Sightings

Main sighting: Wheatears

Small pockets of water starting to form on lagoons 1 and 2. Quiet overall bird wise. Car park – hides: robin, crows, goldfinches and 2 chiffchaffs. Hide 1: meadow pipits, 85 Canada geese, male kestrel and 2 of the light-morph buzzards. Magpies, blackbird and a 3rd buzzard en-route to hide 2: Hide 2: herring guls, 16 lapwing in the grass, 1 heron, small numbers of swallows today (strong winds not good for migration), mallards, pied wagtail, 3 skylarks and the flock of 25 stock doves flying across to the seawall bank, lesser black-backed gulls. Seawall: along the stretch of the wall down to the remains of hide 3 were 8 wheatears and a whinchat, on the mudflats were 6 curlew only and black headed gulls. Male stonechat on the fence. Back at hide 2: woodpigeons, 2 fly-by cormorants and 6 black-tailed godwits (group of 5 flying towards seawall and a single bird which landed briefly on lagoon 2). Back to car park: moorhens, cettis calling, flyover little egret, long tailed and blue tit flock in the hedge, 2 more chiffchaffs.

Main sighting: Hobby

A vocal juvenile Hobby careering around the sky above Llanwenarth this evening chased by Jackdaws.

Main sighting: House Martins

Monmouth between 8 and 10 a.m. – there was a N–S passage of hirundines over the River Wye. The majority were House Martins (c. 150) with lesser numbers of Sand Martins (c. 25) and Swallows (c. 15).

Main sighting: House Martins

Perched on power lines – 310

Main sighting: Common Sandpiper

Monmouth below the Wye Bridge at 8 a.m.: 3 Common Sandpipers and 3 Greater Black-backed Gulls, 2 adults and a juvenile.

Main sighting: Migration

On way into reserve: starlings (numbers building up), blackbird, robin, crows, magpies, wren, swallows (migrating through in large continual flocks), woodpigeons, blue tits, goldfinches and a pheasant. Hide 1: lesser black-backed gulls, heron, 2 curlew, 2 buzzards, distant pintail flying and jackdaws. En-route hide 2: jackdaws, ravens, moorhen and 3 chiffchaffs. Hide 2: 2nd heron, Canada geese, cettis calling, male kestrel mobbed by 2 crows, 15 lapwing perched up, highest count of 25 stock doves feeding along the scorched far bank (right of hide 3), 2 wheatears and 6 skylarks in flight. 2 juvenile willow warblers in bushes by snipe platform and house martins in smaller numbers with more swallows. Seawall: 6 yellow wagtails, 2 cormorants, herring gulls, male (juvenile) whinchat, shelduck, mallards, 1 little egret, 51 ringed plovers (on dried lagoon), hobby flew over and was joined by a 2nd bird heading towards Chapel Lane direction, black headed gulls, 1 whimbrel, pair passing pintail and Ceri Lloyd picked up an odd colour shelduck in with common shelduck – looks to be a cape shelduck (possible escapee) but very distant. Down the remains of hide 3 were 2 more whinchats, 5 more wheatear, several pied wagtails, meadow pipits. and 5 stonechats. Female sparrowhawk seen on way back to car park. Other: speckled woods, large whites, peacock.

Main sighting: Crossbill

approx – 8 Crossbill inc brick red male – but possibly 20+ birds flew off?

Main sighting: Glossy Ibis

Early morning visit.
Highlight – Glossy Ibis observed flying above the seawall from the Goldcliff Pill area. Flew over our heads whilst we stood on the wall and flew past the farm around to the point.
Otherbirds
10+ Wheatears. The vast majority were female birds. Lots of Meadow Pippits, Yellow Wagtails and Pied Wagtails near the wall and fence that leads down to the remains of the seawall hide. The whinchat was perched on the wires of the fence.
2 x Whimbrel and Curlew flock seen on the Foreshore.
Sparrowhawk had a go at a flock of Woodpigeons.
The lagoons remain bone dry 🙁
Chiffchaffs x 4, Stonechats x 2.
Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins remain in good numbers.

Main sighting: Swift

A single bird flew overhead whilst driving down dual carriageway this morning.

Main sighting: Yellow Wagtails

A brief visit following recent devastating fire damage: Canada Geese (10); Mute Swan (5); Woodpigeons; Herring Gull; Peregrine; Magpie (2); Carrion Crow; Swallows (40); Reed Warbler (at the only visible patch of water’s edge, near the burnt out Seawall hide); Wren (2); Starling (4); Blackbird; Robins; Stonechat (2); Wheatear (2); Yellow Wagtail (8); Pied Wagtail (3); Goldfinch.

Main sighting: Yellow Wagtails and Wheatears

Visited Goldcliff Lagoons this morning to inspect the fire damage first-hand. I have written a blog post on this, which can be viewed at www.thewildlifeoculus.com.
Despite the damage, there remains a lot of bird activity.
Highlights –
Seawall area leading to where the Avocet Hide ( aka Seawall Hide) used to be fore it was raised to the ground –
Yellow Wagtails 10+ feeding on insects in the burny grass areas of the wall. Wheatears on the posts down the path.
Elsewhere on the reserve-
Cettis Warbler, Wren, Linnet Flock 10+, Goldfinches 6+, Stonechat, Magpie, Woodpigeon.
On the dried lagoon bed of Monks viewed from Hide 2, a flock of about 60-80 Dunlins and Ringed Plovers.

Main sighting: Various

5 Little Egrets, 4 Grey Herons, 2 Kingfishers, good numbers of Sand Martins