Cosmeston yesterday & today. A Common Gull yesterday allowed some nice shots. There haven’t been many this winter. Today a Water Vole was swimming by the dipping pond boardwalk and I managed to grab a shot before it disappeared beneath. In an Alder there, there were c20 Siskin feeding but they flew off N towards the golf course. Up by the dragonfly pond quagmire, there were a few Fieldfare and Redwing, and 2 Green Woodpeckers. One of the Gret Crested Grebe pairs have been doing some preparatory displaying recently, and the Little Grebes have been very vocal.

A visit yesterday afternoon (8th) between downpours to what’s once again an extensively flooded moor after recent rain. Lapwing (18) had returned after being absent on my previous visit. Other waterbirds and gulls present included 1 Egyptian Goose, 3 Greylag and 107 Canada Geese, 1 Little Grebe, 25 Mallard, 7 Mute Swan, 2 Grey Heron, 16 Little Egret, 2 Moorhen, 1 Cormorant, 2 Great Black-backed Gull plus Herring, Lesser Black-backed and a single Black-headed Gull.

Song Thrush, Dunnock, Robin, Wren and Collared Dove were singing, and other birds present included 1 Stock Dove, 3 Stonechat, 1 Buzzard and 15 Pied Wagtail.

The is a huge area of flooding at the watermill and nearby fields we saw

Grey Heron 4 Little Egret 2 Mallard 26 Teal 59 Wigeon 46 Shelduck 3 Canada Goose 50 Mute Swan 3 Moorhen 2 Curlew 33 Herring Gull 28 Black-headed Gull 2Gret Spotted WP 1Carrion Crow 12 Song thrush 1 Pied Wagtail 4 at Portobello Goldeneye 5 unusually no gulls.

A nice find by Wayne Strong this morning at Cosmeston was 2 adult Cattle Egrets in the dovecote field, with the small herd of cattle that are now grazing there. No photos from me – they were too far away for anything decent. Also via Wayne, an adult Med Gull moulting into breeding plumage was on E lake near the sluice in the NW corner. There’s a couple of pix I took below which give a nice comparison of overall structure compared to Black-headed Gull, for any gull ‘newbies’. A couple of other pix of common birds of Cogan Wood taken a few days ago when I was failing to tempt Marsh Tits with some seed.!

A male daily for the last seven days in my garden in Cardiff.

Peregrine, Kestrel and Buzzard were all present at Flemingston Moor early this afternoon, as were 19 Little Egret, an Egyptian Goose, a Wigeon pair and five gull species including Common and Great Black-backed.

Brief short walk at Cosmeston this morning [dodgy back!]. A Common Gull was on the canioe launch jetty on E lake, pr of Great Crested Grebes displaying briefly on W lake, 3 Little Grebe being very vocal, and a large of birds feeding in W paddock amongst the low vegetation [c.50 Redwing, c.10 Fieldfare, Greenfinch and Goldfinch].

A pair of Willow Tit in Coed Penmailard on the east side of Penmoelallt was the highlight of a walk from Cyfarthfa Park this morning. Other species seen or heard included 10 Goosander on the lake at Cyfarthfa Park, drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker in Cyfarthfa Park, Green Woodpecker and 5 Crossbill at Penmoelllallt, two Siskin flocks in Cefn-coed-y-cymmer, Dipper pair visiting a likely nest site on the Taf Fechan and a singing Dipper on the Taf Fawr.

An early Saturday (27/1) morning walk at high tide along the Sully coast path included sightings on Sully Island of 10 Brent Geese (8 pale-bellied, 2 dark-bellied), 9 Curlew, c. 60 small waders (mostly Dunlin, but with a few Ringed Plover), 8 Turnstone and 77 Oystercatcher. Another 25 Turnstone and 4 Ringed Plover were on Sully beach near Burnham Avenue beach car park.

