Dr Sarah Perkins (Cardiff Uni) has sent me this trail-cam footage of a woodcock foraging at Rhaslas, at 3am on 24/1/14. Here is a link to the clip on The You Tube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wigtESBUumI&feature=youtu.be
Tag: Rhaslas
Lisvane, Llanishen, Machen, Rhaslas
At Lisvane/Llanishen Res, very similar to yesterday -the highlight being the smashing of my record Llanishen coot count with an astonishing 7 present on Llanishen south pool today, along with 40 mallard, 3 teal, 2 tufted ducks, heron and 3 common snipe.
Report today of a black redstart in Machen (via Rhys “to the rescue” Jones)
Rhaslas at dusk: 26 wigeon, 12 goosanders, 7 tufties, 3 teal, 1 pochard. No short-eared owls seen, though Sophie-Lee Williams has found 2 SEO pellets in the shallow valley S of the dam wall, in the last couple of weeks.
Rhaslas Pond
1F goldeneye, 20 wigeon, 3 teal, 2 mallards, 2 snipe, 2 kestrels.
Rhaslas
Through the mist at Rhaslas this morning we could just about make out 2 goosanders, 15 wigeon, 1 teal, 1 mallard, 3 tufties, 2 pochard, 1 gc grebe, 4 snipe, kestrel, buzzard, raven, redwing over and 100+ starlings.
Rhaslas Pond & Llanishen Reservoir
Rhaslas with Mike Hogan, Sophie-Lee Williams et al.: 15 wigeon, 6 mallard, 1 teal (with broken wing), 2 GC grebes, 1 cormorant, 1 kestrel but no sign of Wednesday’s merlin. 2 mipits, 28 starlings, 2 skylarks, 2 pied wags, otherwise quite quiet. Pink wax cap (Hygrocybe calyptriformis) by the dam.
Of note: the proposal for opencast/surface-mining in the area surrounding and encompassing Rhaslas pond was submitted on 10th October 2013. The full proposal can be found here:
http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/site.aspx?s=oMR4sZmcAxsXPse6F8ZuQA==
…and the Environmental Impact Assessment can be found here (scroll down to Chapter 8, ecology & nature conservation):
Click to access ES_Volume1_Technical_Assessments_Part1.pdf
At Llanishen: 2 moorhen (highest ever count here for me!), 6 mallard, 8 Canadas, M&F sparrowhawk soaring together.
Long-billed Dowitcher
Still present today at Rhaslas Pond.
Rhaslas & N Cardiff
Rhaslas with Mike Hogan & Sophie-Lee Williams: LB dowitcher still present this morning, though ponies at the NW corner had pushed the bird down to the SW shoreline. The other highlight was the first short-eared owl of the winter up here, flushed from the NE shore and flew over the bank into the moorland towards Fochriw. Also present were 28 wigeon, 7 teal, 5 mallard, 1 snipe, kestrel etc.
Yesterday around N Cardiff – Lisvane: 1 common sand, 49 tufties, 12 mallard, 11 little grebes, 8 gc grebes, 2 coots, 2 cormorants, m sparrowhawk etc.
Llanishen: 17 teal, 2 little grebes, 2 mute swans, 6 mallards.
Roath: 2 teal.
Rhaslas and Roath
Looming out of the fog at Rhaslas this morning were 3 pintails, 14 teal, 36 wigeon, 6 mallard, 1 common snipe, and a male stonechat.
Roath Park Lake still has 1 teal at the “wild” end; a male coming out of eclipse.
Lisvane and Rhaslas
Lisvane, dry: 1 green sandpiper on the E shore. 1 greylag and 1 greylag-type hybrid among 84 Canadas. No wagtails…
Rhaslas, very wet: 2 golden plover, 2 dunlin, 1 teal, 8 mallard, 1 tufted duck, 3 little grebes, 2 wheatears, 8 swallows etc.
Around Glamorgan
Lisvane (today): 1F teal and an influx of 17 little grebes, 2 pochard, 88 tufties, 32 coots, 24 mallards, 8 gc grebes, 1 heron, 6 sand martins in a mixed flock of c80 hirundines, raven and siskin over.
Llanishen (today): 2 mute swans, 2 herons, 2 mute swans, 8 mallards, jay and chiffchaff.
Roath Park Lake (today): 1F wigeon, 2F teal, 2 little grebes, 1 kingfisher, and the Chairman of the RSPB jogging past. No sign of Friday’s shoveller.
CBWR (4th Sept.): ad winter mediterranean gull on the boardwalk railings.
Rhaslas (5th Sept.): 11 tufties, 16 pied wags and 5 wheatears feeding along the shoreline, but no waders. A small turtle basking on a piece of wood in the small pond at the car park has been identified (by Dave Boyle) as a Map Turtle, Graptemys geographica. 
Rhaslas
With John Williams; Garganey still present (looks like the bird found by Mike Hogan on 25/8)
Also, 1F wigeon, 2 snipe, 1 little grebe, 16 tufties, 92 Canadas, c20 mallards, 1 grey heron, 1 wheatear and a moulting yellow-legged type gull. No sign of the recent curlew sandpipers.
Rhaslas Pond
Great to meet up with Mike Hogan for a lap of Rhaslas in the drizzle. Best bird was a single turnstone, which flew off high to the south before either of us could get a photo. Other waders present were 1 oystercatcher (photo), 1 lapwing and 1 curlew. 53 Canadas and 4 mallards flew in while we were there late-morning
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Glamorgan Bird Club 