after another visit to Beach Rd, across Loughor river, i manger some pic without need a arrow and without word honest afterwards

Friday 5th April Sand Martin circa 2o Willow Warbler 1 Chiffchaff 1

Quick walk along west side and up through valley today 5Apr. 1x stonechat (m) and 1st swallow of spring for me. Also seen or heard calling 1x greenfinch, 2x blackcap, 4x chiffchaff. And Holly blue (m) butterfly.

A few Sand Martins were entering nest holes in the old feeder dock by Tiger Yard (was Dr Who). Fem Wheatear and a White Wagtail  were on the inner barrage rocks by the sails, and a Rock Pipit gave a song flight over the outer barrage rocks.

News from today via outher channels. A drake Lesser Scaup was at Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve, and Waxwings were till hainging around at Cosmeston, seen this morning in trees by the concrete road that runs past the Medieval Village. I oassed there late morning but couldn;t find them. At the dipping pond a pair of Moorhens have 5 tiny chicks.

1m-Gadwall at Hendre Lake this afternoon.Can’t ever remember seeing one there before.

Thanks to the 16 souls who came to KNNR today and walked out to Sker and those who stayed to view Kenfig Pool. Pretty successful even tho the tide was falling, with 45 species in all [subject to scrutiny]. At Sker there were at least 6 Wheatear around the farm area and a Greenshank accompanying a Redshank, was an unexpected bonus on the flood. At Sker Pt we had a flock f 28 Golden Plover that eventually settled and another flock of around 50 flew over. Alan Rosney managed to wheedle out 4 Purple Sandpipers with Turnstones – I managed to see one but sadly not everyone managed to get eyes on. There were 2 Ringed Plovers and a few Oycs. On the pool, 2 prs of Wigeon, 4 Shoveler, a few Gadwall, 1 drake Scaup, 4 Goldeneye but sadly no hirundines. Seversal Willow Warblers were singing. All in all an enjoyable few hours, and surprisingly warm. A few record shots posted below, individually casptioned where necessary. The sun corona/halo was impressive. John WIlson Full list here [subject to anything I’ve forgotten]. At the perched pipit is a Meadow although I did wonder whether it might be Tree, but concensus was Mipit. Bottom pic possibly a WIllow Warbler due to the primary extension.

A circular walk this morning from Cyfarthfa Park to Penmoelallt and back produced 40 species, including:

Goosander and Great Spotted Woodpecker at Cyfarthfa Park;

Dipper and Kingfisher on the Taf Fechan (just upstream from Pont y Cefn);

Lesser Redpoll, Siskin, Green Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Raven and Crossbill in Penmoelallt.

How sweet – take at Kenfig – Saturday 23 March 2024

In the cold this morning there were around 30 Sand Martins feeding over E. lake and over the trees on the west side, plus more over W. lake and some at some height above. Two Chiffchaffs and 2 Blackcaps were singing and a Sparrowhawk hunted along the edge of Cogan Wood by the dragonfly pond.

22nd March: Willow Warbler 1 Chiffchaff 3 Cetti’s Warbler 3 Great Crested Grebe 1

Flemingston Moor is once again very flooded after recent rain. Waterbirds present this morning included 2 Teal, 6 Wigeon, 2 Gadwall (4 years to the day since my last record here), 13 Mallard, 8 Greylag Geese, 81 Canada Geese, 9 Mute Swan, 1 Cormorant, 15 Little Egret, 2 Grey Heron, 13 Coot and 5 Moorhen.

Also present: Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Chiffchaff (1 singing) and 2 Great Black-backed Gull.

On the way home a Kestrel was hunting alongside Hayes Road, Sully.

Nine folk came on the GBC Kenfig public walk on Saturday 16th March. Great to see everyone on a chilly , damp and overcast day, and we were able to find 47 species between us! The highlights were, a Scaup, Sand Martin – here at last! Pintail, a Skylark singing, a nest building Coot, a Great Crested Grebe also nesting in front of the hide, while some of the group hiked down to the coast to find Purple Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Turnstone and Golden Plover, some in breeding plumage.