Later, after drawing a blank on a couple of previous visits, finally got to see the male Black Redstart at Porth Teigr. On to nearby Heliport Bay for a brief look (the tide was halfway out by now) and saw distantly 3 Pintail, 5 Shoveler and 2 Curlew along with Shelduck, Dunlin and Redshank.

A good turn out for the GBC trip to Cosmeston today – 18 participants! East Lake, West Lake via Mile Road, West Paddock and Cogan Wood were covered during 3 1/2 hours. Sadly depsite promises by the leader yours truly, Hawfinch and Marsh Tit weren’t playing ball. Actually we had what was probably a Marsh Tit seen very briefly high up in a tree beyond the dragonfly pond but concensus was that it wouldn’t be logged. Tufted Duck numbers were down on recenr cold weather numbers and the recent female RIng-necked Duck couldn’t be found. We did see a very smart Aythya hybrid, most likely a Pochard x Tufted Duck. Other highlights were a Cetti’s Warbler in the open briefly by the dipping pond, Treecreeper, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, and a large flock of feeding thrushes and finches above the dragonfly pond which included Redwing & Fieldfare affording nice scope views, plus Goldfinch and Greenfinch. Cogan Wood produced Great, Blue and Coal Tits, Nuthatch and Chaffinch coming to seed but no Marsh Tit. Many, including me, were pooped buy the time we got back to the cafe so we called it a day, and didn’t head off to Cardiff Bay. Light was pretty dull but here’s a few piccies. John Wilson. Edit – we saw 41 species including the hybrid – full list here

Just 1 Common, 5 Black-headed and 10 Herring Gull present at Kenfig Pool yesterday mid-afternoon (24/1) for the BTO’s Winter Gull survey, and all had left by sunset.

Waterbirds on the pool and/or nearby included 2 Goldeneye, 29 Tufted, 2 Teal, 50 Gadwall, 50 Pochard, 115 Canada Geese, 6 Cormorant, 3 Great Crested Grebe, 48 Gadwall, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Mute Swan, 33 Coot, 29 Wigeon and 2 Water Rail. Other birds present included Cetti’s Warbler, Bullfinch, Redwing, Jay and Long-tailed Tit.

100+ Woodpigeon gathered in trees at dusk on the west side of the pool.

After reading about the upcoming field trip to Newton beach, I thought I’d visit to look for Purple Sandpipers. Unfortunately no luck, however lots of Turnstone, a couple of groups of Ringed Plovers, single Curlew, 7 Grey Plover, 2 smart Med Gulls, Great Black Backed Gull, a male Goosander flew over the beach, Redshank, Herring gulls, and a good amount of Oystercatchers.

Moved onto Porthcawl, and again no Purple sandpipers at all along the front.

32 Curlew were on Ogmore Moor this afternoon in a field adjacent Ogmore Castle. Also there: 2 Gadwall, 1 Teal, 18 Mallard, 72 Canada Geese, 3 Pied Wagtail and a Meadow Pipit.

At The Watermill flood: 1 Lapwing, 21 Teal, 2 Shelduck, 2 Redshank, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Cormorant, 20 Mallard and c. 100 Black-headed Gull.

20/1/24

Fourteen folk came on the first Kenfig walk of the year, it was cold , overcast and windy, some ice on the pool, so many waterfowl quite distant - we felt lucky to find 30 species between us! The highlights were – Fieldfare flitting about in a bush, a Sparrowhawk, a Water Rail heard, Woodpigeon in display flight, and a skein of more than 30 Canada Geese flying towards the pool , quite closely overhead as we walked down.

