Sightings

Main sighting: Curlew hide on Becs

NRW have given permission for a small hide to be placed on Becs Lagoon during high tides for the monitoring of colour-ringed Curlews – see the Home page for details. Tides will be high on several days this week so please keep an eye open for colour-ringed birds and send any information to Mike Smart – the details needed are on the Home page.

Main sighting: Jays

More jays on the move with a whopping 42 counted passing through in small groups. Hide one – female kestrel on the hay bales and meadow pipits still in good numbers with 115 counted (there would be more), 4 skylarks passing low down with 5 sand martins and on the hay bales was a wheatear and a male stonechat. Hide two – cettis 2, teal, linnets, shoveler and 2 little egrets. Snipe platform – female tufted duck, 8 mute swans. Seawall – 2nd wheatear, curlew on the mudflats in low numbers, 5 ruff came in but didn’t land on the lagoons as water level too high – promptly flew back out, 2 buzzards and a stoat by the fence leading onto the seawall. Steady passing of swallows with only 43 counted i total. Stonechats on the move with a pair seen in front of hide 3 with another pair and a female by the manure piles. Four little grebes now present, gadwall and a flock of 45 lapwing came in. Other: male common darter and 2 migrant hawkers (Can the hide slats be left open please to allow for ventilation – covid still with us). 39 wigeon on Red Barn pool from the roadside.

Main sighting: Barn Owl

On a wet and windy evening hightide. Barn Owl hunting. Wheatear 2 Stonechat 3 Meadow Pipit 50 House Martin 1 Ruff 1 Black-tailed Godwit 20 Shelduck 150. A flock of circa 400 gulls were seen over the fields behind the first hide, mostly Back-headed.

Main sighting: Pectoral Sandpiper

Early morning visit just after high tide.
Monks -2 x Black Tailed Godwits, 1 x Ruff. Canada geese and Greylags in good numbers, 1 x Curlew. Wigeon, Teal and Mallard Ducks. Later 11 x Curlews landed on Monks.
Becs Lagoon – Pectoral Sandpiper observed for a short time in the channel where it has been seen previously. Not much else wader wise on lagoons as water levels very high after the rain.
20c Black Tailed Godwits flew over with 1 Knot seen in amongst them.
Lots of Meadow Pipits movement and many seen perching up near Avocet Hide. Big flock of Linnets. Kestrel throughout reserve.
Marsh Harrier ( female type may be juvenile) quartering near Becs.
Lots of Corvids this year- seems a marked increase.

Main sighting: House Martins

Three House Martins high up after the rain cleared this evening.

Main sighting: Flock of at least 26 Jays

About 12:00 hrs. today, I watched a huge (by my reckoning) flock of Jays fly over my house in Risca, roughly ENE to WSW (043° on the compass).
I counted 26 Jays and there may have been more.
Weather conditions at the time of sighting were beautifully bright and clear so plumage colours were clear and they flew at a height of only 30-40 feet from the ground so they were quite big and easy to identify. These were definitely jays.
In all this time, I have only ever seen jays in family groups of up to 7. I have never seen such a such a size of flock together.

Main sighting: Jay

A flock of 24 Jays near Perry’s Lane. House Martin 2 Swallow 2 Marsh Harrier 1 hunting along the shoreline , Migrant Hawker 30 Common Darter 10 Red Admiral 1

Main sighting: Barn Owl

I saw the Barn Owl come up off the ground between the solar panels, it landed on a perimeter post. If appeared to be holding some prey, it was then mobbed by 2 crows. It circled around a couple of times and then headed off east.

Main sighting: pair sand martins

Pair sand martins heading south. {appropriate as I will be in the Sand martin public house tomorrow before watching City v WBA.

Main sighting: Pectoral sandpiper

Excellent view of Pec sand from seawall hide with Green sand, but probable Pec Sand (timing making it likely a 2nd bird) also from last platform before sea wall looking towards seawall hide – in reed edges in furthest corner towards hide. Snipe, ruff and 2 curlew sands in proximity for comparison but (Pec) only seen very briefly in extreme corner and usually obscured. Also Marsh harrier, kestrel, “white” buzzard, 1 Greenshank and big movements of meadow pipits and flocks of up to 13 jays moving over.

Main sighting: Mistle Thrushes

Had a flock of about 20 Mistle Thrushes flying over my house and land in my large fir trees.
this morning

Main sighting: Various

First Back Garden Grey Wagtail at pond. Also huge flock of mixed Hurindines ( mainly House martin } moving south at altitude Probably around 200 birds . Nuthatch Siskin Goldfinch and Tit flocks visiting feeders plus a sudden appearance of 14 Blackbirds arriving together on the Rowan Berries.