Rather humid outing to the R.Ely floodplain near Peterston-super-Ely this morning, with 18 participants. We scored with the target birds – 6, possibly 8 Green Sandpipers, a new bird for some. They did their usual thing of exploding from their hiding places along the river edge, uttering their characteristic “weet-a-weet-a-weet” call. 26 species were logged on what was a fairly quiet morming bird-wise. The full list [subject to updates] is linked below. A non-avian highlight was the Dark Bush-cricket which is pictured below. The other non-avian shown is one of the common Hoverflies, Eristalis pertinax. A notgable find by Charlotte on the walk back, was a Roesel’s Bush-cricket – apparently a new record for the site – nice one!. John Wilson
PS an image of the Roesel’s is added to the gallery. Cropped phone pic taken by Charlotte.
Cosmeston a.m. A Little Egret was resting by the W lake ‘island’ – it was very distant so the pix are rubbish. But pale bill and dull legs seem to point to 1st yr bird. Very vocal large GCG juv was pestering it’s parent. Also a very vocal Green Woodpecker was in the conservation area but I couldn’t see it. There were about 20 Sand Martins over W lake – the first hirundines I’ve seen in the park for about a week. The LBBG was an evil looking brute!
There were c.30 Canada Geese by E lake shore today, presumably having arrived early this morning as they weren’t there yesterday. A Kingfisher flew under the main bridge and disappeared into the trees along the edge of the W lake reed bed. A pair of GC Grebes were with 3 small humbugs there – see photo. Also of note – good numbers of Gatekeepers and a few Common Blues
A reminder that our small grant scheme (of up to £250) is open for bids for local projects, designed to help conserve or record the bird life of East Glamorgan. Projects might include nest box schemes, planting berry-bearing trees, attending training courses and much more. The deadline for applications is 31st August. Go to the GBC website to access the form. This link takes you to the correct page.
Kenfig: A Cattle Egret was a brief visitor (13th), with Great White Egret also recorded. A Marsh Harrier was hunting at Sker and a Hobby was seen at the Pool. Waders included Little Ringed Plover, two Greenshanks, two Green Sandpipiers and a maximum of 10 Black-tailed Godwits. Other sites: A Cattle Egret called in at Cwmbach Wetlands (14th). A passage Little Ringed Plover was noted at Rhaslas Pond, with a Green Sandpiper at nearby Merthyr Common. Ogmore Estuary hosted a Green Sandpiper and two Greenshanks. A Yellow-legged Gull was at Cosmeston. A flock of up to 15 Choughs was frequenting Ogmore-by-Sea. Summary by Paul Roberts
We had a successful trip to Goldcliff Newport Wetlands today, with 10 participants. There was some work going on but we still logged 50 species. Highlights were Little, Great and Cattle Egrets [singles of the last two with the Cattle Egret being in full breeding plumage]. Waders comprised a nice flock of c.80 Dunlin plus Ringed Plover & Lapwing, and 2 Green Sandpipers. Amongst the duck [all in eclipse plumage now] were a couple of Wigeon, Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal and a Pintail. A female Marsh Harrier flew a couple of times and was then found on the ground plucking a prey item, but we couldn’t figure out what it was, apart from the fact that the pluckings were feathers! John Wilson. Click here for the full list. Couple of heavily cropped shots below of the Cattle Egret when it flew off.
We’re pleased to be able to publish the minutes of the 2024 AGM which was held in April. We apologise that they have taken a while to go oline but both the writer and the webmaster have been away at crucial times. They can be see by clicking this link.
Kenfig: Seabirds noted off Sker included Pomarine Skua, Arctic Skua and a maximum of 200 Kittiwakes. An Osprey was seen flying along the coast and a Hobby was near the Pool. A Greenshank flew over the rivermouth, calling. Lavernock: Seawatching effort was rewarded with Roseate Tern (16th), Pomarine Skua, Arctic Skua, Great Skua and up to 5,000 Manx Sheawaters. A Great White Egret was recorded. Other sites: A Turtle Dove was briefly in fields between St Athan and Flemingston (7th). A Greenshank flew over Merthyr Mawr. A Hobby was at Penllyn Moor. A Hawfinch was seen in the Alun Valley. Summary by Paul Roberts
Kenfig NNR: Sightings in the vicinity of the Pool included Purple Heron (16th), five Spoonbills over heading north (4th), Garganey (10th), Bittern, Marsh Harrier and Osprey. Meanwhile at Sker the highlight was a Turtle Dove (16th), with five Black Terns up channel (11th) and a Little Ringed Plover ‘in off’ also noted there. Other sites: A male Woodchat Shrike was briefly in St Gwynno Forest, above Perthcelyn (11th). A total of 26 Black Terns was noted off Lavernock (11th). A Hobby was over Bridgend town. Summary by Paul Roberts
Kidwelly Quay, Pembrey Harbour, Sandy Water Park & WWT Llanelli
Thirteen Club members met up at at Kidwelly Quay at 9 a.m. in dismal fine drizzle and a stiff breeze – ideal conditions for creating wet optics! The high was extremely high already despite there’re being another hour to go. Hence there was a dearth of waders, but we did spot a Common Sandpiper by the railway bridge, some distant Oycs in the murk and on the usual circular walk, a few Whimbrel and Curlew. Two pairs of Red-breasted Merganser were distant in the water. On the walk a constantly singing Sedge Warbler refused to show, but Chiffies and Willow Warblers were more obliging. Scoping the fields to the east eventually gave us poor views of a small group of Pink-footed Geese, which was a bonus. By the water treatment works Goldcrests and a small number of Long-tailed Tits were active, and there were large numbers of hirundines hawking insects, mostly Swallows and Sand Martins, with a few House Martins. The former two were hitching roundabout rides on the slowly rotating filter bed sprinklers.
