Sightings

Main sighting: Grey Seal

A surprise non avian sighting this morning was a Grey Seal close in to the access ladder.It surfaced four times,putting all the wild fowl to flight.Also 3-Common Sandpipers.

Main sighting: Crossbill

Eleven birds flew over.

Main sighting: Swift

1 over house this evening

Main sighting: Waders, especially Curlew

Evening look on big high tide (13.0 metres) to see if Curlews came in to roost when there is a high evening tide. They do! At least 400 Curlews came in from 18h15 onwards, and some sat quite well for ring reading, but I couldn’t see any rings! Also many hundreds of Blackwits (at the very least 500), 5 Whimbrels, 8 Ruff, 5 Avocets, at least 40 Knot, 3 Snipe, at least 30 Ringed Plovers, 50 Dunlin. At least two Wigeon. Among the Greylags, two with colour rings, no doubt from Llanwern: Z4B and UC4.

Main sighting: Greylag

From the first hide 69-Greylags.Also 3-Ruffs,2-Curlew Sandpipers and a Wigeon all from the second hide.14h00-15h40.

Main sighting: Tree Pipit / Curlew Sandpipers

En-route to hides: Woodpigeons, starlings, chiffchaff, crows, blue tits, wren, magpie and grey wagtail. Hide one – Passage of house martins (60) and sand martins (108) but only 2 swallows, 6 little egrets, 5 curlew, blackbird, green woodpecker (calling), 3 ringed plovers, numerous pied wagtails with 2 yellow wagtails mixed in (following the cattle), male whitethroat. Hide two – 5 knot, 77 black-tailed godwits, 71 lapwing, 2 herons, Canada geese, 17 redshanks, herring gulls, mallards, 10 gadwall, 35 teal, black-headed gulls, stonechat, skylark, 2 shoveler and moorhen. Seawall – 4 wheatears, lesser black-backed gulls, goldfinches, 1 whimbrel, 15 more curlew, oystercatchers, shelduck, cormorant and 1 tree pipit overhead calling. Hide three – 4 ruff with 2 curlew sandpipers feeding together and 2 snipe. Snipe platform – 1 swan only, 7 more shoveler and 5 more gadwall, tufted family looking well (young almost fully grown), 7 little grebes (family group also doing well) and coot. Other: Green-veined whites, meadow brown, red admiral and common darters.

Main sighting: Mediterranean Gull

1430-1700 – on rising tide. 1 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit (7), Knot (18), Turnstone (2) on the rising tide in amongst the usual Redshank, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover and Dunlin. 1 Wheatear on the rocks.

Main sighting: Goshawk

Sparrowhawk

Main sighting: Bittern , Waders and Peregrine

Visit at low tide , a little after sunrise.
Green Woodpecker, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers whilst walking along the entrance lane. The undergrowth was full of small birds – Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tits.
Monks Lagoons had a small wader flock mainly located opposite hide 2 – 10 x Black Tailed Godwits, 7 x Ruff, 1 x Dunlin,1 x Snipe , 1 x Juve Ringed Plover, 20 C Lapwings, 2 x Curlews and 20 c Redshank. Ducks – mainly teal, shoveler and some gadwall.
Early on a Peregrine Falcon swooped in and chased the waders. On reviewing my pics I have noted that it is a ringed bird but despite cropping the pics I cant read them.
Later in the morning a Bittern took flight from the Becs passed the seawall hide and landed in the reeds on Priors Lagoon.
On Priors lagoon one thing I noticed was a Little Grebe feeding its chick.
On the sea wall a Wheatear was showing nicely and on the mud were 2 x Whimbrels.
Out in the waters of the Estuary was a Common Dolphin that a number of visitors were watching.

Main sighting: Ring-necked Paraket

Working on the castle and saw it flying about 8metres high over a grass field. Swooped up into tree and was lost. Distinctive screech call made once. Am familiar with the bird from London.

Main sighting: Bittern

At 1030 two Bitterns flew over the reedbeds and landed in the corner just to the right of Snipe platform (seen from Hide 3). Could not be seen from Snipe platform. About 30 minutes after the original sighting one Bittern flew in across the fields to land out of sight close to Hide 1.
Waders about included seven Ruff and one Bar-tailed Godwit.
Two Spotted Flycatchers around the entrance to the reserve and a Kingfisher on the reen.

Main sighting: Wader mix and bittern update

|Morning visit, 59 species. En-route to hides: 104 starlings on wire with a juv yellow wagtail mixed in, woodpigeons, goldfinches, blue tits, crows, blackbirds, moorhen, cettis, chaffinch, wren, magpie, 5 house martins and green woodpecker. Hide two – 1 greenshank, 15 swallows, 17 redshanks, 8 ruff, 6 black-tailed godwits, 68 teal, mallards, 3 herons, black-headed gulls, 1 green sandpiper, herring gulls, 7 gadwall, 9 lt egrets, pied wagtails, 2 more juv yellow wagtails, magpie, 2 curlew, 1 chiffchaff, raven, Canada geese, 9 sand martins, meadow pipit, 1 buzzard, willow warbler, 18 knot (one in sumer plumage), 1 spotted redshank, 1 little stint, 1 curlew sandpiper, 48 ringed plovers, 76 lapwing, ls black-backed gulls, 3 dunlin, 2 turnstone, greylags and linnets. Snipe platform – pair of pintail, 15 swans, family group lt grebes (no sign of tufted family), 10 more teal and 5 more gadwall and fem marsh harrier. Seawall – 60 oystercatchers (good number), gt black-backed gull and 105 shelduck. Hide 3 – 25 more teal, stonechat pair and 5 snipe which flew over to lagoon 2. Extra: From hide 2, left corner, bittern is showing now and again but staying well-tucked in.