Sightings

Main sighting: Curlew Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Weasel

Curlew sandpiper with numerous redshank; common sandpiper; 2 golden plover with c100 each of Ringed Plover and Dunlin; similar numbers of oystercatchers and curlew; plenty of swallows still; female pintails have arrived to join shelduck and mallards++. Little egrets, grey heron, black headed gulls, linnets, stonechat, goldfinches; and then great view of weasel scuttling back and fore across path 10m in front. red admiral also.

Main sighting: Knot

Green woodpecker, chiffchaff 2 (contact calls) and stock dove 1. Hide 1: single pintail flying past, 48 ringed plovers with 58 dunlin, 1 little stint and 1 sanderling mixed in. Redshank platform – 2 greenshank flying towards the power station, single avocet, 1 grey heron, 3 little egrets, grey wagtail overhead, 15 lapwing and 2 knot. Marsh platform – glossy ibis flying up quite high and heading towards Uskmouth, 3rd greenshank dropped in, 106 knot mixed in with 256 black-tailed godwits (ringed bird still present),6 dunlin, 5 house martins and a kingfisher flying along the hedge in the field. Hide 3 – 13 siskins in a group overhead, 6 curlew, 3 skylarks, 2 yellow wagtails and a pair of stonechats on the fence. Seawall – masses of shelduck with curlew and oystercathers and 4 sand martins over. 3 common buzzards (including the light-morph bird) over hide 1. Other: Migrant and Southern Hawkers around the bramble bushes by hide 1.

Main sighting: Swallows

A steady stream of Swallows over the garden: a regular occurence every Autumn, when hirundines stop to feed round the huge Sycamore beyond my garden.

Main sighting: Swift

2 Swifts still over the garden this morning with 12-15 House Martins

Main sighting: Goldfinch

A large flock of Goldfinches,mostly juveniles,probably over 100 birds.Also a Peregrine flew over spooking all the shorebirds.10h30

Main sighting: Hobby

Hobby frantically chasing hirundines over Chippy Fields, Monmouth at lunchtime today. Much swooping and diving, not sure if successful.

Main sighting: Hen Harrier

Male Hen Harrier hunting near the old Brynmawr reservoir, flew off to the north. Whinchats and Wheatears present recently seem to have gone.

Main sighting: Swift

A single Swift and 3 Red Kites. Surprised an otter on the bank just 2m away.

Main sighting: Swift

Single Swift still going to nest

Main sighting: Redstart

10:05 -13:30 Redstart 2( 3) Whitethroat 3 several Chiffchaff in the hedgerows, not many waders on the lagoons but good numbers of Shoveler and Teal and a solitary Greenshank. and 40 Lapwing. On the foreshore a Black-tailed Godwits 407 Shelduck 153 Dunlin 30 Knot 6.

Main sighting: Kingfisher

Kingfisher, 2 little egrets, 2 herons, 14 common gulls, green woodpecker, 2 song thrush, juv or female blackcap, juvenile willow warbler

Main sighting: Dipper

Excellent views (& photos) of Dipper at Sirhowy Valley park; more distant views of grey wagtail and glimpse of kingfisher; also Jay calling (awful sound)