Sightings

Main sighting: White Wagtail / Bittern

En-route to hide: 52 starlings, robin, woodpigeons, crows, goldfinches, linnets, 2 chiffchaffs, mallards and moorhen. Hide one – 3 herons, 31 swallows, stonechat family group, 11 teal, magpies and pied wagtails. Hide two – 35 more teal, cettis, 6 little egrets, 10 shoveler, 2 snipe, 4 curlew, marsh harrier, meadow pipits, single avocet, sparrowhawk, 2 yellow wagtails, 1 white wagtail, 1 ruff, fem kestrel and blackcap in full song. Snipe platform – green woodpecker by the hay bales, coot 8 gadwall, 25 more shoveler, lt grebes, fem tufted, 5 swans, 8 sand martins, black headed and lesser black-backed gulls. Seawall – 210 shelduck, 42 oystercatchers, single whimbrel on the mud, 18 avocet, 37 curlew, cormorant and house sparrows. Hide three – herring gulls, Canada geese, 12 black-tailed godwits, 4 dunlin, 9 redshanks, 2 lt stints, 1 curlew sandpiper, 50 lapwing, 8 knot, 9 ruff (feeding together in far left corner), 11 more snipe and reed bunting. Marsh platform – bittern flew across and 25 house martins feeding. Other: MIgrant hawkers, 3 red admirals, large whites, meadow brown and 1 small tortoiseshell.

Main sighting: Goldcrest ( Britain's smallest bird )

In a field with a hedgerow and trees was a female and male goldcrest zi-ing ( calling ) with blue tits and chiffchaff’s. Also two buzzards.

Main sighting: Osprey

Two Osprey over the reservoir this morning (9:30 am). One successfully caught a fish and flew off east. Seen from Fishermans Car Park.

Main sighting: Hobby

1-Hobby,3+Ruffs,15-Avocets,16-Little Egrets,1-Grey Plover,1-Curlew Sandpiper,1-Yellow Wagtail,37+Knot and good numbers of Black ‘wits.11h00-13h30.

Main sighting: Spotted Flycatcher

1 bird perched on wire. Also 2 wheatears long dry stone wall.

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.