Sightings

Main sighting: Pintail

Dawn – 10.00. Chaffinches, skylarks, moorhens, crows, lots of fieldfares again but only 2 redwings, cettis calling. Snipe platform – 2 mute swans, robin, wren, 1 greenshank, 1 heron, 9 shoveler, Canada geese, pheasant, spoonbill still present, pair of kestrels, magpies, 1,200+ starlings, 19 snipe, 2 little egrets, 581 black-tailed godwits in 2 separate groups, linnets, excellent count of 178 knot, woodpigeons (large flocks high overhead), pied wagtails, pair stonechats, 93 lapwing, good count now of 103 teal, raven, 103 dunlin roosting but 206 seen in total, female sparrowhawk hunting (twice), blue tit, 1 ruff, meadow pipits, black headed gulls. Seawall – curlew, shelduck, ls black-backed gulls, 12 pintail, gadwall, cormorant. Blackbird, chiffchaff contact call from the hedge line. Hide two – 5 grey plover with 19 ringed plovers, pair of buzzards, goldfinches, jackdaws and collard doves.

Main sighting: Red Grouse

Two Red Grouse, 100+ Fieldfares over, 3 Stonechat this afternoon.

Main sighting: Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler spotted in the brambles near the Marsh hide around 4pm. Bird was still present on Sun 30th Oct as confirmed by Hugh Gregory.

Also present – Redshank, 4 or 5 Snipe feeding on the mud near the Marsh hide, Lapwing, Stonechat, plenty of Fieldfare feeding on berries (no Redwings though), few hundred Starling gathering in the neighbouring fields, Woodpigeon, Long-Tailed Tits and a Kingfisher near the bridge.

Main sighting: Saturday's GOS talk

See the GOS Home page for details of the change of zoom talk this coming Saturday. And don’t forget to sign in to hear all about the Usk Swift project which is actively supported by GOS.

Main sighting: Water Pipit

Water Pipit 1 Water Rail 1 Wight Wagtail 1 Teal 105 from Marsh VP. flock of 2000 starlings.

Main sighting: Ring Ouzel

11:00; 2 Ring Ouzel

Main sighting: Migration

Morning visit (57 species) – Song thrush, dunnock, robin, 1 buzzard, crows, moorhen, wren, greylag goose and a pipistrelle bat before dawn. Snipe platform – 5 lt egrets, 1 heron, 1 shelduck, meadow pipits, excellent count of 119 mallards, 23 shoveler, 39 teal (numbers slowly increasing), pheasant, 532 black-tailed godwits with a single bar-tailed mixed in and 7 knot, kestrel, pied wagtails, bullfinch, Canada geese, pair stonechats, herring gulls, 3 snipe, raven, 2 ruff, 48 lapwing, spoonbill showed at 0736, starlings, female marsh harrier, 6 grey plover mixed in with 39 golden plover, 45 redshanks, cettis calling, 5 stock doves, cormorant, good numbers of woodpigeons overhead, chaffinches, siskins, magpies, skylarks, collard dove and jackdaws.
Fieldfares put on an awesome display, flying low down in large flocks and landing in large groups on the edge of the lagoon to drink before moving on, in excess of 3,000 through with much smaller numbers of redwings.
Seawall – 15 wigeon on the water’s edge, 41 curlew, only 1 oystercatcher, 2 pintail, 97 dunlin, black headed gulls, flock of 43 linnets and 5 swallows through.

Main sighting: Visible migration

Over 600 (mainly Fieldfare) heading South East over Bullyhole Bottom yesterday at 1400 .Very high and block counted in 3 .Some Redwing in amaller groups and also a few mistle thrush ..Also High level mass Woodpigeon Movements with flocks well into the Hundreds .

Main sighting: Thrush Migration

Astonishing spectacle of Thrushes moving E today, over the levels or coming up onto the ridge from the M4.

Many plummeted out of the sky to feed.

Movement started from 9:15 (rain stopped) to 3:30 (I went home). Much quieter from 2pm onwards but small nos still moving as I went home

A minimum 12,500 Redwing, 1500 Fieldfare, Song Thrushes, Blackbird and Mistle Thrushes were moving and also grounded to feed. A single Ring Ousel came out of a bush with a few Fieldfare.

23 Lapwing (4 E and 19 W), a Common Snipe went W, c600 Starling W and c100 Chaffinch E were also seen.

A Dunnock climbed to the top of a bush then went off high SE in the direction of Newport, watched until it disappeared.

4 Red Admiral also moved quickly through W-E.

Lots of Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Linnet in the area. A big flock of Stock Doved also.

Main sighting: Redwing

The was a movement of several hundred Redwing between 10:30 and 11:30 today, mostly flying high in an easterly direction. There were some Mistle and Song Thrushes in the grounds of Holy Trinity Church along with a flock of 15 Siskins.
Yesterday in Bedwas there was an intermittent movement of Redwing in small flocks up to 20 birds at a time.

Main sighting: Common Scoter

Late report of birds seen yesterday. Between about 16:20 and 15:20 5 female/juvenile common Scoter on estuary between about a quarter to half way across. Floating down channel to near second bridge then flying slightly up stream and repeating. First spotted by Chris

Main sighting: Com scoter

5 female type Common Scoter – 29 Fieldfare +20 Redwngi