Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail on Sully playing fields this morning.

Kingfisher at tidal pool at Cadoxton rivermouth. Little Egret and Grey Heron nearby.

Kestrel hunting over the breakwater near Barry Dock entrance channel.

In our garden this afteroon, a feeding flock of tits containing many Long-tailed Tits, the trees at the bottom of the garden were alive with birds, and a couple of Willow Warblers were with them. One settled by our garden wall long enough for me to grab a couple of photos, plus a couple of an accompanying Long-tailed Tit. The odd one out is a House Martin in a still active nest at Penarth Marina.

Just one highlight this morning. A Goshawk circled fairly high over the dovecote field mid morning and drifted off in the direction of Lavernock.

During a 1 hr walk round highlights were 2 Spotted Flycatchers in the fenced off area at the far end of E paddock, and a Garden Warbler there plus a couple of Willow Warblers and a few Chiffchaff and 1 Green Woodpecker. In the ‘snipe area’ of W paddock there were 4 Common Whitethroats, another Willow Warbler and more Chiffies, and a Sparrowhawk flew over Cogan Wood. The prev day there had been a Whinchat by Sully Brook just outside Cogan Wood per Graham Smith but I didn’t check for it today.

on walk yesterday peregrine, goshawk and sparrowhawk added to the enjoyment

6 Wheatear, 50-60 House Martin briefly, 20 or so Linnets, 4 Meadow Pipits, 1 Kestrel, 1 Whitethroat and 1 Chough(no rings). This was feeding directly on the footpath just west of the small Hanging Valley about half a mile from Llantwit beach and my wife was about 10 yards from it taking a few photos when it called a few times probably in alarm as it appeared to be completely alone.We have tried to send photos but are not clear how to do this?

3 Swifts Sunday evening; 1 Swift Monday evening

A buddleia bush near the dragonfly pools was loaded with butterflies two of which were High Brown Fritillaries we saw another later. The other butterflies were Red Admiral 8 Peacock 10 Painted lady 1 Gate Keeper 1. There was a general coming and going and therefore the number of individuals could have been higher. Could not get a pic of the Frit.

on the bird front Red Kite Buzzard 2 Raven 1 Green WP 1 Great Spotted WP 1 Chiffchaff 2

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker 3 Common Darter 8 Emerald Damselfly 6 and a Blue-tailed Damselfly

One Swift seen and heard amongst small flock of House Martins Saturday pm

GBC Kenfig monthly public birdwalk.

Eight folk set off in hope on a wet morning, and were well-rewarded when the clouds lifted.

Highlights of our 37 species were -four Curlew fling very closely towards us, a very distant Kingfisher, a calling water Rail, five Mistle thrush in a far away tree , a juvenile Bullfinch, a single Swift, mixed flocks of hirundine over the pool- at least 30 House martin, 40 Mallard. Towards the end, up near the centre, a small bush held two Goldfinch, a whitethroat, a Dunnock, and three young Swallows waiting to be fed.

Full list

Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard , Swift, Woodpigeon , Collared Dove , Curlew, Black-headed Gull , Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull , Cormorant , Grey Heron , Kingfisher , Great Spotted Woodpecker , Kestrel , Magpie , Jackdaw , Carrion Crow, Blue Tit , Sand Martin , Swallow , House Martin , Chiffchaff , Whitethroat, Starling , Mistle Thrush , Blackbird , Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch , Bullfinch- juvenile-, Goldfinch .

Plus – Robin, Wren, Water Rail and Black Cap heard.

Great to see some old friend, thanks for coming, and thanks to Dave Carrington for leading.

A little activity around the W paddock area, with a Spotted Flycatcher just beyond the dragonfly pond and a Bullfinch there and a juvenile Common Whitethroat. There was also a juv Common Whitethroat in bushes in the ‘snipe paddock’. Around 20-30 Sand Martins were chittering away high above W paddock and even higher still 3 Buzzards thermalled, one almost disappearing into the high mist that hung over the place.
Today there were three council officers walking around the car park checking every car to see if it had a paid for parking ticket or a permit. There’s plenty of signage now so there’s no excuse. It was good to learn that according to one of the park employees, all monies taken from parking will go to the park’s budget, and the same applies to the charges now being levied at Porthkerry.

