Fine views of the Great Northern Diver still present late afternoon on a flat calm Llwyn-onn reservoir. Also present at the north end of the reservoir 20 Snipe, 6 Cormorant and 2 Little Grebe.

Lots of Crossbill in the forestry to the east of the reservoir.

Extensive flooding on Sully and Cog Moors and birds there this afternoon included 4 Cattle Egret, 11 Little Egret and 13 Grey Heron.

Birds seen on a short visit over high tide at Newton Point this morning included 7 Grey Plover, 50 Turnstone, 4 Dunlin and 3 Redshank.

At The Watermill flood between Ewenny and Ogmore there were 17 Wigeon, 21 Teal, 4 Redshank, 3 Shelduck, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret, 7 Moorhen and a singing Mistle Thrush.

Further downstream at Portobello/Ploran Mawr there were 15+ Goldeneye, 3 Gadwall, 7 Teal, 9 Little Grebe, 7 Goosander, 1 Redshank, 1 Kestrel, 20+ Chaffinch and a Stonechat pair.

A Kestrel was hunting close to the B4265 near Pant y Groes between St Brides Major and Wick.

Late morning at Flemingston Moor there were 127 Lapwing, 2 Egyptian Geese, 4 Greylag Geese, 9 Little Egret, 3 Grey Heron, 17 Fieldfare and a Great Black-backed Gull.

Just 30 species today to kick the year off. A couple of good ones at Cosmeston, which can betricky – first 5 Hawfinch flew a loop out of the edge of Cogan Wood, beyond the dragonfly pond, then looped back in again. Had then perched briefly then lost them. Plenty of Redwing there and a Green Woodpecker. Second, in Cogan Wood I was pleased to see a Marsh Tit and get a couple of pix, although the light was very dull, and then some distance further along the path, 2 more Marsh Tits – defo different individuals. A male Bullfinch in the wood was nice to see too. Other than these, plenty of common species incl the usual Tufties on the lakes [52 in all] and a drake Pochard, 3 Little Grebes and 2 Great Crested. At our garden feeder at breakfast, a Coal Tit was an addition for the day. The 2 Magpies in the photos were fighting over the scrap of bread on the ground – I’ve never seen one pinned down like that before.
In the afternoon I deciced to take a trip to Newport to see if I could see the Waxwings that have been feeding on a Rowan in Rogerstone, for a while now – this was my first convenient opportunity, and although the rain had come in, I went anyway. I got to the location and lo & behold there they were, 14 of them resting at the top of a large tree. The rain was getting heavier but I persevered and took some record shots and had a good look at the birds and then regained the shelter of the car and headed home. A bit of a smash & grab raid but they were nice to see.
Here’s a link to the full list for today.

I visited Rogerstone first day after Boxing Day ended up like drowned rat but last Saturday success

Decided to avoid the mud of Cosmeston and walk across the barrage this morning, then around Porth Teigr and back. Just off the orange buoys inside the barrage locks there was a female Goosander and a single Common Gull on the buoys, and a Rock Pipit flew in and landed by the inner shore. Farther along a flock of around 12 Linnet flew past, as did a flight of 16 Cormorant over the Bay. By the feeder dock where the Sand Martins nest a lady pointed out a Kingfisher sitting on a railing, which then flew down to a ledge on the dock wall. I grabbed a pic but it was rather too far off for a decent image. Round at the Porth Teigr area by Roath Basin there was a decided no-show by any Black Redstarts, although it was quite gusty. A Chiffchaff was flitting around in scrub by the bridge next to the Gloworks building [Common Chiffchaff I’m sure – I detected no greyish tones suggestive of Sibe], and there were just 3 Meadow Pipits on the rough ground by Gloworks. On the return leg there were 3 Common Gulls on the orange buoys and 53 Cormorant sitting along the inner jetty [there had been none there on the way out]. Kingfisher below, 1 as taken on max Zoom and one cropped from the same image as much as I dare.

Just a quick visit this morning, dodging a nasty shower at one point. First bird on arrival was a male Great Spotted Woodpecker atop a tree behind the dipping pond. A Cetti’s Warbler gave a quick burst there too. There were 24 Tufties on E lake and 8 on W lake, plus 4 Gadwall near the posts [visible in omne of the pix below]. The W lake posts had 3 smart aduilt Cormorants all sporting their white thigh patch. One was partiularly white headed but I’m not claiming it as a full sinensis.! I just scanned W paddock from the gate and the only bird on the deck was a male Pheasant by the hedge, and whilst I was watching that, a female Sparrowhawk shot across from left to right. A sharp shower as I returned to the cafe produced a full rainbow.

Recent rain has significantly increased the surface water on Flemingston Moor. Birds present this morning included 87 Lapwing (highest count so far this winter), 2 Egyptian Geese (also present yesterday), 23 Greylag Geese, 18 Little Egret (highest count so far this winter), 8 Cormorant, 4 Grey Heron, 4 Common Gull, 65 Starling, 13 Fieldfare and 2 Redwing.

