Sightings

Main sighting: Amendment to weekly roundup

Forgot to add, two separate groups of snipe flew over seawall totaling 24 birds.

Main sighting: Avocets / Snipe / weekly roundup

En-route to hides – blue tits, starlings, crows, blackbirds, redwings, herring gulls, buzzard and magpies. Hide one – female kestrel, 21 curlew with 2 black-tailed godwits mixed in, 123 lapwing and woodpigeons. En-route hide 2 – robin and fieldfares. Hide two – 2 shelduck, 97 teal, 11 shoveler, Canada geese, coot, mallards, 7 greylags, song thrush, moorhen, shoveler, shelduck, 17 gadwall, fem marsh harrier and 2 little egrets. En-route to platform – goldfinches, great tits and 2 pied wagtails. Snipe platform – 1 heron and 2 black-headed gulls. Marsh platform – 4 male and 2 fem tufteds, meadow pipit and a pair of stonechats. Seawall – oystercatchers, 36 curlew, 2 cormorant, 12 redshanks, 39 avocet feeding close in, gt black-backed gull, ls black-backed gulls, 58 more wigeon, 1 grey plover and 1 dunlin. Hide three – 97 more wigeon, 86 more teal, 12 more shoveler, 5 more shelduck and a male marsh harrier hunting. En-route to car park – 2 stock doves in the field. Car park area – chaffinches, gt spotted woodpecker and a pair of bullfinches.

Main sighting: Long-tailed Duck

A female Long-tailed Duck diving repeatedly on a nearly empty, ice-fringed lagoon at 1100 today. Watched for 10 minutes. Not there by 1300.

Main sighting: Avocet, Bar-tailed godwit

Thos afternoon 5 avocet, 1 bar-tailed godwit, 52 pintail, 13 shoveler 1 grey plover

Main sighting: Herons

Forest farm cardiff 13 roosting herons

Main sighting: Waxwing

We saw one waxwing trying to feed from mistletoe whilst being attacked by very unhappy mistle thrush.

Main sighting: Little Egrets

Afternoon walk on ebb tide started very quiet but eventually gave a flock of 30 dunlin heading upriver, 16 oystercatchers, a flock of 18 little egrets heading upriver, 3 grey heron, female sparrowhawk, single cettis and a male stonechat

Main sighting: Weekly roundup

En-route to hides- Canada Geese, Chaffinch, Jackdaws, Magpies, Moorhen, Herring Gulls, Robin, Song Thrush (in full song), female Reed Bunting and male Goldcrest. Hide one – female Kestrel on a post, female Marsh Harrier, 1 Redshank only, 1 Buzzard and Crows. En-route to platforms – Dunnock, Blackbirds, Woodpigeons, 198 Starlings, female Sparrowhawk, Blue Tits, 11 Fieldfares and 21 Redwings. Snipe platform – 11 Gadwall, Wren, Coot, Greylags, 68 Lapwing, Cettis calling, 3 Snipe, 1 Little Egret, 3 1st-year Mute Swans, 1 Great Black-backed Gull and 16 Pied Wagtails passing just overhead. Seawall – 42 Curlew only. Hide three – lagoon 3 held almost all of the wildfowl with 201 Wigeon, 188 Teal, 58 Shoveler, 2 male and 1 female Tufted Ducks and Meadow Pipits. No sign of the Long-tailed Duck but the wildfowl was so packed together it may still be present. En-route to car park pair of Stonechats, 2 Collard Doves, 2 Black-headed Gulls and a Goldfinch.

Main sighting: Waxwing update

10 present today around mid-day. Still feeding on the rowan berries between houses 217 and 219, and also on another rowan opposite and down towards the junction. However, the local mistle thrush is constantly harassing them so they may move on before long? Also seen on the roof tops and flying back and forth to the large tree by the pond. The rowan berries are still plentiful, the top ones have been stripped but the lower half of these two small rowans still have a good crop left. One birder said they had been seen around 9am this morning and another said there had been sporadic sightings at this location throughout the morning.

Main sighting: 14 wax wings

Mike and Jackie’s reporting is slightly incorrect.
The 14 wax wings are frequently evident on the very large central beech tree which is beside the landscaped pond, which can be viewed from the end of the cul-de-sac of Foil Close, or from Jubilee Way. The wax-wings are not feeding by insecting ….but on rowan berries nearby.
The Waxwings flit between here and the 2 small Rowan- Mountain Ash saplings to feed on berries outside of Nos.98 and between 217-219 frontages opposite…. a stones throw away!
There appear to be enough berries remaining for at least a couple of days according to the bird watchers present.
It is likely that once the Rowan berries have been exhausted that the 14 may move on to a further nearby site…. which they have already discovered!.. Amazing birds!
I have been made aware that the Waxwing only ventures to the eastern UK coast-lines and any sightings within the western reaches are extremely rare!? (7 Years I have been advised from an ornathologist present!)

Main sighting: Pintail

Pintail; Wigeon 100+; Teal 40; Little Grebe; Tufted Duck 8; Shelduck; Black Headed Gull; Common Gull 3; Lesser Black Backed Gull; Canada Goose 80; Greylag Goose 6; Gadwall; Grey Heron; Lapwing; Coot; Mallard; Fieldfare 3; Redwing; Blackbird; Blue Tit; Bullfinch; Carrion Crow; Magpie; Robin; Wren.

Main sighting: Waxwing

14 Waxwings today at 10:45-11;:15 there were no berries on the trees the birds were seen insecting.