A good trip was had by 15 members of GBC. At the old dock at Pembrey we were welcomed by a Sparrowhawk chasing 3 Linnets around the sky. There was a mixed flock of about 50 LInnet & Greenfinch feeding in the grass across the inlet there, with 3-4 imm Stonechats in the same area. 4 fem/imm Wheatear were on the inner beach. Offshore a couple of Gannets flew back & forth and occasionally dived and there were 3 Gt Crested Grebes. A long way off in the Burry inlet a line of about 40 Eider [all with the typical blackish immature plumage] were sitting on a sand bar. Not everyone was convinced by these distant dark blobs but to experienced eyes they were undoubtedly Eider! On the near beach were a number of Sandwich Terns some of which occasionally went on a feeding foray, and there were a number of Oystercatcher, 3 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin. At Kidwelly on a not particularly high rising tide we had several Whimbrel, c.100 Curlew, around 7 Greenshank upstream beyond the ‘busy’ railway bridge which is currently under reconstruction, and some Redshank, plus 100’s of Oycs farther out. Little Egrets were numerous – the closest resting group numbered 22. We also had a possible Great White Egret but it was a very distant shimmering blob in the heat haze. The structure looked right tho’. A Peregrine circled purposefully for a while but didn’t stoop. Roughly 40 species were seen. Official list to be compiled.

Fem Wheatear W paddock Cosmeston briefly this morning but flew off high SW. Spot Fly far LH corner of W paddock – 1 of poss 3 seen by Graham Smith. Also Graham had 1 brief Pied Fly in fenced off area very far end of E paddock.

[Now added Wheatear pix, plus Holly Blue and fem Common Darter]

A juv Little Grebe was quite active and vocal, constantly badgering its parent for food, although it could dive itself [see the ‘bedraggled’ image]. In E paddock I had a very brief encounter with a female Pied Flycatcher, which I took to be a chaffinch when it flew past my peripheral vision, due to the white wing flashes, but then it settled in a tree in the ‘ditch’ briefly. I managed a distant shot which I’ve cropped a little, but then it flew off towards the golf course. Green Woodpeckers are evident almost daily. Graham Smith had 3 Spot Flys, a Garden Warbler and a Ring-necked Parakeet somewhere by W paddock. Non-bird highlight was the attractive Pyrausta purpuralis moth and a Common Carder Bee.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Hi tide: little egret, whimbrel, curlew, ~35 lapwing, 1 common sand, redshank, gbb gull, 2 kestrels

Green point – several hundred redshank, 2 common sand perched on buoys

Early morning visit today over high tide:

Lagoon: Mute Swan pair with 6 well-grown cygnets, Grey Heron and juveniles of Little Grebe and Moorhen. Kestrel on the limeworks chimney and Green Woodpecker calling nearby;

Beach: 53 Ringed Plover, 4 Turnstone, 1 Wheatear, 10 Oystercatcher; Rock Pipits including at least one juvenile. Offshore 6 Manx Shearwater flew down channel;

Power station site: A second Wheatear, 1 juvenile Stonechat, several Linnet

The adult Mediterranean Gull is still present picking scraps with the commoner gulls on Sandy Bay. Its probably the same bird I spotted a few weeks ago although then it had a purely black head.

• 

• 

• 

Mid afternoon, so about the worst time for seawatching – a single Fulmar flew down channel at c.3 p.m.

From observations this morning (per Alan Rosney): a steady stream of Manx Shearwaters. Also 1 Storm Petrel, 1 Med Gull, 2 Common Terns, 2 Gannets, 1 Kittiwake and several Fulmars. Also a glimpse of a passing wader that might have been a Phalarope.

An early morning visit to Cadoxton rivermouth and 3 Little Egret and a Grey Heron were at one of the tidal pools and a Common Sandpiper was resting by another pool.

Good views of 14 Ringed Plover, 4 Turnstone, 4 Curlew and a Whimbrel as the tide fell at Swanbridge.

At Cosmeston a Common Sandpiper was at the West Lake, and successful breeding around the lakes by Great Crested and Little Grebe, Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot and Moorhen.