We then moved east to explore the old jetty at so-called Pembrey Harbour, just west of Burry Port harbour itself. The sandbar offshore just had a tight group of around 1000 Oystercatchers, but on the tidal saltmarsh there were 3 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin, plus a few pipits which caused a lot of discussion. They were Rock Pipits but didn’t have the classic dusky Rock Pipit look about them Many photos were taken and we were speculating as to whether at least one or two were of the Scandinavian ‘littoralis’ race. David Rich had ‘scoped a few Common Gulls in his Questar reflector ‘scope but the rest of us missed those. A male Wheatear posed on the jetty wall.
Next up was a visit to Sandy Water Park near Llanelli to see the adult Little Gull. Sadly the Bonaparte’s Gull which had been there for sometime, was not present. The Little Gull performed well in the usual constant active dipping flight characteristic of the species.
Having had our fill of that, we dropped in to the WWT Llanelli Wetland Centre where a Spoonbill, a Long-tailed Duck and a Russian White-fronted Goose had been reported. Those still with us [some had left previously] headed straight down to the British Steel hide to see what we could see. On the walk down I had a fly-over Peregrine. Two Greenshank were resting in the scrape area and by the pool from the rear there were many Black-tailed Godwits and Redshank, and eventually 5 Ruff were found by David Rich. The visibility was very poor at any distance but during some concentrated scoping of the saltmarsh I finally found the Whitefront, in with some Greylags. We dipped on the Spoonbill and Long-tailed Duck, but rewarded ourselves with a nice coffee back at the cafe, to end a successful day despite the damp start. A total of 66 species had been recorded.
8 hardy folk met this morning at Dinas RSPB, north of Llandovery, at 09:30 for some Welsh specialities. Within 5 mins of starting the walk, the first of the forecast showers arrived! We endured 3 or 4 of these, a couple of which were pretty heavy. We persevered but the birds weren’t very ‘showy’. We had to make do with brief views of Pied Fly but a couple of Spotted Flys were more obliging. Redstarts showed quite well, but only 1 Wood Warbler was heard faintly but not seen. A pretty damp day all in all but always a nice location to visit. A couple of the group did the whole circuit but us oldies declined the rocky bit. Alan Rosney got back to the car park first and lucked in on a fly-over Goshawk and the two ‘full circuit-ers’ had a fly-by Cuckoo. Thanks to the hardy participants for attending! Update – 35 species were logged – click herefor the [now updated] list. John Wilson
As a new location field trip, we had a successful 4hr walk round Llanstrisant Common this morning with an unprecedented 29 participants. We broke into 2 groups and walked in opposite circuits, one led by club member Tim Collier and the other by trustee Paul Denning – thanks both. 35 species were logged as per list linked below. Best avians were a couple of Tree Pipits, one feeding and one singing in display flight. Best highlights were non-avian – a female Adder and a Green Hairstreak butterfly. Most birds distant so no prize winning pix. John Wilson Click here for the full species list.
