A Kingfisher flew along the far shore of E lake this morning. There were c.20 Sand Martins and a House Martin over W lake and plenty of Swallows around.

There were 2 Grey Herons on W lake this morning – 1 imm and 1 ad. At the far LH end of W paddock there were a good number of Willow Warblers feeding in the tree boundary, plus a fem or imm Common Whitethroat and a fem Blackcap. There was another fem Blackcap in the trees along Sully Brook by the lower dovecote field, and more Willow Warblers in the trees by the small wooden bridge there. An un-ID’d pipit flew up from the long grass in that field too.

Delayed WeBS count. Rhymney Est at Green Pt – 300 Redshank, 2 Oycs and 1 Common Sandpiper. Around 20 House Martins feeding over Green Pt. Heliport Bay 4 Oycs and c.500 B-h Gulls on the beach.

20+ Sand Martin 3+ House Martin and lots of Swallows over W lake this a.m. and sub ad Heron E lake nr the main bridge. Clouded Yellow in W paddock. Tree Pipits were apparently present somewhere (per Graham Smith).

Late news from yesterday. Jeff Curtis had a Bittern and a fem Marsh Harrier during the Kenfig Pool WeBS count. The Bittern at least surely a wanderer from the Somerset Levels at this time of year. Poss also the Harrier.

A flock of 100 or more Goldfinches,almost all were juveniles,in the fields at south side of lake.Also there were several juv. Willow Warblers and a Garden Warbler.10h30

Latest ringing news here

Includes first autumn passage tree pipits over the past few days. Pic by Amy Schwartz below.

Was pleased this morning to see that the Little Grebe chicks I saw about a week ago are still OK. Haven’t seen them for a while and thought they might have been predated. There were 2 imm Grey Herons present, 1 on W lake and 1 at the dragonfly pond [see photo]. At the near end of the long sloping narrow meadow that follows Sully Brook [just after the small wooden bridge below the dovecote field] there were about 10 Willow Warblers in a feeding flock with some Blue Tits.

There was a stunning juv Little Gull by the inner ‘jetty’ of the barrage locks this afternoon, together with an imm Arctic Tern and several Med Gulls, including a very nice juv. The Little Gull finally flew around a bit and out of 112 pix I managed to salvage a few! A remarkable sight was just before I left, when the Little Gull landed on the water and was immediately ‘attacked’ by a Black-headed Gull which appeared to attempt to force it under the water. Fortunately the LG managed to escape – there’s a series of 3 pix of the incident in the collection below.

Thanks to a text from my friend Annie Irving, I finally connected with a Spotted Flycatcher for the year. It was in trees on the ‘hill’ behind the dragonfly pond. Got as close as I dare by hiding behind bushes but shots still pretty cropped. The two with its bill open were where it was bringing up a pellet of indigestible material which you can just see in the bottom RH photo..

There was a 3rd cal yr Yellow-legged Gull on E lake this morning – see photo. Graham Smith had a Spot Fly and Garden Warbler near the N entrance to Cogan Wood but I couldn’t find them, although a pr of Bullfinch were feeding on blackberries there. Also the Med Village/dipping pond boardwalk is now fenced off due to work commencing to create an education area and new pond. See photo of plan which has been pinned upon the fencing. In the plan the carpark end is at the top.

Fly-over cormorant added new bird to my garden list today. Single Red Kite has been over garden and surrounding fields daily for about a week now. Plenty of young birds, particularly robins, blackbirds and tits. Up to 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker attending feeders at same time. Treecreeper in woodland today.

16 participants went on a very hot, GBC field trip to the above this morning and early afternoon. We logged a total of 55 species which wasn’t bad considering. Highlights were 3 Tufties on the lake at Parc Tredelerch, Little Grebe with young in Cors Crychydd Reen, plus several Willow Warbler there and Reed Warbler, lots of Goldfinch, Greenfinch. On RGW we walked east – there were few waders – just a small flock of Redshank with a few Dunlin in flew past, some saw 2 Ringed Plover, and there were Lapwing and Curlew towards Sluice Farm. A Little Egret was sitting on the groyne posts and surprisingly, Trevor Fletcher found a Common Gull in amongst the lines of Black-headed Gulls on the many posts. A Buzzard was patrolling Lamby Tip, and a Kestrel caught and ate prey from a post by RGW. Gareth ‘the tax ret’d’ Jenkins had a fly-by Whimbrel. Leps highlights were 2 Wall Butterflies and 2 Clouded Yellows.

Company’s Wood, Leckwith this morning , one calling incessantly. First Marsh Tit I’ve located locally since 2010.

Willow tit and three garden warblers this morning

Despite being widespread, we know surprisingly little about the UK’s tawny owl population.  Running from mid-August to mid-October, BTO is running a national survey on tawny owls to examine long-term population and occupancy trends.

More details, with options to take part at sites in Glamorgan, are available online.

Peregrine circling overhead early this evening

Evidence that reed and sedge warblers are starting to move.

Latest ringing news HERE

Monthly public walk

Thanks again for a great walk Strinda.  Twenty-one folk came along, with a special welcome to some new people.

We found /heard 48 species, more than we expected on a very warm day in mid July, the highlights being – 3 Herons and a Little Egret in one tree, a Kingfisher, and 3 Hirundine species and Swift seen in two minutes.

Full list-   Black-headed Gull ,Blackcap ,Bullfinch ,Canada Goose 80+,Chiffchaff , Cetti’sWarbler ,Common Sandpiper ,Cormorant ,Goldfinch ,Greenfinch ,Greylag Goose
House Martin ,Jackdaw ,Kingfisher ,Linnet ,Long-tailed Tit ,Mallard ,Pheasant
Reed Warbler ,Song Thrush ,Starling ,Swift ,Willow Warbler ,Wren ,Blackbird
Blue Tit ,Buzzard ,Carrion Crow ,Chaffinch ,Collared Dove ,Coot with well-grown chicks,
Dunnock ,Great Crested Grebe with well grown chick,Grey Heron 4,Herring Gull ,House Sparrow ,Kestrel ,Lesser Black-backed Gull ,Little Egret 2,Magpie ,Mute Swan PiedWagtail Sand Martin ,Sparrowhawk ,Swallow ,Whitethroat ,Woodpigeon  (Pink-Footed Goose)

Also recorded were-

Dragonflies- Black-tailed skimmer, Emperor, Common Darter.                                                  Butterflies-  Common Blue, Small Copper, Ringlet, Comma, Red Admiral, Small White, Green Veined White                                                                                                                               …….and a Shrew