Date: 4 February 2017
Location: Kenfig Nature Reserve, Bridgend
We woke up to blue skies and knew the weather wouldn't stay like this for long. So we decided to venture to Kenfig Nature Reserve to see what we could find. Recently there had been a bittern spotted so we were hoping we would finally see this elusive bird.
It has been awhile since we visited and when we arrived we noticed that there were a few changes to the visitor centre, the fantastic mural which had been painted by www.andyorourke.com was finished and the reserve and new signage and maps.
 |
| Dan and myself in one of our favorite local nature reserves |
 |
| The brilliant mural on the visitor centre |
 |
| One of the new signs and map |
From the visitor centre we made our way down to Kenfig Pool and spotted
Tufted Ducks,
Black Headed Gulls,
Cormorants and
Great Crested Grebe*. After the pool we made our way to the nearby hide...
 |
| Kenfig Pool |
 |
| Tufted Duck |
 |
| Black Headed Gulls |
When we got to the hide we were immediately treated to a beautiful
Grey Heron perched on a post and he stayed there the entire time we were there. We also spotted a
Great Crested Grebe catching fish,
Cormorants,
Gadwells* and
Mallards. A
Wood Pigeon perched on a nearby tree for a closeup pic!
 |
| Grey Heron on post |
 |
| Mallard |
 |
| Great Crested Grebe catching a fish |
 |
| Gadwells (male & female) |
 |
| Cormorant drying off his feathers |
 |
| Curious Wood Pigeon |
From here we decided to head to Sker Beach and see what coastal birds we could find...
 |
Kenfig Pool reed bed
|
 |
| A sign to the beach |
 |
| Sker house in the distance and a misty Rest Bay beyond that |
It was extremely windy down by the beach and the weather was changing. When the sun disappeared behind a cloud it was freezing! Besides being cold, we managed to see some great birds:
Herring Gulls, Raven, Curlew* and
Oystercatchers.
 |
| Herring Gulls |
 |
| Raven |
 |
| Oystercatchers and Curlews |
Has we walked along the beach, we were treated to several more species of birds (some new ones for my #My200BirdYear) - They were:
Grey Plover, Redshank, Turnstone and a beautiful bird called the
Golden Plover.
 |
| Grey Plover |
 |
| Redshanks |
 |
| Turnstone |
 |
| Golden Plover |
Time was getting on so we decided to head back to the car, on the way we stopped to say hello to the black cows that sometimes roam the reserve and spotted a Stonechat. As I was taking a photo of the Stonechat a big flock of birds flew out of a nearby bush obviously spooked by something. Then I heard Dan saying " Sand, Sand, Sand..." I turned around and there was a Sparrowhawk sat just 6 feet away from us on a fence post. I was just about to take a pic when it flew off...luckily Dan managed to get an awesome pic of this beautiful bird. Wow what a treat!
 |
| The Black Cows of Kenfig |