Canada Goose , Greylag Goose, Mute Swan , Shoveler , Gadwall , Mallard , Teal , Pochard , Goldeneye , Woodpigeon , Collared Dove , Water Rail , Moorhen , Coot , Black-headed Gull , Great Black-backed Gull , Magpie , Carrion Crow , Blue Tit  Great Tit , Chiffchaff , Blackbird , Fieldfare , Robin , House Sparrow , Dunnock , Chaffinch, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Wigeon

The lone Waxwing was seen again early this morning in E paddock, but it then reappeared in the row of trees by the dragonfly pond where I saw it yesterday afternoon, as I was walking past there late morning, although I only saw it briefly. It was then seen again not long aftterwards. There were c.10 Fieldfare and c20 Redwing plus 4 Mistle Thrush, 20 Goldfinch and 2 Greenfinches in that raised area of W paddock behind the dragonfly pond. A Hawfinch was seen early on at the far end of E paddock and also 3 in the usual area beyond the dragonfly pond.

Very few gulls present yesterday afternoon in a strong, southerly wind at the Thaw rivermouth for the BTO Winter Gull survey. Single figure counts of Common, Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed when I arrived, and during the afternoon never more than 50 or so Herring Gull in the count area (the sea and the beach, from Breaksea Pt to East Aberthaw lagoon). By dusk there were 150+ Herring Gull sheltering outside the count area on the former power station buildings, and just 10 on the sea.

Early afternoon near high tide 13 Curlew and 67 Oystercatcher were on the beach between Breaksea Pt and the rivermouth, and a Kestrel was hunting near the coast path in the same area. 10 Shelduck were east of the rivermouth. Other birds present included 2 Peregrine on towers in the former power station site, and 85+ Wigeon and 5 Mute Swan along the coast including at the rivermouth. Most numerous birds on the beach late afternoon were 500+ corvids – mostly Jackdaw and Carrion Crow.

Yesterday, west lake was more or less completely frozen over with a bunch of Black-headed Gulls and a lone Common Gull resting on it. A couple of Green Woodpeckers were near the dragonfly pond, and one paused enough for a photo. After I got home, news came that a single Waxwing had been seen near the dragonfly pond. I couldn’t return so hoped it would be there today. Thankfully it was although I missed on my first pass, but after a coffee in the cafe I got a Whatsapp that it was showing and went back and was pleased to see it still there. It just rested on the same tree for about 20 minutes before flying off. Needless to say a lot of photos were taken. On the way back I managed a couple of record shots of the female Ring-necked Duck that was found yesterday. As a PS the Waxwing was refound later in E paddock.

18/01/2024  4-Snipe from the hide looking to the left. This is the most Snipe i have seen at this site for a long time.

Back to local birding after a week away in N. Norfolk [117 species!! – maybe a separate post when I’ve got time].
On Mon 15th I did my monthly WeBS [Wetland Bird Survey] count at the Rhymney Estuary on the E. side of Cardiff. Highlights were around 800 each of Redshank and Dunlin, plus 55 Pintail, 30 Teal and 90 Shelduck. On my way back I stopped off at Cardiff Bay to see the Black-necked Grebe [distant from the road bridge] and then the Long-tailed Duck [from the barrage].
Yesterday, 17th on another ‘tick’ hunt I went up to Llanishen/Lisvane Reservoirs and found the Red-necked Grebe, and also the drake and female Ring-necked Duck pair plus an overwintering Common Sandpiper. Sadly the Great Northern Diver had left.
Today was the usual circuit of Cosmeston where W lake was partly frozen over but there were 140 or so Tufted Duck, 2 drake Pochard, a pair of Gadwall, and around 20 Teal. Got a couple of nice shots of Redwing and Fieldfare feeding on berries, and there were 2 Water Voles by the dipping pond boardwalk.

Photos – top L some of the Redshank & Dunlin; top R fem Goosander in the bay; middle R – v distanrt Long-tailed Duck; middle L Redwing; bottom L Fieldfare; bottom R Water Vole.

At high tide this morning there were 4 pale-bellied Brent Geese on the sea along the Sully Island shoreline. On the island itself 104 Oystercatcher, 12 Curlew, 7 Shelduck , 1 Turnstone and 40 or so Black-headed Gulls.