An afternoon in Cardiff..........

After a lazy morning with a bit of a lay-on I thought that I'd spend the afternoon carrying out a reconnaissance visit to Rumney Great Wharf in the hope of seeing a couple of Short-eared Owls for the first time this autumn/winter.
With news of at least one seen recently I thought I'd check out the fields between the road and the seawall where they hunted regularly last winter.
With a little time on my hands I paid a first visit in a long time to Forest Farm NR on my way attempting to get an obligatory Kingfisher photo, I allowed myself an hour and after about 40 minutes a male bird came on to one of the near perches making one successful dive before leaving as quickly as he had arrived.
We are so lucky to have this photographic opportunity on our doorstep and I easily managed a few pleasing images.......

 

An added bonus was a close-in Common Snipe feeding along the edge of the pool.......

As the Kingfisher left so did I and made my way to Rumney Great Wharf, I had heard on social media that the two fields that the owls used last winter were now occupied by horses and can confirm that they are indeed.

The result of the use of the fields is that it appears for sometime that the horses have grazed away the 'rough pasture' and to my untrained eye it would appear that the grass is now not long enough except for a few sporadic patches to support a thriving vole population, I hope that I am wrong.

I had a good search but with a brisk wind and spots of rain any Shorties could not be blamed for laying low, I have a feeling that we are not going to have the numbers of owls that we had last year, again I hope that I am wrong as I do really enjoy photographing them.