Mobile fem.Black Redstart showed briefly again this morning coming from inside the sea-wall of the outer harbour,catching flies on the rocks on both sides of the walk-way and the cliff face directly above (11.20-11.30am).
Fox in Hamadryad Park (9.20am) and 16 Magpies on the roof of Cardiff Yacht Club.

hello done a beached survey on aberavon beach from the end of the prom down to the river along sanddunes did not do other half of beach due to tide coming in and i encountered a number of 23 dead seabirds 😦 5 first year puffins, 1 fulmar, 1 unknown gull, 5 razorbills and 10 guillemots there was one strange thing i noticed about the dead birds that they were all intact except that most of their legs had been cut off and there were 3 birds with there heads and legs cut clean off which i found quite strange didnt look like animal contact most birds eyes were still visiable there was one bird which was a razorbill that was ringed metal ring from brit museum M77 212 looked as if it was just ringed no scrapes or sings of age such a sad time 

am HT: Black Brant (Penclawdd – details on GRC blog) with 682 D-b & 1 P-b Brent. Yest: 3 Slavs (Wernffrwd), 1 Water Pipit (Dalton’s) & 2 GWEgrets (Llanrhidian)

2 female eider still off the pier this morning at low tide

1st winter white-winged gull from the barrage at 09:00 for 15-20 minutes mostly well offshore but finally came in close enough to get some very poor photos. Size-wise appeared smaller than nearby Herring Gull and the profile when sat on the sea suggests Iceland. Primaries appeared paler than rest of wings, despite the appearance here. Any thoughts? Also adult Med Gull

Of 31 kittiwakes around the pier, 22 were sitting on the artificial ledges this morning.
Also 24 Med gulls at Bracelet, 2 female eider flew into the bay (these appear to roost offshore / maybe on the outer head), and shags at Bracelet, the Outer Head and Rams Tor.

Bittern reported seen crossing a cutting in front of the southern hide and an otter on show out in the lake for over 2 hours today.

Bearded Tit calling in CBWR at 10.45am and 2 showed very briefly at 11.00am flying into the reeds opposite the dipping pond (with Steve Strutt).
Fem Black Redstart catching flies on the sea-facing rocks in the outer harbour at 12.40-12.55pm and on the adjacent cliff face; last seen perched on the green railings at the top of the cliff.

1st year Little Gull in Cardiff Bay this am. Occasionally close to the barrage but mostly out in the middle of the bay. Far fewer Black-headed Gulls today than recently!

 

 

 

 

2 reminders: Alan Rosney & I are off to Sri Lanka tomorrow morning. In the absence of any volunteers re my prev notice on Facebook dated 12th Feb about the Forest of Dean field trip on 13th Mar, then this shd be regarded as cancelled unless interested folk wish to get together and go. Also the indoor meeting for this Tuesday [4th Mar] is also cancelled as Paul Denning has to work that evening. 

150+ golden plover and 3 pair of Stonechat were the highlights. On the haul road were 2 Puffin corpses and a Kittiwake corpse and another Puffin corpse was on the beach.

Indoor meeting tomorrow – David Rich will be giving a talk on Gulls in the Environment Centre, Swansea tomorrow evening. It will be appreciated if you could turn up before the expected start time 19:15 – £1 on the door to cover room hire

 

The rescheduled Whiteford trip will now take place on Saturday 8th March – meet at Cwm Ivy car park at 09:00 – The day at Whiteford will be followed by a roost watch at Llanrhidian.

The regular meetings at the Blackpill Visitor Centre will be on Sunday 9th March – High tide roost and the chance to meet other members of GOS and RSPB

A field trip to look for Great Grey Shrikes will take place on Sunday 16th March – Please get in contact with me if you are interested in coming on this trip. Numbers are likely to be limited. 

8-Goldeneyes 4m,4f

Male Blackcap continues to feed from fat balls on a daily basis.

In case you didn’t spot the notice on Facebook, please note that the GBC indoor meeting scheduled for next Tuesday (4th March) has had to be postponed. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Fulmar briefly seen overhead whilst surfing Col-Huw point this morning