Whiteford Point

No sign of the red necked grebe this morning but a good selection of birds nonetheless. Notable species included: 4 slavonian grebe, 1 great northern diver, 40 eider, 3 red breasted merganser, 1 female merlin.

Yesterday: 2 - 3 ringtail hen harriers and 2 g w egret at Llanrhidian Marsh.

Boxing Day Birding

This morning Mark Hipkin and I headed to Wernffrwd for a look at the marsh and estuary over the high tide - it also served as a good way to clear the head after yesterday's over-indulgence. From the outer mound the usual waders and wildfowl of the Burry were spread out before us and it wasn't long after that Mark found 2 Slavonian Grebes. A little while after I picked up on a third darker looking grebe that was swimming and diving near one of the Slav's - slowly revealing itself to be a Red-necked Grebe. It was a great opportunity for comparison with the Slav's and also the nearby Great crested grebes. Distance and poor light prevented getting any decent record-shots, but i did mange to get some footage with my Iphone/scope.

A couple a screen grabs from the footage taken.

Sky dancer at Llanrhidian at Christmas time

Merry Christmas everyone from the GRC

Afon argoed.

Great grey shrike present but mobile at SS82692 93536 yesterday (Paul Tabor).

News

3 Wood Larks still at Overton, Gower [OG]

Bittern at KNNR [PS]

Bittern in reeds on the west lake at Cosmeston 18th. [per B-G]

Great White Egret at Neath River (29/11/14) record shot

© D. Sharps

Dave Sharps kindly provided a record shot of the Great white Egret that was present mid-morning on 29th November along the Neath River opposite Brunel Dock. This bird showed only briefly before flying upriver and although looked for later that day around the saltmarsh in the afternoon and again at the Egret roost opposite Brunel Dock early evening it was not seen again. This species is rarely seen in NPT and tends not to stick around for long but surely it won't be long before one chooses to winter here.

Early December

The Hawfinches continue to show well at Fforestganol with 8 there on 10th [GOS] & 3 on 12th [MCP & DRWG]. Best place is to park [with care] near the white cottage [one with the vegetable garden & bird feeders] and look up into the beech/hornbeams for them feeding on the mast. They also feed in the lower canopy and on the ground. The Lesser Scaup is back at CBWR and the Black Redstarts continue to perform well around the houses of Penarth Marina [many obs]. There is a very nice set of photos on Birders in Boxers by Jeff Slocombe of the Black Reds.

1st W Caspian Gull at Cosmeston

Lol Middleton and Andy Burns have found what the gull experts on the UK Gulls blog/Facebook page seem confident is a 1stW Caspian Gull - see the Glamorgan Bird sightings blog for link to the photos - https://glamorganbirds.wordpress.com. The bird was on E lake.

6 Hawfinches were seen at Fforestganol [GS]

Bittern at Kenfig

© P. Smith

Peter Smith sent in this fabulous shot of a Bittern at Kenfig, today. Taken from the southern hide at around 10:00. Showed for about 10 minutes before disappearing into the reedbed.

Roath Park Lake

Long tailed duck giving excellent views until dusk (found by Dave Palmer) around the islands. Also present 4 teal, 1 shoveler, 1 little egret and 10+ little grebes. 62 cormorant in the usual roost.

Yesterday - 6 jack snipe at Green Point. 2 great northern divers Llwyn onn reservoir gorging themselves on crayfish.

Long-tailed Duck at Crymlyn Burrows

© hmmm

A longed for patch tick this afternoon from Crymlyn Burrows - female type Long-tailed Duck was feeding on the Aberavon side of the shipping channel. Also present 3 Shelducks, 4 Common Scoters, 5 Red-throated Divers, 358 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Knots, 151 Ringed Plovers, 729 Dunlins, 1 Snipe, 4 Bar-tailed Godwits and 11 Turnstones. Sanderlings present but not counted.
The Dunlin numbers today are the highest I've ever counted at this location and the small wader flock have been gradually increasing in size at Crymlyn for the last few months. This is in stark contrast to Blackpill where they have been largely absent. The displacement will probably be only temporary and once the university campus opens next year the flock are likely roam more widely across the bay. For now this relatively quiet beach is a real joy to watch around high tide and well worth a visit. A GOS field trip is scheduled for next weekend.

Overton, Gower

Spent the morning at Overton. The 4 woodlarks put in a brief appearance around mid morning. They appeared from nowhere and circled around the stubble field calling and then headed off north.

There was a good sized finch flock in the adjacent field which contained 60+ chaffinch, 10 linnet, 3 reed bunting and 3 goldfinch but despite a good search no common rosefinch amongst them.

A quick look of Port Eynon saw 2 med gulls (ad), 1 eider and 2 red-throated diver.

Male Black Redstart Penarth Marina still performing!

Common Rosefinch at Overton (Gower)

The same field favoured by the Wood Larks is also attracting a decent sized mixed finch flock with c50 Chaffinches and roughly similar numbers of Linnets. While scanning for the Wood Larks amongst the finches on the deck this Common Rosefinch popped into view. It appears to be moving with the Chaffinch flock and the best chance of seeing it seems to be when the flock periodically take up together and gather in the hedgerow that runs along the field's northern boundary.

The photos show fairly warm plumage tones and a well defined double wing-bar, which was clear to see in the field. Therefore I suggest this bird is a 1st winter.

On the way back home, a quick scan from Dalton's Point at HT found a roosting Spotted Redshank. Seems strange to think that in 2014 there will probably be fewer Spotted Redshank seen in Glamorgan than Wood Lark, though this location being one of the most reliable to connect with Spotted Redshank in the county.

Wood Larks at Overton

 Four Wood Larks were present again at Overton, today. Initially five were found by Chris Brewer on 22/11/14 and all five were seen the next day at the same location (OGa, AWF). No further reports of these birds were made before Neil Edwards saw 4 birds flying north from this location on 28/11/14. Yesterday, the same four were seen by a few observers (AJ, BS et al)