Full list-

Canada Goose , Greylag Goose , Mute Swan , Shoveler , Gadwall , Wigeon , Mallard , Teal , Pochard, Tufted Duck , Scaup
Feral Pigeon , Woodpigeon , Collared Dove , Coot , Great Crested Grebe, Golden Plover , Ringed Plover, Curlew Turnstone , Purple Sandpiper, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull , Cormorant , Grey Heron
Magpie , Jackdaw , Carrion Crow , Raven , Blue Tit , Great Tit , Skylark , Sand Martin, Cetti’s Warbler , Chiffchaff , Wren
Starling , Blackbird , Robin , Stonechat , House Sparrow , Dunnock , Pied/White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch
Bullfinch

Many thanks to Dave Carrington for leading

Four on the Ely Trail , Canton on 16th March.

A ‘high’ high tide this morning pushed some of the gulls and waders off the beach and on to the playing fields. Birds seen on the WeBS count included 4 Curlew, 21 Oystercatcher, 1 Dunlin, 53 Turnstone, 5 Shelduck, 38 Black-headed Gull, 30 Herring and 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Also present 1 Green Woodpecker, a singing Blackcap and calling Chiffchaff, singing Mistle Thrush, 14 Goldfinch, 2 Greenfinch and a Pheasant .

Seven Little Egret at Barry Old Harbour early this morning was my highest count for the site (previous highest 4). Also present 12 Redshank, 1 Kingfisher and a Blackcap. Later at Cadoxton Ponds a flock of 15 Siskin were busy in the trees near the Nature Centre building.

Yesterday’s WeBS count at a cold, windy Flemingston Moor included 15 Little Egret (highest count there recently is 27), 1 Cormorant, 9 Greylag Geese, 96 Canada Geese, 12 Mute Swan, 10 Mallard, 2 Coot , 1 Moorhen and 5 Herring Gull.

Ring-necked Duck 2 Pochard 2 Gadwall 3 Tufted Duck 53 Great Crested Grebe 3 Little Grebe 10 Common Sandpiper 1 Chiffchaff 2 mixed flock of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls 70 Black-headed Gull 8

One singing on Ely Trail, Leckwith.

3/3/24

There were 7 of us at Bryngarw Country Park on Sunday morning for our first Women’s Walk of the year. It was good to meet old and new friends in the lovely sunshine! Between us we saw or heard 28 species.

The highlights were – Mandarin Duck on the pond, a singing Pied Wagtail, several Siskin, Carrion Crow with nesting material, a Dipper flying up river, Mistlethrush, Jay, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker calling.

Full List-

Mandarin Duck , Mallard, Woodpigeon , Moorhen , Herring Gull , Grey Heron, Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker , Green Woodpecker, Jay , Magpie , Jackdaw , Carrion Crow , Blue Tit , Great Tit , Wren , Nuthatch , Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Blackbird , Robin, Dipper , Dunnock , Grey Wagtail , Pied/White Wagtail , Chaffinch , Goldfinch , Siskin 

Many thanks to everyone for coming along, and especially to Strinda for co -leading, and of course Julia, who, with her local knowledge as a volunteer, showed us special parts of the park and found us lots of birds!

A Whstsapp message popped up whilst I was having breakfast. Local birder Graham Smith had found 4 Waxwings on the W. paddock hedge. Fingers crossed when I eventually set out, then it started to rain!. Ploughed on with Poppy the pooch in tow, squelching through the mud of the paddock, I eventually found the birds sitting atop a Silver Birch overlooking the dragonfly pond. They were quite settled there, occasionally dropping down to grab rose hips. I tied Poppy to a bench nearby then using a bush as cover, managed to get a few photos despite the rain. In the top right pic, the lowest bird is a Redwing.