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Owen's Wildlife 2025 (1 Viewer)

January 17t
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My first day off of the week saw the area encased in thick fog so the plan of Porthcawl yesterday and Gloucestershire today got shifted to Porthcawl today and Gloucestershire sometime or other.

Reached Newton point a little too late for high tide so waders were very dispersed and the dog walkers were there in force. Quite a few common year ticks but nothing that I wont see multiple times this winter. I was spared a probably futile look for purple sandpipers in porthcawl itself by the lack of parking so headed to the next bay where Med Gulls are very reliable on the football pitch just in from the sea. Sure enough two there.

Kenfig pool eventually gave up the American Wigeon I saw a few weeks ago for last years list. Took a while to find it and quite distant for photos but you could see the plumage coming on from my last visit. Nice to pick out a pair of common gull, not that common around us, and some goldeneye.

Back in Cardiff I gave another go to firecrests in Bute park, they have been very mobile along a small stream but been seen a lot in one clump of rodedenrons. I'd tried before but been too mobile myself and this time I just waited in the one place. Constant turnover of small groups of goldcrest gave credence to the circular feeding route ideas our whatsapp had been having, Eventually a firecrest popped out of the bushes, showed twice and then was gone again.

Very bad photos today, definitely record shots.

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94 Oystercatcher
95 Turnstone
96 Sanderling
97 Linnet
98 Ringed Plover
99 Mediterannean Gull
100 Goldeneye
101 Common Gull
102 American Wigeon
103 Treecreeper
104 Firecrest

Birds 104 Photographed 49
 

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Enjoyable visit to Slimbridge today as well as a still fairly enjoyable but totally unsuccesful visit to portishead to look for purple sandpipers on the way home.

Just before getting to the car park at slimbridge I stopped for a second with a small crowd watching a glossy Ibis in a nearby field. Not a species I was likely to miss this year but after parking and walking back I was stunned by just how close it was feeding. Maybe 3m away giving lovely views.

Nothing too unexpected anywhere else, some distant White Fronts and Barnacle geese. A totally asleep and tucked in Spoonbill and some nice flybys by small groups of cranes. Saw them on the deck as well but the low level flying was probably the highlight.

Lovely scope views of a very active Little Stint, quite a few photos of common species and managing to pick the Whooper swan hidden with some quite distant and mainly sleeping Bewicks on the dumbles. It didnt take that long scanning before I got good enough views to pick it up. I'd kind of expected today to be lost to the weather but it turned out to be a very fun day out.

106 Glossy Ibis
107 Greater White Fronted Goose
108 Crane
109 Barnacle Goose
110 Bewicks Swan
111 Whooper Swan
112 Skylark
113 spoonbill

Birds 113 Photos 68

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Fun day around Cardiff largely helping the year lists of Rich and Rob along with birds I'd already seen. I did pick up a couple of new species and a few more photographs and the birding was good all day. Firecrest in particular was very showy immediately and we ended the day with Rob finding a Little Stint amongst the crowds of dunlin on the Cardiff foreshore Well I say cardiff but looking at the map put us just within Newport county boundaries to make it my 6th or so Gwent one rather than the desired glamorgan tick.

114 Goosander
115 Grey Plover

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Birds 115 Photos 73
 

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