V v cold WeBS count (Wetland Bird Survey) this morning, on the Rhymney Estuary at Green Point. High tide was way too early last w/e, when it was scheduled – it would have still been dark!. Bit of an obstacle course there at the mo – see photos. Plenty of birds tho’: 100 Pintail, 80 Shelduck, 50 Teal, 40 Mallard, 11 Wigeon, 30 Shoveler, 40 Canada Geese, 800 Redshank, 400 Dunlin, 70 Oystercatcher, 22 Ringed Plover, 7 Cormorant.

Just because last mins decision at Traffic lights to turn in for coffee and use RSPB Radipole toilet, After walking RSPB Lodmoor and after stop a night in Poole after brillent low tide trip which highlights was Red throated Diver.

4 Bearded Tits feeding by cafe, during strong wind, funny i struggle with Bitterns this year but its been a Bearded Tits year for me 3 times 3 different places

The long-staying [since 19th Nov] female Red-breasted Merganser was quite active at Cosmeston this morning, as opposed to yesterday when it was fast asleep [see one of the photos]. This morning it was fishing on E. lake, in the company of a Little Grebe at one point. Also, on W. lake there were 4 drake and 1 fem Pochard, and a lone Wigeon.

An enjoyable walk was had today by a pleasing 18 participants [thanks folks!], on a Club trip, from Rest Bay to Sker Point and back. An unexpected treat was a Dartford Warbler, first spotted by Jean Carlson as we were watching a pair of Stonechats on gorse, across the road from the car park! An interesting bit of info which not everyone knows is that vagrant ‘Dartfords’ often associate with Stonechats. Highlights at Sker Point were c.150 Golden Plover, a few Purple Sandpipers, lots of Turnstone and Oystercatcher and a Ringed Plover and a Knot. A Mediterranean Gull I got flight shots of by the car park had a yellow leg ring but none of my shots show the code clearly enough. See the bottom LH image.
Diligent scanning by Alan Rosney got him on to a Diver going up channel but it was too distant to ID to species.
Edit: I’ve added in a couple of photos by Cindy Howells, one of 2 adult Great Black-backed Gulls, and another of a Curlew at Sker Point. I’ve taken the liberty of cropping both images [with permission].

The full list if 36 species is via this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qrMzJZ8vGeBHIu1OXJKZjpPlR-maoDzk/view?usp=sharing

Very cold this morning. Not much action up by dragonfly pond. There were c.12 Redwing on the deck in W paddock near the S. kissing gate plus a couple of Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush. W lake had 3 drake Pochard. In the willow by the boardwalk opposite the cafe, I was chuffed to see a female Reed Bunting feeding on phragmites heads. Only the second Reed Bunt I’ve recorded at Cossie this year [the 1st was a singing male in May]. They’ve become a bit of a rarity, sadly.

Late morning as usual. The Mile Road fallen tree had been cleared. There were 2 drake Pochard and a pair of Gadwall with the Tufties on W lake. The recent Red-breasted Merganser seems to have departed. A Sparrowhawk flew over the Medieval Village field and a Buzzard was mewing from a tree nearby although I couldn’t locate it.

Late morning circuit. The usual route up the Mile Road via the Medieval Village path, was blocked by a fallen tree. Hence we went through the lower dovecote field and joined the W lake back path. Over the lower dovecote there were 2 Buzzards circling, and a Peregrine suddenly appeared and had a go at one of them, then flew off. A few Redwing flew into the conservation area as we passed. In addition to the usual Tufties there were 2 Wigeon and a drake Pochard on W lake.

On Saturday at the w/e a lucky birder found a Dartford Warbler at Lavernock. It proved to be a little elusive but I visited today after my usual Cosmeston circuit to try my luck. There was no action in the scrubby field where it had been seen, but I eventually noticed 2 Stonechats on the adjacent hedgerow. Some folk may not know that wayward Dartfords often associate with Stonechats, and so it proved to be. I only got a brief view but the little devil popped its head out from the dense cover to give me a satisfactory glimpse then back in it went. The Stonechat pair relocated to an adjacent field and I watched them there for a while in case they’d taken the Dartford with them, but got no further action. No pic of the Dartford Warbler but I did take some pix of the Stonechats, although they’re big crops. I also noted a Meadow Pipit, and a male Kestrel was hunting over the field. Also below a drake Shoveler at Cossie and a Woodpigeon head shot [it was resting by the main bridge].

First desent image of Merlin with a Greylag goose acting as next door friend

The long staying [4 days] Red-breasted Merganser was asleep near the SW corner of W lake this morning. I took some shots from the Mile Road viewpoint but it was too distant and the photos were ***. A drake Shoveler was with 2 females at the north end of W lake near the reedbed. No sign of yesterday’s Mandarin. Nothing too much else on the lakes bar the 100 or so Canada Geese. There were 4 Gt Crested Grebes and at least 4 Little Grebes. No interesting gulls as yet. I didn’t venture into the muddy quagmire paddocks.

