There were 16 Pochard with the Tufties on W lake this morning and an ad Common Gull on the W lake posts.

there was at least 51-Common Gulls in the river in amongst Black Headed and Herring Gulls.

7-Goldeneye,4m3f and 4-Goosanders 1m3f.11h00-13h00

At the first feeding stump down the slope from the southern entrance to Cogan Wood, an obliging Marsh Tit was coming down to seed. It was mostly snatch and grab but it perched at one point and reposnded to my imitated ‘pitchoo’ call and allowed for quite a few photos, albeit in rather poor light. Walking back down the Mile Road I came upon a confiding Bullfinch feeding on buds above my head.

Sunday 16th Jan

Five Crossbills feeding in the Alders also a mixed flock of Siskin 40 Cole Tit10 Goldfinch 10 Blue Tit 8 and a Nuthatch. Raven 4 Goosander 1 with 24 Mallard.

2 adult Med Gulls – one ad winter and the second one having a delicate black shading of the hood. Other regulars present

Had all 5 thrush species this morning. Plenty of Blackbirds, single Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush in W paddock where there were about 6 each of Redwing and Fieldfare. A Mistle Thrush was singing 2 days ago. On arrival this morning a Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen calling from the top of a tree by the car park, a Green Woodpecker flew over E paddock and a distant one was heard calling there, and another was in a tree by the dragonfly pond. W lake had the usual Tufties, plus 5 Pochard and 3 Shoveler, a pair of Little Grebes doing lot of whinnying, and 2 Great Crested Grebes, and finally a single Common Gull. Yesterday a Goldcrest was singing by the main bridge and today there were a number of Great Tits singing.

21 folk joined us on our first public birdwalk of the year, on a cold , overcast day. It was good to meet friends old and new.

We were pleased to find 41 species, the highlights being Ring-necked Duck, Siberian Chiff Chaff, Scaup, and 5 very smart displaying male Goldeneye with at least 1 female.

Full List-

Canada Goose , Mute Swan, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Pochard , Ring-necked Duck , Tufted Duck ,
Scaup, Goldeneye , Woodpigeon , Collared Dove , Coot Great Crested Grebe, Black-headed Gull Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Buzzard, Magpie , Jackdaw , Carrion Crow , Blue Tit , Great Tit , Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff (Siberian – tristis) , Goldcrest , Starling ,
Song Thrush , Mistle Thrush , Blackbird , Robin, House Sparrow, Dunnock , Chaffinch, Bullfinch , Greenfinch , Goldfinch.

Many thanks to Dave for leading and Rhos , deputy leader.

Sker Point & Rest Bay

Thursday 13th – Flock of Golden Plover, several hundred, basking in the January sunshine on the rocks. Also 4 Skylarks on Royal Porthcawl golf course.

Late afternoon, there were 3 Black Redstarts on waste ground opposite the Adventurer’s Quay appartments – 2 males and a female.

Portobello Island, Ogmore am Jan 12 2022

1st winter and Ad winter Med Gulls with the Gull flock. 9 Goosanders, 15 Goldeneye, 2 Little Egrets, 11 Little Grebes, Common Sandpiper, Kestrel (I have not seen one anywhere for some time), Raven + the other regular birds

Portobello Island, Ogmore am Jan 9 2022

Adult winter Med Gull in Gull flock, Merlin flew down river, 9 Goosanders, 14 Goldeneye, Little Egret + the regulars.

This morning there were 5-Wigeon 3m+2f on the west lake,an unusual sighting for this location?

7-Goosanders,4m-3f,on the river just above Radyr Weir.11h00-12h00.

I managed to get a short video of the male Black Redstart actually on my roof !

There are now 10 Goosander on the lake, probably made up of those I saw on the Wilderness lake. Donkey fields, zigzag lane- 100+ Black Headed Gull, 4 x Common Gull, 8 x Herring Gull, 14 x Curlew.

Just getting home when a MALE BLACK REDSTART popped onto my neighbours fence, there for a few seconds, just enough to get my bins on it ( not that I needed them, only yards away) then in dropped down the other side. Hopefully, if it hangs around I’ll get a pic. I love living in Porthcawl

yesterday: male gadwall by lighthouse end, adult y l gull, several teal and shoveler

A pair of Chough on the front near the Seabank Hotel this afternoon.

A Chiffchaff was a nice surprise in the garden this afternoon, possibly the same bird seen by the lake at Pwll y waun before Xmas. That’s in addition to the 2 birds at the Wilderness a few hundred yards up the road. Also great to have about a dozen Green finches coming to the feeder along with the Goldfinches and usual tit species.

Yesterday saw a white-heaed Cormorant on the W lake posts. Photos confirmed it as a standard ‘carbo’ bird rather than the continental ‘sinensis’ subpsecies which is always charaterised by a white head. The one pictured is a breeding plumage adult [due to the white thigh patch] but the cropped head photo shows the ‘gular angle’ as being clearly acute and nowhere near the almost 90 degrees that sinensis would show. It was on the adjacent post today. Also yesterday a Cetti’s Warbler sang briefly near the café.
Today, the highlight was a smart adult winter Mediterranean Gull on the grass overlooking W lake bay. There were also 4 Gadwall by the W lake reeds [3 drakes and a duck].