Sightings

Main sighting: Woodlark

Evening visit – male kestrel hunting, 63 shelduck, 8 lt egrets, 2 spoonbill feeding on 1st and 2nd lagoons, 2 wheatears, 6 yellow wagtails, smaller passage of meadow pipits, only 6 swallows, 2 chiffchaffs (contact calls), 1 buzzard, 1 heron and an adult female marsh harrier. It was hard going with the high wind and showers so third hide and seawall not visited. However, back at hide 1 was a mix of 75 ringed plovers, 11 dunlin, 1 curlew sandpiper, 1 knot, 12 grey plovers later joined by 2 golden plovers, 20 lapwing, 1 greenshank, 1 ruff and 2 common redshanks. A low flyover woodlark (seen and calling) was the highlight of the visit.

Main sighting: Goshawk

Goshawk circling over valley and woodland somewhere near Newcastle, Mon. Mobbed by crow. Nearby several tens of hirundines still.

Main sighting: Grey Plover

Evening visit at high tide. Notably 8 x Grey Plovers were seen on Monks Lagoon with a small number Knots (6). 50 x Lapwings, Dunlin (1), Ringed Plover 30+, Black Headed Gulls 20 +. Big flocks of Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches.
1 x Buzzard. On Priors was 1 x Ruff, 1 x Snipe , 1 x Redshank, 2 x Greenshank and 100+ Teal.
Becs Lagoon – hunting Kestrel, 2 x Spoonbill 8 x Curlew. Little Egret x 6.
I was informed that someone had seen a Scaup Duck earlier in day but not confirmed.

Main sighting: Gooseander

Seen by Chris Stone this afternoon at sudbrook. 1 male gooseander, 1 adult Mediterranean gull, 24 redshank.

Main sighting: Goshawk

Juv Goshawk hunting low at woodland edge and up tk 45 Swallow heading south .Also Green Woodpecker Male and 5 Buzzard thermal .

Main sighting: Spoonbill

7 Spoonbill from seawall hide

Main sighting: Waders and Peregrine

High tide today did not produce the numbers hoped for of Waders. Bit of a lull at the moment generally. Flock of Knots had some Dunlins in it and they settled on Becs Lagoon where a male Peregrine had been perched on a rock most of the morning but flew off eventually. A Turnstone and some Lapwing joined the Dunlins and a Curlew Sandpiper and things settled. Then the Peregrine returned and took out the Turnstone and ate it on the Becs Island.

Main sighting: Red Kite

Red Kite soaring over fields at Llanellen around 1.50 pm.

Main sighting: Spotted Redshanks

Dawn to mid-morning visit highlights – 5 chiffchaffs, 8 lt egrets, 156 teal, 4 shoveler, 2 herons, 1 buzzard (light-phase bird), 48 sand martins with 26 house martins and 248 swallows passing through together, another passage of meadow pipits with 148 counted and 14 skylarks, 1 cettis calling, green woodpecker yaffling, only 1 ringed plover and no dunlin, 3 ruff, 2 spotted redshanks feeding together, 2 greenshanks, 9 snipe, 56 lapwing, 7 yellow wagtails, 2 white wagtails in with numerous pieds, 9 black-tailed godwits, female kestrel, male sparrowhawk, glossy ibis made a brief appearence before going out to the mudflats, kingfisher, black swan, pair of stonechats, 1 wheatear, 62 knot and a male peregrine. Mudflats: 2 gt b b gulls, 68 curlew and 62 oystercatchers. Other: 1 painted lady, 2 red admirals, 2 speckled woods, common darters and numerous migrant hawkers. Likely candidate for a great-white egret flying across to the Pill but not enough time to confirm ID – size right, kinked neck, slwoer wing beats etc but could not see the bill for positive ID sorry.

Main sighting: Water rail

Dusk visit. Fairly quiet but highlights included 6 chiffchaffs, female kestrel hunting, 44 lapwing, 4 yellow wagtails (including a juvenile), 2 herons, small passage of swallows and meadow pipits, 3 ruff, skylarks, 6 snipe, black swan, 1 greenshank, juvenile water rail with the snipe, 2 turnstone in with the lapwing, cettis calling and 3 lt egrets. Seawall – 1 wheatear with 600+ black-headed gulls on the mudflats, 87 knot, 170 black-tailed godwits and a surprising 17 avocets. Other: 1 red admiral, 1 painted lady, several male and female common darters and 18 migrant hawkers.

Main sighting: Little grebe

Returned to Llanbadoc church area early this morning. Two winter plumage little grebes present. Spoke too soon about pied-billed. Some (a lot) of compensation in the form of three otter swimming downstream in synchronised fashion. One of them then fishing close to the near bank. Short trip to Goldcliff Lagoons, where three yellow wagtail, single wheatear, small numbers of dunlin, single turnstone, sparrowhawk, two kestrel and glossy ibis. The last was feeding close to a little egret some distance away on the saltmarsh down channel.

Main sighting: Linnet

Flock of c300 Linnet feeding on stubble, 30 Goldfinch, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, 4 Lgrt, 2 Heron, a few Swallows N.E.