Early morning we were back at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park and the weather conditions were much kinder, still bitterly cold but now calm. We headed for the west lake and carefully checked through all the Pochard and Tufted Duck, but no, the Lesser Scaup still wasn’t here. Still a much nicer experience today and we enjoyed watching both Great-crested and Little Grebes along with all the wildfowl. A Green Woodpecker was a nice record, these charismatic birds are really scarce back home, a Redwing showed off on top of a small tree right next to us. We returned to the boardwalk and looked for the male Bearded Reedling, talking to local birders it now seems as though the bird has not been seen for several days. Yesterday's sighting which was relayed to us by a little elderly lady with a small dog, she might have known a Bearded Reedling but the resident Reed Buntings were causing confusion today with some local walkers so maybe yesterday's bird was a Reed Bunting? However, our time in the reed bed was rewarded with amazing views of a Cetti’s Warbler! This resident scarce warbler is usually very difficult to get a clear view of. Not today, this bird actually sat on the edge of the boardwalk in full view in the sunshine, just wonderful!
The RSPB were running an event at the park and were busy making garden bird feeders with local youngsters, looked great fun. Of course this weekend is the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch a great way to get involved with making a difference to our knowledge of garden birds. For more details why not check out the RSPB’s excellent website www.rspb.org.uk for not only the Big Garden Birdwatch but loads more amazing stuff.
We left late morning and headed north through mostly sunny Wales back up to Llandudno just in time to watch Manchester United beat Spurs 2 – 1 in the FA Cup.
The Waxwings are still being seen over at Connah’s Quay in Flintshire so we might be tempted tomorrow if they stay a bit longer….