30 - MINUTE BIRDER
30-minute birder Amanda Tuke enjoys urban winter birding in Cardiff, on the trail of a rare visitor
No. No. No. Nope. And not that one, either. There is still one individual which looks hopeful, but she’s busy preening so it’s hard at the moment to see whether she has the lighter head and pale ring at the base of her bill, which we’re looking for. She finally settles, revealing a dark head and definitely a crest. So, no again.
Cindy and I are scrutinising each of the female Tufted Ducks on Lisvane Reservoir in north Cardiff. A female Ring-necked Duck has been here, on and off, over the past few weeks, and was seen yesterday. We finally come to the conclusion that we’ve drawn a blank, and, just
as we agree it would be nice to have definite confirmation, East Glamorgan County Recorder Phil Bristow miraculously appears – and agrees with us. Well, to be fair, it’s not really miraculous. He did know I was going to be in Cardiff today, and said he’d try to meet us here at his patch.
Born and bred in urban Cardiff, Phil has been birding at Victorian-built Lisvane and Llanishen Reservoirs for almost 50 years, since he was a schoolboy. “Back then I’d cycle from home up here to birdwatch, sometimes a couple of times a day”, he tells me. And Lisvane Reservoir, in particular, has had its rarities over that time. Spotted Sandpiper, Alpine Swift, Yellow-browed Warbler, Long-tailed Duck, Great Northern Diver, Goldeneye, and of course this year’s elusive Ring-necked Duck, have all been recorded. Phil says he’s interested in changes in the common species on the reservoir, too, and is busy working through uploading his 50 years of written records to BirdTrack. His time series is showing a mixed picture. “These days you’re likely to see up to 70 Tufted Duck here, but, back in the 1980s, 400 to 500 wasn’t unusual. On the other hand, Great Crested Grebe and Little Grebe are increasing year on year, and I’m hopeful that they’ll start breeding on the newly installed floating rafts.”
Lisvane Reservoir was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1972, for its wintering wildfowl, and the embankments of both reservoirs are a separate SSSI for their diversity of fungi. Despite being declared redundant for water supply purposes in the 1970s, the two reservoirs remained in the ownership of Welsh Water, and the public were still permitted to walk around them.
The problems started when Welsh Water sold the site in 2004, and the new owners locked it, and drained the Llanishen. A residents’ action group successfully fought off plans to build housing on the reservoir site and, at the end of July 2023, the two reservoirs were finally
