I managed a quick call to Cardiff Bay on Saturday. I finally connected with one
little gull, but it was hard work fighting against the wind and reflection of the sun on the water. That was my 150th species for the year.
On Sunday I popped down to Ogmore in the hope of seeing the newly resident party of
choughs. I managed to meet with Tim on the journey down and we had a quick visit to Watermill. A
pheasant,
swallows and
sand martins and a
sparrowhawk were on show.
On to Ogmore-by-Sea and a walk out towards Southerndown. We were soon picking up several
rock pipits and then our first
wheatear of the day. Plenty of
linnets were singing and pairing in the gorse. We met Dave Carrington who confirmed the
choughs were still present but were unsettled, being disturbed by walkers. We continued east, but there was no sign of our birds. We settled high up on the cliffs and ticked a couple of
fulmars and a
raven. A male
peregrine flew past.
Jackdaws were busy collecting nesting material. We ran in to Glyn Roberts, but he had not seen the
choughs either. After about half and hour we set off back, and within a few minutes we were walking towards six
choughs feeding on the ground not more than 30m in front of us. They were a little bit flighty, but we watched them for about 20 minutes as they moved back and for, stopping to feed. As we left, we probably saw the other two birds join them.
On the return to the car, we were struck by a stunning male
wheatear. Possibly a Greenland race bird but its hard to be sure. In the gorse the linnets were busy, and then Tim picked out a
Dartford warbler. Great!
We rounded the morning off with half an hour at Portobello. A
curlew, three
oystercatchers, two
redshanks and decent numbers of
shelducks and
Canada geese were near the island. A
willow warbler briefly sang from the gorse. A couple of
pied wagtails caught our attention. One was showing characteristics of
white wagtail. As I followed it in the binoculars a
merlin glided over the river and out over the dunes of Merthyr Mawr. A
peregrine flew overhead again. Just before I left, Tim had the briefest of glimpses of what could have been a
grey partridge .... or was it a
rabbit?
A calm, overcast afternoon at Uskmouth proved very rewarding in terms of quantity and quality of birds.
I parked at the end of Salt Marsh Lane, and walked down to the seawall. On the saltmarsh were approx 30 Whimbrel, including this particularly showy bird. Sedge Warblers were much in evidence, and a Whitethroat showed itself briefly. Having walked to Uskmouth reserve, and most of the way round it, I was thinking that yesterdays Cuckoos had gone, then suddenly I disturbed one from a post nearby. It flew around for a while and then perched on a treetop near the pylons at the NW corner of the reserve, where it stayed for at least 10 mins. A few photos and videoclips were attempted, until it flew off. A Lesser Whitethroat sang from the hedge 10 feet away, and immediately popped into a bare tree nearby, for not quite long enough for a photo. Having walked round the end and past the tree belt, I stopped to check the reedbed for a last time. A raptor was flying near the lighthouse. It was a cream crowned Marsh Harrier. I watched it work its way across to near where the cuckoo had been, then it dropped into the reedbed. I saw two other birders approaching. I walked back to check if they had seen the harrier. They hadn't, and as we chatted, a stunning male Hen Harrier emerged from the reeds nearby. We watched for a short while, until it appeared to drop into the reeds. A Cettis showed well briefly in a nearby tree, following a couple of earlier glimpses.
The walk back along the shore was quiet, apart for cracking views of a couple of Reed Warblers.
.jpg)
