A 2cy Little Gull, 4 Common Terns, 1 Common Sandpiper. Around the reserve 1 Reed Warbler singing + scattering of Blackcap, Willow W and Chiffchaff. Gull & terns out in mid bay at 16:30 viewed from Prospect Place or Llwyn Passat.

Also 2 Wheatear on the barrage rocks about 17:00.

Sand Martin over the Taff by the inlet at 11.30

Juv Glaucous Gull close inshore from Llwyn Passat at 09:50.

The Glaucous Gull found by Graham Smith was still present at 14:00 but by then out in the middle of the Bay with the other big gulls.

Bit distant but managed a couple of record shots.

Firecrest in the trees near the entrance ramp off N Road at about 10:30, last seen near the canal.

Managed a record shot before it flew off.

Nice to see two Brambling drop into the sallow at the start of the boardwalk this morning, although they were there for less than a minute before continuing on their way.

Firecrest was also showing off and on all morning – nice to see it in sunshine.

The Stolt Fulmar (a tanker) came into Cardiff Docks at 09:45 with quite a few Kittiwakes in tow, allowing nice views as some were only 300m off the barrage – shame the skuas weren’t that close!

Firecrest was in bushes to the right of the start of the boardwalk and was extremely obliging this morning.

A Firecrest was in the bushes along the boardwalk for about 10-15 minutes this morning from 8:30. Last seen looking as though it was going to work its way up the hedge from the boardwalk to the yacht club gates.

Not quite the numbers at Lavernock but counts over 4 hours from just before dawn this morning include:
1020 Wood Pigeon (NE rather than the more usual W), 850 Fieldfare, 340 Redwing, 570 Chaffinch, 500 Starling, 100 Goldfinch. Four Golden Plover and two Lapwing and one Brambling were a little out the ordinary and there was also one Swallow.

No sign of the Lesser Grey Shrike but 4 Short-eared Owls giving great views prowling the fields made the drive over worthwhile.

Great Spotted Woodpecker over and fem Goldeneye with group of Tufted Duck close in to barrage.

Record shot of the Goldeneye this morning.

Also had one of the Tufted Duck hybrids in with the flock of Tufted Duck below the Taff bridge a bit later. Photo below for the record.

Another good morning of vis mig east over the Bay and Barrage. Watch from 07:15-11:15 produced the following counts:
Swallow (a mere) 1500
Goldfinch 700
Linnet 330
Meadow Pipit 270
Pied/White Wagtail 125
Siskin 87
Crossbill 9
Chaffinch 8
Skylark 6
Yellow Wagtail 2
Black-tailed Godwit 4 flew east roughly over Mermaid Quay at 10:05 (difficult to tell as I was watching them from the barrage but they passed in front of the Pierhead then Atradius). I thought there was a 5th godwit-sized bird without wing bars with them but couldn’t see any sign of it in the record shots I grabbed as they flew off.

A great morning of vis mig with a 4 hour watch between 07:35-11:35 producing counts of:
Swallow c.8,000
Goldfinch 776
House Martin c.400
Meadow Pipit 330
Linnet 266
Pied/White Wagtail 194
Siskin 117
Sand Martin 30
Crossbill 15
Chaffinch 11
Skylark 4
Reed Bunting 2
Tree Pipit 1
Yellow Wagtail 1
Undoubted highlights of the day for me though were a Hobby and a male Ring Ouzel.

There was also what was very likely a Nuthatch east too but it was a way offshore and just a silhouette so no more than a probable.

Bit of easterly vis mig this morning between 08:00-11:30: Swallow 420, Goldfinch 310, Linnet 115, Meadow Pipit 75, Pied/White Wagtail 40 (over), Pied Wagtail 36 (on ground), Grey Wagtail 10, Skylark 2, Redpoll 2, Yellow Wagtail 1 (on ground briefly).

Spotted Flycatcher still present along with c. 20 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap and 4 Pied Wagtails, also 3 Mistle Thrush west overhead.

Two Spotted Flycatchers this morning, it’s turning into a good autumn for them, that’s at least 5 now compared to none last year. One was in the trees by the Harbour Authority compound and there was another – much more obliging individual – in the trees in Britannia Park (the grass and trees by the Waterguard pub). There were also 5 Coal Tits and 8 Chiffchaffs in the trees.

Earlier there had been quite a few alba wagtails over the Barrage with 28 on the grass by the play area at one point – all those appeared to be Pieds. Vis mig included 25 alba wagtails, 120 Meadow Pipit, 16 Siskin, 2 Redpoll, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Coal Tit.

Barrage bird on the left Britannia Park on the right – fortunately plenty of plumage differences to tell them apart.

The Britannia Park bird was particularly obliging.

One Whinchat at 17:00 this evening flycatching from the tops of the buddleja and even the tops of the poplars at one point.

Earlier at least 3 Wheatear still on the barrage and a small number of birds moving east but really difficult to pick up in the haze, best being a couple of Redpoll and a Tree Pipit.

The Wheatears were fairly obliging this morning.

A Spotted Flycatcher in the trees immediately to the east of the Harbour Authority compound at 09:00 was a bit of a surprise, otherwise the bay seemed quiet.

Good bit of vis mig along the barrage and over the bay this morning 9-11am: Swallow 865, Siskin 54, Grey Wagtail 26 and Tree Pipit 4. I’m sure there were quite a few Sand and House Martin moving too but impossible to judge as there are still lots of the local breeders knocking around over the bay to confuse the issue. Most of the Swallows went through in less than an hour between 10-11.