Sightings

Main sighting: Wood Warbler

Two Wood Warblers singing rather half-heartedly in the woods along the old railway (cycle path) between Blaenavon and Cwmavon. Two male Cuckoos calling. A few House Martins and Swallows but no Swifts yet.

Main sighting: Hobby

Single Hobby flying over Fox Hunters car around 6pm.

Main sighting: Cuckoo

Male Cuckoo calling on and off. Seen perched in a tree, ignored by a nearby Magpie and Woodpigeon. A female appeared, called briefly, and the pair flew off together with an escort of three Meadow Pipits.

Main sighting: Ring Ouzel

One Ouzel standing at the top of the quarry rock face, flushed by a passing Peregrine, flew over the top and not relocated. Pair of Kestrels. Only seven Wheatears.

Main sighting: Warblers

Late morning visit saw starlings, jackdaws, blue tits, greenfinch, reed warbler, woodpigeons, blackbirds, crows, pheasants, Canada geese, gt spotted woodpecker, buzzard, song thrush, great tits, 3 male common whitethroats, 1 chiffchaff, 2 blackcaps, skylark, rooks, pair stonechats, reed bunting, swallows and chaffinch. From the hide / pool 2 singing sedge warblers, numerous lt egrets and grey herons, cettis calling, mallards, robin, coot, 2 male lt grebes, 1 mute swan, moorhens and dunnock.

Main sighting: Barnacle geese / sandpipers / gt white egret

Dawn to mid-morning visit. Excellent variety with 60 species noted. En-route to hides – pheasants, wrens, blue tits, robin, 2 blackcaps, 2 chiffchaffs, moorhen, 2 cettis, 1 lesser whitethroat calling and 2 singing common whitethroats. Hide one – most of the activity seen with the almost black spotted redshank, 6 teal only (no wigeon), 2 cormorants, Canada geese, 11 shelduck, 21 avocet, 8 redshanks, 5 shoveler, crows, 5 whimbrel on the island, 2 coot, 5 gadwall, 2 oystercatchers, mallards, greylags, 2 lapwing, raven, blackbirds, 1 dunlin, 4 common sandpipers feeding together, skylarks, magpies, meadow pipits, herring gulls and jackdaws. Hide two – 2 herons, reed buntings, pair linnets, 2 swallows, 2 singing reed warblers, 3 lt egrets dropped in with 1 gt white egret. Snipe platform – 2 males and 1 female lt grebes, pair tufteds, dunnock, 9 mute swans and 10 more gadwall. Seawall – pair of barnacle geese on the saltings with the other geese, 11 black-tailed godwits (one with a leg flag reading E83), rook, 3 curlew, pied wagtails, goldfinch, 5 more swallows, ls black-backed gulls, 29 more dunlin with 12 ringed plovers mixed in and 1 house martin. Nothing new from hide 3. Back at hide one – 1 willow warbler singing, 35 swallows and 11 sand martins aerial feeding, kestrel, 2 more common sandpipers making the total 6, male sparrowhawk.

Main sighting: Curlew

ANOTHER colour-ringed, GPS-tagged Curlew in Gwent! This time in the northeast. Please check all Curlews for colour rings and If you see one please note the colour combination (and number if visible) and email your sighting ASAP to Curlew@gwentbirds.org.uk giving the grid ref, habitat etc. These reports are a huge help and will be followed up. Don’t forget to submit sightings of non-colour-ringed birds too.

Main sighting: Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzel female 1 Redstart 1 +1 singing Wheatear 8 Cuckoo 1 Linnet 12 Peregrine 1 Kestrel 2

Main sighting: Yellowhammer

One male yellowhammer observed with nest material.

Other notable species aside from whinchat (already mentioned) include redstart -11, tree pipit -12 stonechat -4 pied flycatcher -3 willow warbler -18 cuckoo -2 linnet -10 (mostly in clusters) green woodpecker -3, skylark -6 singing
Mostly singing males along a 4 mile circular route.

Main sighting: Whichat

Male bird perched on larch along St David’s Vale walk.

Main sighting: Redstart

Early BBS visit to a square with varied habitats giving a creditable tally of 37 species. Singing Redstarts included one on the top of the church spire! Two male Pied Flycatchers back on traditional territories. Cuckoo called briefly.

Main sighting: Cuckoo

South end of valley.