Question ? if the sign written in English would the bird understand

A drake Mandarin was on E lake this morning along the NW shore opp the cafe. It was elusive as ity kept hiding under the overhanging trees, Whilst I was on the cafe, al the gulls suddenly flushed and I grabbed my bins & got on to what was poss a Goshawk flying high over E lake going N. Whilst scanning for the Mandarin, I saw a Kingfisher fly across in front of the trees on the NW shore and land in a tree near the sluice in the corner.
Also present this morning but not seen by me, Hawfinch at the usual spot past the dragonfly pond, and the Red-breasted Merganser, and a juv Gos by Cogan Wood.
Spot the Mandarin in the 1st pic! The Tufty was rather more obliging!

Nothing too exciting today. Although I didn’t see it, the Red-breasted Merganser was still present on E lake first thing then moved over to W. lake. A Redwing shot across Mile Road and settled and I managed to grab a shot. It’s the first one I’ve seen at rest this winter. Also on the thrush front, there were 2 Mistle Thrushes in E paddock. A Chiffchaff was calling from a Birch outside the rangers ‘garage’.
Away from the park, the 3 Scoters were apparently still offshore at Sully.

A few unusual birds locally in the last 2 days, which I’ve managed to catch up with.
Offshore at Sully bay there were 2 Common Scoter together with a fem type Velvet Scoter. Pretty unusual to get Scoters this far up the channel except after storms. They were rather too distant for photos.
Then at Cosmeston there was a female Red-breasted Merganser, found late afternoon yesterday. It was on east lake and very active, diving frequently. I also noted around 6 Little Grebes, and on W lake there were 2 fem Shoveler and a male, and a pair of Gadwall.

15 folk came along on our Kenfig Public Walk on Saturday, welcome all, good to see old friends and some new folk. We went down to the hide where we left Martin , searching for a Bittern – he had no luck- it must have been hiding in the reeds, but he did see, in addition to our list, a Grey Heron, good views of Long Tailed Tits, and heard more than one Water Rail. Tramping through the reserve to the shore, we watched a flock of Golden Plover in the distance – no Eider duck, but did see Curlew, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, and Sanderling, 41 species see or heard between us.

Full List

Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan , Shoveler Gadwall , Wigeon, Mallard , Teal , Feral Pigeon , Woodpigeon , Water Rail , Coot , Oystercatcher . Golden Plover, Curlew , Turnstone , Sanderling , Black-headed Gull , Common Gull , Herring Gull , Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull , Cormorant , Kestrel , Magpie, Jackdaw , Carrion Crow, Blue Tit , Great Tit , Cetti’s Warbler , Long-tailed Tit , Chiffchaff , Goldcrest, Wren , Starling , Blackbird , Robin , Stonechat, Dunnock , Meadow Pipit , Bullfinch 

Many thanks to Dave Carrington for leading, everyone else for the ID help and coming along!

Nothing too exciting during a walk along the coast at Sully on Sat 16th, but the Kestrel posed nicely on top of a mast in the sailing club, and there were 3 Rock Pipits & 2 Pied Wags on the cricket field. This afternoon, Sun 17 I drove over to Flemingston, near St Athan to see the 5 Whooper Swans that turned up a couple of days ago. They were pretty distant but nice to see – a pretty uncommon visitor to the Vale.

Common Sandpiper 1 Pochard 1 Mallard 2 Teal 2 and Wigeon 3 not seen by us at this site previously.

The sullen grey skies for the last few days have been rather depressing, and the resulting poor light not good for photography. Even so, it was a delight yesterday to find a group of c.6 Redpolls feeding in tall birches near the dipping pond. Redpolls used to be regularly seen at Cosmeston [say about 15 yrs ago and earlier] but they are very scarce these days. Today a few Fieldfare flew over W paddock, calling, the first I’ve seen this winter. Also yesterday and today, there were 3 drake Pochard on W lake – another species that used to be very numerous in the winter. Of non-avian interest – the fungi were in good condition, but my phone app was not able to ID them with any certainty.

” Ten keen bird watchers, including several new faces, gathered at Kenfig NNR on Saturday 19th October 2024, which was a bright, beautiful and, eventually, very warm autumn morning.

Alan Rosney lead the group, with John Western acting as recorder of the species seen and/or heard.

It was decided to head for Sker Point, where high tide had been at 8am. At Sker, the group was treated to a flock of some 200 Golden Plovers, which were seen flying spectacularly over the sea before landing on the rocks at Sker beach.Also at Sker were good numbers of Oystercatchers, Turnstone and Curlew.

The intrepid participants then headed over the dunes and spent the last hour or so at the now somewhat forlorn – looking hide. The highlight here was a Kingfisher, which flew low over the water close to the hide and perched on a nearby post, much to the delight of those present.

It was a very enjoyable and productive bird walk in near perfect weather. 

The full list of 46 recorded species is as follows:-

Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, Great Crested Grebe, Woodpigeon, Water Rail, Coot, Oystercatcher, Golden Plover, Curlew, Redshank, Turnstone, Black – headed Gull, Lesser Black – Backed Gull, Great Black – Backed Gull, Cormorant,  Little Egret, Heron, Red Kite, Kingfisher, Kestrel, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, Cetti’s Warbler, Long- tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Wren, Starling, Song Thrush, Redwing, Blackbird, Robin, Stonechat, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting.”