Of interest at Cosmeston this morning, a Wheatear was in the west paddock near the central hedge, and whilst watching 30 or so Sand Martins over W lake a Swift appeared briefly then headed off over E lake and was lost to view.

Female Wheatear just east of Tresillian bay and 2 pairs Stonechat between there and Llantwit beach early afternoon.

Had a flock of Long-tailed Tits in the garden today and yesterday – pretty unusual for us. Also a lone Goldfinch on our seed feeder today.
At Cosmeston this morning a Chiffchaff was in the snipe paddock, a male Bullfinch by the mile road adjacent top of W paddock, an ad Little Grebe with a fully grown juv on W lake and about 20 Sand Martins feeding there.

Spent a pleasant hour (while my car was in the nearby Toyota Garage)in the company of a Dipper. It was on the opposite side of the Ogmore amongst the large boulders just upstream of the footbridge between Wild Mill and the A4063.It seemed to be enjoying an unlimited supply of food that it was pecking off the surface of the water and hardly moved more than a few yards during that time. It was still enjoying itself there when I left. Sometime during the hour a couple of Grey Wagtails flew downstream between us.

Still 2 Swifts flying around with the House Martins and Swallows 1730 Tuesday 1st

Had a v brief view of a Redstart on the W paddock hedge on a quick walk round before my weekly game of tennis in Newport this morning.

2 Swifts circling together over the house yesterday afternoon 31 Aug, also 5 Buzzards close together in a thermal this morning.

Pretty quiet bird-wise on a walk out to Sker Pt then back via Sker Farm & golf course. Couple of Common Whitethroat on the way out and a good show of butterflies on some Hemp Agrimony, with 10 Red Admirals, 2 Comma, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and a few Meadow Browns. Also had a fem Common Blue [I think]. At Sker there were a couple of Wheatear and some Linnets, and near Sker Farm a few Stonechat incl a young male, a Meadow Pipit, and a Kes on the telephone wires.

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Garden warbler in our Whitchurch garden this morning – feeding on berries- a very pleasant first

Cosmeston a.m. I thought this was a tree full of Swallows and grabbed a few shots, but when I zoom them in they seem to be mostly Sand Martins and one or two juv Swallows. Never seen that many in a tree before. This was in the field that has the Medieval Dovecote. Further along in the next field there were 3 Common Whitethroat, 3 Stonechat, male Blackcap, 1 Raven and 1 Buzzard over and a couple of people had seen 2 Tree PIpits. I also had a calling fly-over Yellow Wagtail. There were 2 Whinchat there y’day apparently.

1500 Hrs. Single Swift among 30-40 House Martins also single Peregrine soaring high with House Martins above. 20-30 Swallows and Chiffchaff and Whitethroat also seen.

Pretty quiet on a walk through E and W paddocks this morning. The Silver-Y moth was nice to see [see pic]. A Sparrowhawk was circling over E lake when I arrived and another was with 1 of the 4 Buzzards of the other day, over the Dovecote field. Buzzards very vocal again today. A Jay was in the edge of Cogan Wood at the southern entrance. There were a lot of Swallows circling high above the Dovecote field. In the pouring rain yesterday there were about 20 Sand Martins and a couple of House Martins flying around just above the surface of W lake.

Good to see and hear a rather vocal Nuthatch seems to have taken up residence in the trees along the railway line – our first here since we moved in July 2019.

Fem Blackcap seen at Cosmeston this morning and a couple of Chiffchaff but no other interesting passerines apart from the currently resident Linnet flock. Did manage to grab a couple of Sparrowhawk shots, when a couple were doing a bit of airborne combat. Rubbish pix as I had to leg it from the lee of some trees too see them then get the cam in the right mode! Whilst in the edge of Cogan Wood I heard a lot of Buzzard ‘mewing’ and when I emerged there were 4 circling together over the wood, poss a family group – no pic. The Common Darter was on the fence by the dragonfly pond.

Green Sandpiper heard calling overhead just before 7 pm, followed by Ringed Plover calls half an hour later; both over a high point (450 metres a.s.l.) between Llanwonno and Tylorstown.  Also Crossbill and Tree Pipit calling overhead there; the latter have been moving virtually daily in numbers for the past fortnight.

Did a delayed WeBS at the Rhymney Estuary {Green Point} this morning [was raining y’day]. Main show was 500 Redshank and the bizarre and surprising sight of a Sanderling flying in off the channel, flying a short distance upstream then going up fairly high and circling around randomly over the near edge of Lamby landfill before disappearing off in the direction of Rumney Gt Wharf. Only other countable birds were 5 Shelduck, 4 Teal and 55 Mallard, plus 150 Black-headed Gulls sitting offshore. A Peregrine oversaw my count sitting up high on the pylon opposite Green Point.
Decided on a late afternoon stroll around E & W paddocks at Cosmeston. Met Graham Smith who had seen a Redstart and Tree Pipit. Couldn’t find those but had a nice little feeding flock of LTTs plus Blue & Great Tits and two Willow Warblers. There was also a flighty flock of around 40 Linnet in W paddock. They’ve been around for a few days now.

A Spotted Flycatcher and a fem Blackcap were high in trees 100 beyhond the dragonfly pond this a.m. Apparently there were 3 in the park y’day plus a Whinchat. An amazing report on tgwitter this a.m. – A Brown Booby was seen briefly off Port Eynon on Gower!!

Went to Goldcliff in the vain hope of seeing the Pectoral Sandpiper in what turned out to be v diff conditions – the wind was coming straight at the viewing platforms – scope shaking like fury! However managed to ID 1 Little Stint and 1 v brief Curlew Sand, then there were 100’s of Ringed Plover, Dunlin, plus 4 Knot incl 1 in almost full breeding plumage, a few Turnstone, 100+ Blackwit, Redshank. An imm Peregrine flew in and sat on the deck.

Mediterranean Gull 2nd year with Black-headed Gulls the bird was ringed PY8 red

3 Swifts with House Martins over the estate midday.