pretty quiet this morning: flock of 40-50 Goldfinch above the dragonfly pond, 1 Jay & 1 Green ‘Pecker there too, and a scarce species for Cossie, a single Stock Dove stopped in to drink at the dragonfly pond and then fed on the plateau behind.

Lavernock reserve – Pheasant 2 fem in first field margin, Willow Warbler 1, Jay 2, Bulffinch 1 juv;

St Mary’s Well Bay – 1 Heron on the beach

Coast path W of ST Mary;’s Well Bay – Jay 6, Linnet 50, Mipit 100+ [feeding in the two ploughed fields], Pied Wag 3, Blackcap 1 m, Chiffchaff 1, Goldcrest 2

Swanbridge [Capt Wife pub] – Ringed Plover 3 that I cd see, and 1 Turnstone.

In case anyone missed this in the comments on my post yesterday. I met a guy who, seeing I was a birder told me about building plans for the site of the old Hamadryad hospital. I’m assuming it’s the same person, who has found our site and commented. It’s yet another area of greenery being removed for the sake of it. I have seen good numbers of Greenfinch using these trees as a roost in the winter. Anyway here’s what he posted: feel free to respond or submit objections.

Good morning bird watchers. Great to see you round our place! Not sure if you’re aware, but Cardiff Council are looking to overturn preservation orders on the trees behind Hamadryad hospital, clear the site of all greenery and build 75 properties there. There is significant opposition by local residents, and we’re in the process of submitting objections. If you could let us know of any sightings of rare species in the area, we could incorporate those into our objections as well. We’ve got a Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/SouthDocksButetown?ref=hl and a Twitter account https://twitter.com/SouthDocks. We’d appreciate any help you could offer. Many thanks, and happy spotting. Iwan (On behalf of South Docks Residents)

From Facebook [which some people don’t use and therefore miss news] per Steve Howcroft:

Hayes point. 2 blackcap .2 whitethroat .1 wheatear. Plenty of swallows and house martins .
Lavernock. Vis mig quite good plenty of mipits a dozen or so skylarks linnets and phylloscs also stonechat and 17 jays. Spot fly seen earlier by Wayne strong and lol Middleton.

Nice little session at these two this morning. Probably counts as a ‘fall’ of passerines, but not up to E coast standards!

Hamadryad – Chiffchaff 10+ in trees around the pool, also 2 Little Grebe and 4 Tufted Duck, and 12 Goldfinch

CBWR – 10+ Reed Bunting in bushes by the ‘mountain’, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap {m + f}, 20+ Chiffchaff, 2 Wheatear, 1 fem/imm Redstart, 1 Reed Warbler, 4+ Cetti’s calling, Lesser Scaup drake [distant], 11 Wigeon, 70 Canada Geese, 8 Little Grebe, 21 Gt Crested Grebe.

Plus this odd hybrid? Pposs has been reported b4 but can’t remember if anyone suggested it’s ID.

Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest in the church yard. Vis mig albeit of just Swallows and Mipits. The latter around 50 per min perhaps more, for a couple of hours at least. Meadow Pipits not so many but a couple of flocks of 30 flew over and 100 flew up from the N end of the big stubble field. 1 Kes and 1 Buzzard, and a few House Martins with the Swallows.

Reserve – 1 juv Whitethroat.
Churchyard – at least 6 phylloscs in the big Sycamore, mostly chiffies but 1 definite Willow Wblr. Also 2 Blackcap. Steady but light continuous passage of Swallows with a few Sand and House Martin mixed in. No sign of y’day’s Firecrest.

Highlights – Lol Middleton, Andy Burns & Steve Young! 🙂 A few Chiffies in the big Sycamore by Church House, light continuous passage of Swallows, Buzzard, 3 Mute Swan f/o, 1 Heron f/o, loose flock of Linnet & Goldfinch and small nos. of Greenfinch, Willow Warbler and Blackcap at the N end, and 1 Stock Dove.

Now 37 Tufted Ducks present [17 W lake, 20 E lake]. Also 4 GCG, about 20 House Martin and a light passage of Swallows. 3 Buzzards over the S meadow.

Apart from the very noticeable police presence [2 ribs with armed officers, 3 launches, 7 hi viz officers on mountain bikes], there were 4 GBB Gulls [all adults], about 20 House Martins at the Cardiff end, and 14 Pied Wags, and that’s about all in the horrible drizzle.

5 Spotted Flycatchers this morning, in trees on left past the dragonfly pond [i.e. the outer fringe of Cogan Wood]. Thx to Wayne Strong for heads up re 1 in dead tree by dragonfly pond. Also 1 Clouded Yellow in the meadow beyond W paddock.

The only thing of interest in rain & wind was a single Swift.

Barrage south – 100 Black-headed Gulls on the jetty. 1 1st yr Med Gull flying up & down the inner shoreline. GBB Gull adult on outer harbour wall. 2 Common Sandpipers on the outer side of the outer harbour [by Penarth Head beach].

R.Ely mouth by John Bachelor Way – 13 Turnstone on the rocky slope, and 2 Grey Wags, plus 2 GCG on the river. Still some House Martin activity in the housing estate there,

Mix of hirundines over the Bay itself.

In the Bay, a couple of Swift, and a few Sand & House Martin, and Swallows. Also a mini daytime ‘murmuration’ of Starlings over the dock area, c.200.

Fancy a trip to the Isle of Wight to see the nesting Bee-eaters this Saturday? Contact Matt Evans to car share (2 places up for grabs). Tel Matt on 07772553003

Not much to report except these ringed LBBGs: 2UF white on black; 0LF black on white; 5NF white on red. In total c.150 LBBGs about 50/50 ads/juvs [latter mostly imm], and 8 Herring Gull.

A Clouded Yellow was in the extreme NE corner of the east paddock this morning, and a Stoat was by the central path level with the N end of the west paddocks. Newly hatched pr of Coot chicks by the cafe boardwalk. Also, this below. Rubbish phone pic as the white is burnt out, but this is the white form of the normally pink Centaury.

Forgot – there was a Willow Warbler in the W paddock hedgerow.

Not as exciting as a Marsh Harrier but … a v pale [part leucistic-ish?] 1st yr Herring Gull that’s been around at Cosmeston for a while. – present this morning.

The G C Grebe pair seem to be down to 1 full grown young. A flock of 20+ Linnet were in the west paddock and quite a number of Common Blue butterflies around. Also Black-tailed Skimmers in the wet areas.

A message from David Rich, GBC member. For those who knew Dave Glanville:
“Sad to report that Dave Glanville has passed away. He lived in Cardiff for a number of years before moving to Pembs.
I had the privilege of knowing Dave and birded with him when he was in Cardiff and after he moved to Pembs. The last couple of trips were to see the Pacific Loon in Pembs and the Long-billed Dowitcher
at Kidwelly. He was a lovely chap, full of humour and an excellent and enthusiastic birder. Will be sadly missed.