. A Common Blue Damselfly there. 2 Greylags on W lake and 1 Tufty lingering. A Lesser Whitethroat was singing in the W paddock hedgerow.

An adult Grey Heron was on the far side of W lake. A Lesser Whitethroat was singing and seen briefly by the high level path that runs behind the far side of W lake and a Common Whitethroat seems to have territory by the dipping pond – the photo below is of that individual. A pair of Mallards were on the dipping pool 2 days ago with 6 small ducklings – this morning they were already down to two [mum + 1 below]. I wonder what’s taking them. In the band of trees between the dragonfly pond and Cogan Wood proper, there a a lot of Common Spotted Orchid leaf bracts so it will be a really good show in there when they finally produce flower spikes.

Got back from Cosmeston this morning to find a Goldfinch on the brick pillar at the entrance to our drive. Kept hovering under the overhang of the topping stone. Grabbed the camera from the car boot and shot off a few shots w/o checking settings. It was apparently grabbing spider webs from under the overhang then puling them apart on the top to get at the little spiders inside. I there were 2, and I think they are nesting somewhere nearby. The pics are more or less in sequence. Click on the thumbnails for the full sized images.

Pretty quiet again. There was a pair of Jays coming down to the edge of Mile Road near the bridge, being unusually confiding, and caught in the act of collecting nest material [it’s not often you can report probable breeding of Jay]. A drake Pochard in W lake bay was a little unexpected at this time of year. In the long narrow meadow by Sully Brook [beyond the Dovecote field gate], there were 2 Common Whitethroats, one of which I managed to grab a shot of in song [pretty hefty crop tho’], and a Lesser Whitethroat was singing there too.

Cardiff Bay late afternoon from W side of the bay just along from Prospect Place/The Watermark flats: 2 Arctic Tern, 3 Common Tern, 1 stunning Ad summer Little Gull, plus 1000+ hirundines over the water, mostly Sand Martin & Swallow 50/50 approx, but with a few [say 30] House Martin, and a lot of Swift as I arrived [c.100] mostly high but as I left starting to fly low over the water.

Whilst sitting in the cafe this morning, a flock of 20+ Black-tailed Godwits flew east over East lake, spotted by Phil Bristow who I was chatting with.

PS only second record for Cosmeston. I saw 1 on 30th Aug 2016 which did a couple of circuits of W lake but then flew W.

Nowt around W paddock due to 2 gentlemen with 6 dogs which they were yelling at to get in the undergrowth and catch a rabbit. The dogs ran through every sq in of cover. V quiet overall, just 1 Swallow seen. Best was 1 Common Sand on the far E lake shore. 1 Comm Whitethroat singing near dipping pond, Reed Wblr singing in E lake reeds. Along the rd by the Med Village 2 Speckled Woods and a Comma. I forgot what I think were 2 Yellow-legged gulls on E lake, an ad and the 3rd cal yr bird that’s been around quite some time. Pr of GC Grebes were ‘dancing’ on E lake and the other pair have a nest on W lake near where the old hide was.

Lesser Whitethroat singing and seen in bushes on LH side about 100m past the dragonfly pond and another heard briefly farther away.

No sign of Wayne Strong’s Woodlark of late yesterday afternoon/early eve. Very quiet really until a Red Kite appeared over Cogan Wood, then 2 then 3 and then 4! They circled and gradually gained height and drifted off to the west. Managed to grab a few shots before they got too high.

Pretty quiet despite the nice weather. A Kingfisher was fishing from a small bush on the far side of W lake [from the Mile Road]. 2 Gt Spotted Woodpeckers present today -1 near the far end of E paddock [heard by Anne] and 1 in the edge of Cogan Wood near the dragonfly pond which was drumming and then seen in flight. Also 2 Buzzard circling over Cogan Wood. Jeff Curtis had a Common Whitethroat in the W paddock hedge at around 8:30. Also seen, 2 Brimstone and 1 Comma.

Had confirmation on Twitter from Peter Howlett that my tern was Arctic. Now 2 present as of 13:00. Thanks Peter!

Called in here on way back from the Rhymney for a quick scan from the Ice Rink boardwalk. Got on to a ‘Commic’ Tern feeding with the BH Gulls. Through my mini scope I kind of convinced myself it a an Arctic although Peter Howlett had seen a def Common y’day and poss also this morning. My impression was of very  clean upper wings, slightly dusky belly making white cheeks stand out, and also impression of different flight – wing beats not so deep, slightly more ‘relaxed’. COuldn’t see enough detail to see bill size or colour.

Delayed WeBS count. V v high tide so Green Pt at the Rhymey Est was nearly all under water. Only birds there were 2 Shelduck, 2 Canadas, 2 Oyc and 1 Mallard. A Common Snipe was at the waters edge towards the Lamby Way rbt. c.600 Redshank were resting on the far bank of the Rhymney halfway along Lamby Way. At Heliport Bay, there was virtually no beach – just 2 Oycs there.

Highlight of a brief visit in the rain this morning, was 15 Swallows sitting in a tree on the mile road between the two lakes, twittering away amongst themselves. An ad Grey Heron was on the far side ot W lake.
Seen recently – 2 Weasels running back & forth across the mile road by the first kissing gate on the RHS that gives access to E paddock; 1 Bank Vole by the ‘witches pool’ – small reedy pool on the RHS as you go up the slope from the dip at the far end of W lake; 1 Water Vole by the dipping pond boardwalk, near the car park.