We have planned our next ‘Walk For Women’ to be on Sunday 19th May at Kenfig NNR. Meet by the centre at 10 a.m. We plan to be out for a couple of hours, but sometimes overrun – we don’t rush. Folk are welcome to leave anytime of course. There are toilets, the cafe is outside – so we’re hoping for a warm day! We have to pay for parking when we leave, card only. Dry (we hope) sandy paths. As with all GBC walks, we ask folk not to bring dogs. We can lend you binoculars if you need them. As always, let us know if you plan to come anytime up till the evening before, so that we know to wait for you – Jean Haslam – haslamj@talktalk.net : Strinda Davies – daviesstrinda@gmail.com
Thanks to everyone who attended last night’s AGM. Chair Jean reported in full, the active year we’ve had in all the projects and activities we’re involved with. We’re all now set for yet another year. We are fortunate that we now have a Treasurer to replace our retiring treasurer Ceri Jones, who has done a sterling job over the last 3 years – many thanks Ceri. He is replaced by club member Tim Adcock who has stepped up to the oche at the last minute, so for the moment he is co-opted onto the committee, as his offering his services came too late to be included as a nominee in the official AGM notice. Anyway many thanks Tim, and welcome! We also welcomed another member, John Duffy, who stepped forward to become a Trustee. Welcome John! Also we say adieu to retiring trustee John Western, so thanks John for your input and work whilst you were with us. The evening was rounded off by an enjoyable quizz devised by Alan Rosney.
Great this morning to see my first Swifts of the spring – about 12 flying high over the Ice Rink area and then later towards the barrage end of the bay but still very high. They were reported at 09:30 by regular Bay birder Gareth Stamp. They had disappeared when we walked back across the barrage. The Grey Wag was near the exit lock of Penarth marina and must have a nest nearby judging by the huge beakful of food. A good number of House Martins were present and I noticed one or two fly up into former nest locations on the marina properties. Sand Martns were about, but there was no activity of note at the old dock.
Fairly quiet during a walk up E paddock, across Mile Rd and down W paddock, then round back of W lake and thence cafe. In W paddock highlights were 1 Jay and 1 Green Woodpecker. No sign of any Common or Lesser Whitethroats yet, at least not for me. There were c.6 Reed Warbers singing in the E lake reeds by the main boardwalk, one even showing itself, plus 2 Cetti’s Wblrs. A harsh call had me thinking Magpie until I looked up and saw a bright green shape in a tree by the reeds – Ring-necked Parakeet! It very quickly flew off towards the carpark and I think it was still there when I left as I heard the call again thru’ the open car door. DIdn’t take camera as it was raining when I left home – doh! PS this afternoon in a quick visit to Grangemoor Park I managed the hear the reported Lesser Whitethroat – singing on the opposite of the R. Ely.
13 Club members had a successful trip to Kidwelly, Burry Port, Sandy Water Park and WWT Llanelli on Sat 13th. Despite a damp drizzly start and a v v high tide at Kidwelly concealing the best wader areas, we had a pretty successful day. The final tally was 66 species – highlights – Pink-footed Geese, R-b Mergansers, Whimbrel & Common Sand at Kidwelly; c.1000 Oycs and some interesting Rock Pipits at Burry plus a male Wheatear, AdW Little Gull at Sandy Water Park; Greenshank, 5 Ruff, Blackwits galore. and Russian White-fronted Goose at WWT. We suspected at least one of the Rock Pipits was of the Scandinavian subspecies Anthus petrosus littoralis – the jury is out on that one. Click here for the full list. John Wilson
Interesting display in Pyle Library (managed by Awen Trust) for the next few weeks, raising awareness of Swifts with the aim of inspiring local people to help them. Created as part of GBC’s Glamorgan Swifts project, with considerable input from Porthcawl Swifts. As well as groups of local residents and a number of churches across east Glamorgan, GBC has the support of Bridgend Local Nature Partnership and Bridgend County Council’s Biodiversity team. We are working closely with Porthcawl Town Council and Pyle Community Council (includes Kenfig Hill). Links are being developed with Bridgend Town Council, Cornelly and Laleston Community Councils. Get in touch with us (or ‘Strinda Davies or Alan Rosney‘) if you would like to help.
A few more recent reports from other sources: Yesterday at Lavernock, Sandwich Terns flying d/c, Grasshopper Warbler reeling in the top hedge above Sully Brook [top of the big sloping field], Reed Warbler in W lake reeds amd Hawfinch at usual spot past the dragonfly pond. Today: Gannet, 1 Fulmar, 2 Manxies and 1 Sandwich Tern d/c at Lavernock.
Recent obs from me: on the inner barrage rocks on 1st Apr, a fem Wheatear, White Wagtail and a Rock POipit giving a song flight over the outer barrage. At Cosmeston on 3rd Apr, a Moorhen pair with 5 chicks on the dipping pond, a single House Martin with 4 Sand Martins over W lake and Blackcaps singing. On 5th there were 3 Willow Warblers singing and today a songle Swallow woth 4 Sand MArtons over W lake, and aGreat Crested Grebe pair have a nest in the W lake reeds. Also Club memebvr Wendy saw the Waxwings again by the far side of E lake.
Glamorgan Bird Club 
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