It was very windy at the wetlands on Saturday morning. This meant there were a lot of tits and finches along Perry Lane but not much elsewhere. Highlight was 6 Bullfinches along Perry Lane; 3 males and 3 females. I only heard one Cettis warbler singing, saw 2 or 3 reed buntings and 1 stonechat, it was that windy. Even the reedbed lakes had waves (well larger than ripples) on them. Towards end of the walk a Sparrowhawk put up Redwings and Starlings from a tree by the car park. No photos of birds; only branches and twigs in focus and photo uploading doesn't seem to be working presently anyhow.
Photo uploading now working. Here's the a windy view.
Same today (Sunday) Colin, only real picture was of the friendly Robin by the hide. Plenty of people about though. Did hear 2 Water Rail, one in the copse and one in the reeds behind the hide but they wouldn't show themselves.
Perry Lane is definitely the most interesting place on the reserve at the moment although I've yet to see the Bullfinches. I was down by the sea wall on Wednesday and I met a guy from Cardiff who said that a Kingfisher was showing reliably down in Forest Farm so visited there on Friday (overcast) and Saturday (better). Saw the Kingfisher on both days, well saw two at once on Saturday plus two Jays, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Buzzard and Heron. There is a hide down there nr. the farm (just behind Radyr Station) with a feeding station which was visited while I was there by Great, Blue and Coal Tits, Robins, Bullfinches, Nuthatch, Blackbirds, Reed Buntings and Chaffinches. All the three hides are much closer to the action than ours in Newport. There is a Bittern down there, although i didn't see it, Snipe and Water Rail better seen from the second hide. Here's a map if you fancy a visit. It took me about 20 minutes to get there as its straight down the M4 to the Merthyr/Whitchurch junction. http://www.forestfarm.org.uk/location.html
Forest Farm is good John, have seen the Kingfisher and Water Rail but no Bittern. Also could not find the third hide which I now believe is close to where I parked the car by the buildings. There is a South Wales Wildlife Photography group on Facebook and a lot of the contributors on there are regulars at Forest Farm.
I have visited Forest Farm a couple of times, not since last spring however. Had really good views of green woodpecker and about 6 snipe very close to the hide. It seems that it has a reputation as a place to photograph Kingfishers and the hide with the stick(perch) is often busy.
Blimey that'll teach me to check back after posting - here's me giving directions and you had both already been there. Duhh! Sorry about that.
David I think it's so unusual to have a resident Kingfisher anywhere in the country that the first hide is on every photographer's itinerary. often packed although not too bad on the day I was there.
At least I can be of help with the third hide. With the warden's office ahead you walk towards it and then right through a little covered walkway overlooking some pools to the hide. This is very unusual in that it has a range of kitchen chairs to sit on! In front of you and only a few feet away is a well stocked feeder, unfortunately loved by squirrels as well. There are also posts that have been prepared with a suet mixture which were attracting the Tits and a couple of stumps and branches for birds to perch and give natural-looking shots. The Bullfinch posed there for quite a while but for some reason couldn't get the camera to focus before it was gone.