Ogmore 2 white-fronted geese opposite Ogmore Castle with the Canada geese.

Kenfig Pool 2 white-fronted  geese with the Canada geese on the water and subsequently on the fields. 1 short eared owl on the golf course seen four times. A dog walker had seen 2 together.

Are there 4 white-fronted geese locally or are the 2 very mobile I wonder.

Fabulous views of barn owl flitting between fence posts on Felindre Road, close to junction with road to Llanilid. 10 pm Sunday 21st.

Brief visit for short dog walk and coffee after my WeBS count. No ‘weird’ gulls this time but an absolutely stonking full ad Yellow-legged Gull on the water – no if or buts – pure shining white head, mid grey mantle and wing coverts, crisp yellow bill with red gonydeal spot, same size as adj Herring Gull. Also 1 ad Common Gull. No sign of my ‘odd’ one that is considered by some on FB to be a HG x LBBG hybrid.

Green Pt: 800 Redshank, 2000 Dunlin, 13 Ringed Plover, 100 Lapwing, 12 Teal, 11 Mallard, 3 Cormorant, 84 Shelduck, 5 Canada Geese, 2 Gadwall.

Heliport Bay: 72 Pintail, 22 Shoveler, 20 Shelduck, 1 Oycs, 10 Turnstone.

Firecrest showing well in the riverside bushes south of the Millennium Footbridge at 12.30. It was initially in the bushes close to where the railings start (coming from the south). It then flew a few yards south to the tree where the path forks.

17 species this morning, lots of blue tits, great tits, robins- fed well here! No mute swans today.

Blackbird ,  Carrion Crow ,  Coot ,  Great Tit,  Little Grebe ,  Mallard   Robin
Sparrowhawk , Woodpigeon , Blue Tit , Collared Dove , Goldcrest , House Sparrow ,
Magpie ,  Moorhen ,  Song Thrush,  Teal

 

Having conducted regular WEBS counts for just over 3 years at this site, it’s interesting to see local changes over this short time period. In general, Tufted duck numbers seem to be increasing slightly and prob at their peak for this winter at 66 (highest count for me). Mallard numbers decreasing and at their lowest at just 10 individuals. My first record of Goosander this morning with 10 present perhaps reflecting how much more common these birds have become locally. Plastic bottles also seem to be peaking whilst shopping trolleys remain constant.

Juv Iceland Gull came into the gull roost at last light this evening, presumably the same individual seen at Cosmeston Lakes two weeks ago.

 

Good views of the bittern from the south hide, several lapwings over too.

1 hawfinch and 15 greenfinch around St.Davids church, penllegaer this morning

On an overcast morning with a forecast of heavy rain, 26 participants came on the GBC monthly pubic walk today, – with a special welcome to some new faces.

Fortunately it remained mainly dry, and 49 (!) species were seen/heard, the highlights being-   Bittern ,Slavonian Grebe,Goosander, Chiffchaff, 12 Reed Bunting,Goldeneye, Kingfisher, a very close Sparrowhawk perched on a post for several minutes,  and the large number of wildfowl on the pool.

Full list-

Bittern, Blackbird, Canada Goose, Cetti’s Warbler , Chiffchaff , Common Gull , Cormorant
Gadwall ,  Goosander , Great Tit ,  Grey Heron ,  Herring Gull , Jackdaw, Mallard ,                 Lesser Black-backed Gull, Long-tailed Tit , Mistle Thrush  Pied Wagtail , Redshank
Robin, Slavonian Grebe, Sparrowhawk,  Teal, Wigeon, Wren,  Blue Tit,  Coot, Chaffinch,
Collared Dove, Carrion Crow, Black -headed Gull, Dunnock , Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, House Sparrow ,Kingfisher ,Little Grebe, Magpie,
Meadow Pipit ,Mute Swan, Pochard, Reed Bunting, Shoveler, Song Thrush, Starling, Tufted Duck ,Woodpigeon,

2nd yr Yellow-legged Gull and Common Gull at E Lake Cosmeston in the rain a.m.. c.20 Pochard and c.10 Gadwall W lake. Plus my 1st Nuthatch of 2018 by E lake path.

Quite a few people looking through the gull roost at dusk which contained  number of Yellow-legged Gulls. A possible for the Caspian was seen and caused some discussion. I’m sure Amy won’t mind but these are two phone scoped pix she managed to get [Amy Schwartz that is, who many will know from Twitter or SWB Facebook]. Looks much the same as the bird Gareth photo’d initially. Thoughts?

Huge roost tonight with thousands of birds to go through. I picked out the 1st winter Caspian gull again. Also at least 8 yellow legged gulls (4 ad; 2 x 2nd win; 2 x 3rd win). No sign of any white wingers.

Last night was an amazing spectacle over our neighbourhood in Bridgend. Approximately 10,000 quickly massed and performed superbly ranging over to the Broadlands and back by 4.30pm before roosting in Cypress Trees (just visible in the 2nd photo) between 4.35 and 4.45pm. They all seem to come in from the east, perhaps feeding out in the Vale by day? They quickly left the roost at dawn/8.00am and headed off east. This is a new phenomenon in the neighbourhood and began with just 500 at New Year’s Day. We had about 1,000 during the snows several years ago in a slightly different location with less trees but only for a week or two.

Good mix of species which included; Bullfinch(at several locations feeding on Buddleia seed) (12), Treecreeper(1),Dipper(4), Goosander(8),Mallard (14 numbers well down on previous years),Moorhen(5),Kingfisher(1),Grey Heron(1),Nuthatch(1),Goldcrest(2),Mistle Thrush(6), Blackbird(35 including 15 on the 12th Fairway of Mond Golf Club),Song Thrush (14),Mistle Thrush(6),Redwing (257 -112 on fields in Glais area and 145 on fields by the Stables in Trebannws) Meadow Pipit(6),Goldfinch(25),Black Headed-Gull (45 all in Trebannws water treatment works)

Tonight’s murmurations were a little later but eventually at least 6,500 birds roosted in Cypress/leylandii trees between Oaklands Road and Broadlands. Only a couple of weeks ago there were just 500! Quite a spectacle, I wonder how big the flock will get? …….

Two European White-fronted Geese were on Ploran Mawr, Ogmore, today (SS 878 767). They were reportedly flushed by site workers wearing hi-vis jackets at 14:20 and were later seen in flight over the dunes heading towards Porthcawl. This is my first site record of the species since a flock of nine on 03/12/1998.

First found by Heather Galliford and Emily Williams on 11th Jan, but still present today in the area before the red footbridge, Sofia Gardens side of the Taff. The bird is generally hanging around in an area with several goldcrest in the vegetation on the river side of the path, but occasionally pops up into the trees above.  Either it’s the same bird found by Alan Cripps recently up near the weir, or there is more than one in the area.

Cardiff Bay gull roost is always a challenge – distant birds and low light. This bird instantly stood out amongst the flock tonight. I am pretty confident on its ID but comments always welcome