The purple heron found this afternoon by Neil Donaghy was still present at 5.10pm. We (Jeff Curtis and I) saw it in flight when standing by the old wooden nature reserve sign overlooking the marsh and river area to the south of the new bridge over the river. Pictures on Glamorgan Rarities Committee blog. It landed in reeds at approximately SS783830. Mark Hipkin reports seeing it again at about 7pm. Two little ringed plovers were feeding in the sandy scrape on the east side of the haul road in the rejuvenation area.

mid-day-ish. Yomped all the way from KNNR car park to Sker then along to Rest Bay area and saw lots of Jackdaws, Crows and Rooks in the big field, but not the Scottish, or perhaps Irish, corvid. Doh! There were 12 Whimbrel in the field nearest the coast, and quite a lot of Wheatear, Sky Larks singing, Stonechats carrying food, & Linnets. Plan was to do Gileston first …. oh well. 2 Birds gone on the same day. 😦

3 Sedge Warblers showed well this morning, 2 in song flight, including one seen singing in the scrub just over the grass track through the reeds from the beginning of the boardwalk.

Message from Neil Donaghy – Purple Heron at Kenfig Saltmarsh.

Hooded Crow – view from the footpath between the Royal Porthcawl GC and the fields. This morning it was in the largest field just past the small pond. 

No sign of the Woodchat Shrike when I checked before work this morning (6:30 – 7:30).

First family party of stonechat for the year at the WW2 gun emplacement / obs point.
Tree pipit over and a stock dove singing from trees near Fernhill Cottage.
An imm male eider off the Knab on the way home.

Good shot of male Bullfinch this morning

http://andyburnsphotography.zenfolio.com/passerines/h151b6979#h151b6979

and also a Blackcap in full song

http://andyburnsphotography.zenfolio.com/passerines/h151b6979#hba4a8d

…..also the usual warblers heard but not seen and ………

….an Otter??? Lol spotted it as it swam from near the bridge across the west lake to the reed bed on the other side of the lake. It was big and very dark, perhaps a body two foot long and a tail half that size. It was swimming on the surface as we saw it but submerged quickly and then broke the surface with it’s nose every 30 foot or so. It vanished once it got into the reed bed. I have seen many otters in the wild and this looked like one. It was too big (both long and wide) for a mink. It was too quick to get a shot of it. Other than a escaped Croc, I can’t think what else it could be. Any ideas? We haven’t got Otters at Cozzy have we?

Reed Warbler singing (at last) further up-river Ely in breeding habitat.

The Woodchat Shrike from y’day is still reported as being present this morning – see Tweets in the RH column.

Absolutely appalled to read Gareth Pryce’s news [further down the page] that a swans nest [the swan was sitting a few days ago when I was there] in the inlet pool on Hamadryad Park, has been burned out. What morons can do this sort of thing?

Don’t forget the AGM is tonight at 07:30 in KNNR centre. After the formal proceedings there will be a short quiz and refreshments. Please come and support us.

Lesser Whitethroat at Foxhole.
2 Eider offshore at Deep Slade (2 in Bracelet Bay yesterday)
Lots of whitethroat, nest-building linnets, stonechats etc.

On our Rudry Common Trust woodland site  (outskirts of Rudry village)  this eve a couple of juv Mistle thrushes and a juv blackbird.Cuckoo on the common and mating willow warblers.Now have 100 nest boxes on the site being monitored by our volunteers for BTO nest box scheme.

Red-throated diver (non br/pl) off Nicholaston Pill on the high tide this evening.
Siskins still present around the marsh.
On the pool a female mallard with 6 ducklings, gadwall, little grebe (2) and mute swan.