2 Swallows west over the car park at the Barrage. Also a 2nd winter Med Gull on the pontoon at Channel View slip – which has no feet, just two stumps.

Kingfishers showing very well around the boardwalk in the wetland reserve this morning, at least 3 birds – and a Water Rail creeping around right next to the boardwalk but just in the bushes.

2 Black Redstarts (ad,m.and 1st.sum.m) seen together on the roof tops of Plas Pamir ( by the obelisk). Another BR (1st.sum.male?) seen on the east side of Roath Lock entrance among the piles of rocks and boulders about 60m south of the Seafarers Center along the new pathway.

It took me ten months to get a mention in the summary and it was for a bird I didn’t see!  

in work today

i was asked to help catch a ‘robyn’ from one of the old offices

when i saw t he bird i was very amazed and also my 1st time to see a Black Redstart!! not only that i t was a Female Black Redstart! i couldnt believe it!

it was very stressed, bashing about in the window and frantically flying everywhere i managed to catch it, it was quite underweight and panting!

took it to the canteen and asked the chef to get a box and some bumch of idiots wanted to have a look at the bird and it flew out of my hands and flew inside the false roof where the aircon is 😥

i just hope there is a gap in the actual roof for her to fly out of there was nothing anyone can done im devastated

Damp [initially] and v windy GBC trip to WWT Penclacwydd today. This odd little beastie had us scratching our heads looking thro’ the blurred glass of the Heron’s Wing hide. Managed this phone scoped pic from a viewing screen outside in a howling gale. It’s cropped, but clearly shows a Common Teal with a weird partial leucistic head. It also had pale dirty yellowish legs. From our poor views in the hide we were stringing Bufflehead/Hooded Merg! Other than that, there were 9 Greenshank, about 50 Blackwits, and other common waders, a Peregrine, 1 Sprawk, around 10 Brents seen out in the Burry, and all the common ducks – good weather for them!

Stunning grey wag in stream @Wx.. Small flock of Redshank, turnstones, lots of BH gulls, Small number of oycs scattered over the beach.. Everything struggling with the high winds including me.!!

At least one Ring Ouzel remains in Pant Norton, also a Woodcock flushed from bracken at point blank range.

1 1st. yr. male Black Redstart, different from the others, on the rocks, railings and roof tops around Lock Cottage; no sign of any others. On the orange buoys, 12 Common Gulls. In Hamadryad ‘pond’, 2 Water Rails showed well for 4-5 minutes by the drain outlet. In CBWR, another WRail showed briefly, also  Kingfisher and Bullfinch. Otherwise, the reserve was almost bereft of water birds. In Prospect Place, 66 Tufted Duck.

Rhymney Est [Green Pt] – 1500 Redshank, 300 Dunlin, 100 Lapwing, 26 Shoveler, 3 Gadwall, 120 Pintail, 130 Shelduck, 2 Jack Snipe [first I’ve seen at Green Pt for quite some time], 1 Comm Snipe, 1 Peregrine over.

Heliport Bay – 16 Turnstone, 22 Oyc, 1 Curlew and 1 Little Egret. Just added this – forgot to mention at the Heliport I had a Clouded Yellow flying around. Seems v late …. ?

Lavernock-2-Peregrines m+f overhead for ages before flying off at great speed to mob a Buzzard.Also;100+Fieldfares
Cosmeston-lots of aliens about;130+Canada Geese and Grey Squirrels seemed to be everywhere!!

2 Black Redstarts (1 ad.m. and 1 1st.yr./ad.m  [?] with much fainter white wing bars) on the roof tops around Plas Pamir 12.05-12.40pm.

A female Common Scoter was on the pool this morning from about 1000h, but flew off at about 1115.  Approx. 750 Golden Plover were in a large flock flying away to the south in the Sker Point / Kenfig Sands area. Also on the pool were 1 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe and an Otter in the south pool area and a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull with the Common Gulls and Black-headed Gulls at the south pool posts. Another unusual record was a flock of 17 Stock Dove flying NE over the pool which DGC also managed to see. About 500 Woodpigeon flew south as did 12 Fieldfare. There were several Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Redwing and Blackbird around the bushes of the reserve. As we left we noted much activity around the bird feeder just west of the reserve centre and counted 135 House Sparrow – not seen that many there before!

Mike & Emma Cram

We’ve also just seen a report of an Osprey over the pool at lunchtime (DGC)

Sully Beach – around 6 Turnstone [prob more], 2 Curlew, 6 Oyc, 1 Gt Crested Grebe just offshore, 2 Rock Pipits, 1 fly-by Purple Sand [per Lol Middleton];

Cosmeston – 1 pr Wigeon, 1 drake Teal and 4 Pochard [3f 1m] on W lake. Group of 4 Little Grebes in the W lake ‘bay’ – fam group?? – didn’t see any evidence of breeding this year but you never know, and 1 Kingfisher.

A Water Pipit was on the lower estuary this morning. WeBS count totals included Little Egret [3], Little Grebe [6], Gadwall [1], Goosander [3], Purple Sandpiper [2], Redshank [13] and Kingfisher [3].

A Ring Ouzel was in Pant Norton, feeding on Black Bryony berries.

Summer plumage GND still there feeding close inshore this morning.. Eating crabs & eels

At dusk,1-Barn Owl being mobbed by Magpies.Also at least 6-Little Egrets at the island roost.

One Brambling in with 60+ Chaffinch, 8 Mistle thrush, 30+ Redwing best of on a rainy , windswept Common this p.m

Six thrush species this morning with Ring Ouzel, Blackbirds, Redwings, Song Thrushes and a couple of Mistle Thrushes in the valley, plus a flock of about 70 Fieldfares over Norton Wood.