Sightings

Main sighting: Further sighting

The glossy ibis flew in at dusk and prior to this when we were scanning though the wader flock, there was a good candidate for the semi, but the light was not the best to confirm unfortunately.

Main sighting: Passerines

Evening visit highlights – 4 whaetear, 4 whinchat and a male stonechat on the fence line from hide 1 – the wheatears were dropping down into the long grass to catch craneflies, 32 swallows, adult stock dove, teal numbers now at 56, 9 shoveler, 205 dunlin with 97 ringed plovers and 3 turnstone mixed in, 27 lapwing, 3 lt egrets, 1 heron, 3 ruff feeding together (from snipe), black swan, 1 chiffchaff (contact call), female kestrel hunting, 34 oystercatchers (on the saltings), greenshank and 2 snipe from hide 3 with 77 black-headed gulls, 1 buzzard, 2 house martins and back at hide 1 a female sparrowhawk came through and took out a dunlin and proceeded to fly over the hide and behind the hedgerow. Other: small copper, 4 migrant (not southern as stated on Saturday) hawkers and 1 painted lady.

Main sighting: Dippers

Dippers very active on the rhymney river to-day,counted 7 Also green woodpeckers flying around.

Main sighting: Fieldfare

8 fieldfare (more than first quoted) and 2 redwing with 4 mistle thrush feeding in hawthorns at pwll duu near old pub also Male and female kestrel still with juv near “the black hole ) Mippits and stonechat still present in sparse numbers but Wheatear have finally left the building .Raven Buzzard Green Woodpecker also present .

Main sighting: Cliff-chaff

There was a Chiffchaff singing in Monmouth this morning around 1015!

Main sighting: Curlew Sandpipers and Ruff

High Tide Visit. Monks Lagoon 50+ Dunlins , 50+ Ringed Plovers, 14 Curlew ( no colour rings) 2 x Curlew Sandpipers, 8 Shelduck, 60+ Black Headed Gull, 1 x Whinchat, 2 x Wheatear and 2 x Yellow Wagtails. Priors Lagoons – 4 x Ruff and 2 x Snipe. Becs Lagoons – later – Approx 50+ Dunlins and 50+ Ringed Plovers – 1 x Curlew Sandpiper in with them. 14 Lapwings. 2 x Greenshank.
Kestrel was hunting all around the reserve.

Main sighting: Osprey

Osprey heading south down river half a mile south of the town near Monmouth Show Ground towards Redbrook at 13.23 today

Main sighting: Redstart

Redstart 3 in the hedge row Lesser Whitethroat 1 Chiffchaff 2 Treecreeper 1 Ruff 4 Yellow Wagtail 2 Wheatear 4 and Floss the Gloss.

Main sighting: House Martin

flock of 30+ House Martin feeding over allotment and surrounding area 2.30pm

Main sighting: Marsh Harrier

A juvenile Marsh Harrier few over Becs early afternoon . It was quite on the wader front a Ruff being the highlight Glossy Ibis 1 Little Egret 9 . Also: Redstart 2 Whitethroat 1 Chiffchaff 1 Yellow wagtail 10 Whinchat 1 Wheatear 6. Migrant Hawker 2 Common Darter 6 Stoat and Water Vole.

Main sighting: Colour ringed Curlew

Curlews were colour-ringed by a BTO/WWT team on the Usk estuary in 2015/16. There haven’t been many re-sightings of these birds, although last Saturday, five (one of which is aged at least 22 years!) were seen at Goldcliff. WWT has now started a Severn Curlew project, raising chicks in captivity for release to the wild. 50 colour ringed curlew have been released at Slimbridge since early July, and may appear in Gwent. Please report any sightings to curlew@wwt.org.uk

Main sighting: Red Kite

9 red kites circling together with several landing here and there.