Sightings

Main sighting: RED KITE

RED KITE Flying low over fields next to Caerleon Road between Llanfrechfa and Ponthir.

Main sighting: Goldcrest

Goldcrest

Main sighting: Juvenile osprey

At @ 1215 hrs a bird of prey flew over the Monnow bridge car park, strong level flight 4 or 5 wingbeats and short glide, around 30 metres height heading up the Monnow river, the bird flew from the river Wye. Good views in the bright sun and given the long wing shape and buff white underside, we confirmed a very late juvenile osprey, also seen by Dave Cooksey.

Main sighting: Short-eared Owl

Dawn – 10.30hrs. Pheasants, crows, robins, blackbirds, large groups of feeding redwings but no fieldfares today, chaffinches and lots of wrens. Hide one – 72 wigeon, 62 lapwing, 18 teal, 21 redshanks, Canada geese and a greylag goose. Snipe platform – shoveler 20, cettis and magpies. Seawall – short-eared owl perched 5 posts down towards the hide, flew off over lagoon 2 and watched hunting four more times before I left, ravens, starlings, 28 curlew, oystercatchers, shelduck, herring gulls, black-headed gulls and dunlin. Hide three – stonechats, reed buntings, 21 more widgeon, pied wagtails, mallards, 5passing cormorants, 3 mute swans (cygnets), goldfinches, female sparrowhawk and a single black-tailed godwit. Snipe platform – 2nd stop, mistle thrushes, 3 snipe and 5 skylarks calling. Hide two – 11 curlew, water rail calling, fem marsh harrier, 8 gadwall, 6 more black-tailed godwits, buzzard and woodpigeons. No report of the desert wheatear when I was there.

Main sighting: Short-eared Owl

Two owls silhouetted hunting over the ridge above the road, only seen at very last light (16.55). Male Red Grouse called once.

Main sighting: Turnstone

20-Turnstones on the tide line this morning.

Main sighting: Rooks

7 or 8 Rooks – building nests.

Main sighting: Waders

Late afternoon walk to Collister Pill and return to Magor – female sparrowhawk hunting the reen and hedgerows, a few redwing and fieldfares, murmeration of 500 starling around the pillbox, small numbers of little egrets and at the mouth of Magor Pill on the flood tide, 15 redshank, 25 grey plover, 150 dunlin, 2 GBB gulls and at dusk a peregrine over the foreshore.

Main sighting: waders

1400 hrs low tide, very little on foreshore to Collister Pill, female sparrowhawk over, a few redwings and fieldfares in the hedgerows but on the return to Magor Pill with the tide on the flow, increasing numbers of thrushes, several egrets, a few shelduck and at the mouth of the pill 25 grey plover, 20 redshanks, @ 150 dunlin, 2 GBB gulls and a peregrine over the foreshore heading to Caldicot.

Main sighting: Raptor activity

Blackbirds, larger numbers of redwings today, magpies, Canada geese, wrens (5), fieldfares (big umbers), robin, crows, herring gulls, mallards, cettis, 46 greylags, pheasant. Snipe Platform – good number of teal (201) and shoveler (52), 9 mute swans, 3 gadwall, starlings, chaffinch, woodpigeons, pair stonechats, meadow pipits, blue tit. Marsh Platform – 281 black-tailed godwits, 81 lapwing, water rail showing quite well, 6 dunlin in the top left corner, one with a damaged left leg, pied wagtails, 8 snipe, 2 little egrets. Seawall – curlew, oystercatchers, lesser black-backed gulls, black headed gulls, house sparrows, single redshank. Hide 3 – linnet flock and skylarks. Hide 2 – good raptor spectacle with a buzzard at the edge of the island eating food remains, taken over by ravens. Female marsh harrier quartering the lagoons with a female kestrel chasing a male peregrine, then the peregrine chasing the kestrel, a male kestrel appeared, followed by a female peregrine all flying around together with some aerial tactics. Prior to this a female sparrowhawk was also present from hide 3.

Main sighting: Goosander

1 male goosander

Main sighting: Merlin

Excellent view of female Merlin perched on a post near the old reservoir. Pair of Stonechats still on their territory in the gorse. A few Meadow Pipits. Winter thrushes (and berries) mostly gone. Red Kite and Sparrowhawk over. No Woodpigeon movements as yet.