Late morning on Pymbylu Moor (across the road from Barry McDonalds), 1 Cattle Egret in with the cattle.

Barn Owl seen 23Dec 0700 close to Gileston on the B4265. My wife says she saw one in the area a few days prior. Close to cars on the road, glad I avoided it.

Great Northern Diver 2 Common Sandpiper 1 Ring-necked Duck 1 female Little Egret 1 Little Grebe 12 . Santa Claus on a speed boat was a lifer!

An early morning visit today to Flemingston Moor produced 33 species. Breezy conditions and a much dryer moor than of late with a lot less surface water.

Species seen or heard included a flyover Common Crossbill, 12 Lapwing, 14 Little Egret, 12 Common Gull, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, 3 Grey Heron, 4 Greylag Geese, 20 Fieldfare, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Rook and a Stonechat pair.

Sightings on a walk over Sully/Cog Moors earlier this week included a total of 17 Grey Heron present, easily my highest count for East Glamorgan.

Delighted to see this female Great Spotted Woodpecker at our garden peanut feeder this morning in the rain, although it was soon spooked by a marauding squirrel. Even more delighted when it was back again this afternoon and through the kitchen window, I managed to get a nice still and some video showing her having a real go at the peanuts. The video is via a link to my Youtube channel [file too big to upload to ths site].

Thirteen folk came on our ‘Pies In The Hide’ Christmas Kenfig Public Walk on Saturday 16th December. On such an overcast , drizzly, misty day we were delighted to hear or see 36 species between us – many thanks to the experts for this! The highlights were- Winter Thrushes- Redwing, and Fieldfare, plus Mistle Thrush, Coal tit, Common Gull, Bullfinch , while we heard a very close Water Rail amongst the reeds.

Greylag Goose, Gadwall , Mallard , Pochard , Tufted Duck , Woodpigeon , Collared Dove , Water Rail , Moorhen , Coot
Great Crested Grebe , Common Gull , Herring Gull , Lesser Black-backed Gull, Cormorant , Great Spotted Woodpecker , Jay , Magpie , Carrion Crow , Coal Tit, Blue Tit , Great Tit , Cetti’s Warbler , Long-tailed Tit , Goldcrest , Starling , Mistle Thrush , Redwing , Blackbird , Fieldfare , Robin , House Sparrow , Dunnock , Chaffinch , Bullfinch , Goldfinch

Many thanks to Dave Carrington for leading.

The Two Great Northern Divers are still there.They are not together so sometimes hard to find.

I did a pretty productive Rhymney WeBS count this morning, conducted at Green Point. A veritable murmuration of Redshank and Dunlin, c.1000 and c.1500 respectively, 40 Lapwing, 32 Wigeon, 80 Pintail, 60 Teal, 86 Shelduck, 40 Mallard, just 1 Curlew, 2 Cormorant, plus 9 Pied Wags and 3 Meadow Pipits. The waders were very restless, settling then flying around en masse, and frequently the Redshank would settle on the water and swim around in a tight group. No pix as I didn’t take the camera. For those that don’t know, Green Point is the area by the rivermouth, on the opposite side of Rover Way to the Tesco superstore. Be v careful crossing Rover Way at the lights – it’s not a pedestrian crossing.

Avoided the mud of Cosmeston late morning and walked across the barrage instead. Just 3 Pied Wags on the barrage and the usual bunch of Sparrows, although there were 50 Cormorant resting on the inner ‘jetty’. At Porth Teigr just the male Black Redstart was on the favoured pile of rocks and wouldn’t come closer to the fence. On the way back a Kestrel was hovering across from the Swift tower and there were 5 Redshank on the mud outside the barrage.

24-Little Egrets flew from the island roost today at first light.

3x greenfinches seen in gardens on 10min walk back from town centre. Seems a bit of a rarity these days. Just as I was wondering where all the chaffinches had gone I found 5 at another garden feeder.

Decent views of 31 Snipe at the northern end of Llwyn-Onn reservoir this afternoon. Also there 1 Jay, 2 Little Grebe, 8 Mallard, 8 Cormorant and a few Crossbill. A Dipper was below the dam.

A large feeding party of Long-tailed Tits were by the lower end of Mile Road, with a Goldcrest in tow. Managed a miraculous couple of shots of a LTT despite having to hold the camera one-handed at full zoom, with the pup on the lead in the other hand! Whilst I was by the dipping pond, a Sparrowhawk made a couple of rapid passes. The Casualty filming is still going on at the far end of West Lake, despite its supposed status as a ‘conservation lake’. I hate to think what a quagmire the grassy bank there will be when they’ve finished. Anyway despite that there were 7 Gadwall in the middle of W lake, an increase on the 2 pairs of recent days – maybe the extra three have been pushed out of the reeds by the disturbance of the filming, which has involved the roof of a car in the water, and attendant frogmen, and a jetty being installed by ther waters edge to support equipment. The tree shot was just ‘cos it was nice to see them illuminated by the strange bright round object in the sky.! FInally there was ratty feeding on some spilt bird food seed.