Sightings

Main sighting: unknown - believed unusually large raptor

very large bird about twice size of buzzard, broad wings with very slow wing beats. appeared to be raptor and not heron type bird. Lots of buzzards and a few goshawks in area above Fox Wood but this was much bigger. flying north to south.

Main sighting: 2 black swans

2 swans swimming together.

Main sighting: Weekly roundup

Quiter bird wise due to the lagoons being frozen over. En-route to hides – crows, woodpigeons, pheasants, starlings, chaffinch, gt spotted woodpecker, herring gulls, blue tits, magpies, fieldfares, blackbirds, cettis, redwings, robin and gt tit. Hide one – Canada geese, pair stonechats, 127 lapwing, 2 snipe overhead and female kestrel. Hide two – buzzard only. Snipe platform – one unfrozen bit of water in the middle held 24 mute swans, 8 shoveler, 10 coot and 1 gadwall huddled together. Female peregrine passed through just over the reeds, water rail squealing, goldcrest, meadow pipit, house sparrows and 3 wrens. Seawall – most of the activity on the mudflats with 16 grey plovers, 55 curlew, 54 avocet, mallards, 38 dunlin, 25 oystercatchers, 55 wigeon only, 31 teal only, black headed gulls, 1 redshank only, ls black-backed gulls and a male peregrine perched on the washed up tree in the saltings. Hide three – 1st year male marsh harrier only other species. Song thrush and moorhens en-route back to car park.

Main sighting: Marsh tit & Red Kite

The waxwings, curlew and redshank were at the teifi marshes nature reserve, pembrokeshire.

Main sighting: Marsh tit & Red Kite

Recently returned from a bird expedition where I watched 8 turnstones (7th) at Aberaeron ( north beach ), 12 turnstones (9th) below the pier plus the starlings at Aberystwyth. A majestic rare male hen harrier (10th) late afternoon/early evening on dowrog moor and 3 waxwings, a curlew and a redshank, both sites in pembrokeshire. In tree’s below the skirrid were 6 chaffinches. On the hill there were 2 wren’s, 10 blackbirds, 2 fieldfare’s, mistle thrush, red kite and a buzzard. On a bird feeder at the Steppes a marsh tit was feeding and a male sparrowhawk flew across fields next to Ty Newydd house.

Main sighting: Curlew

Chris Wells and I continue to look for colour-ringed Curlews round the Usk estuary. Chris has seen observed several at Peterstone; water levels at Goldcliff have been a bit high for ring reading. So twice this week on very high tides I have tried St Brides; only about ten Curlews present this morning, none of them ringed If anyone sees colour-ringed Curlews, please let us know!
But lots of other birds as well, notably a huge Dunlin roost, probably 5000 birds, doing aerial evolutions and sitting shoulder to shoulder on the beach. Also 20 Grey Plover, 20 Knot, a Bar-tailed Godwit. And a Long tailed Duck was carried up the river by the tide, disappearing into Newport harbour, probably the one seen recently at Goldcliff. Lots of birds along the tideline including a Jack Snipe and three Chiffchaffs.

Main sighting: Black Swans

Black Swan midway up the Nedern Brook around midday, shortly joined closely, by a second Black Swan. The pair stayed closed together for the two hours of my visit. Others: Black Headed Gulls; Herring Gulls; Bullfinch; Robins; Blackbirds, Blue Tit; Great Tit; Long Tailed Tit; Canada Geese (3); Common Gull (8); Coots; Gadwall (4); Grey Heron (4); Lapwing (10); Shoveler (2); Tufted Duck (20); Wigeon (70+); Teal (30); Mallard

Main sighting: Avocet

Highlights of todays WeBS count; Avocet 53 Grey Plover 6 Pintail 6 Long-tailed Duck 1 Teal 150 Marsh Harrier Curlew 70 Black-tailed Godwit 40 Common Gull 1 Fieldfare 7 Greenfinch 2

Main sighting: Pintail

Single pintail quite high up above the River Rhymney, came from the direction of Caerphiily and heading towards Newport – approx 10.40am.

Main sighting: Amendment to weekly roundup

Forgot to add, two separate groups of snipe flew over seawall totaling 24 birds.

Main sighting: Avocets / Snipe / weekly roundup

En-route to hides – blue tits, starlings, crows, blackbirds, redwings, herring gulls, buzzard and magpies. Hide one – female kestrel, 21 curlew with 2 black-tailed godwits mixed in, 123 lapwing and woodpigeons. En-route hide 2 – robin and fieldfares. Hide two – 2 shelduck, 97 teal, 11 shoveler, Canada geese, coot, mallards, 7 greylags, song thrush, moorhen, shoveler, shelduck, 17 gadwall, fem marsh harrier and 2 little egrets. En-route to platform – goldfinches, great tits and 2 pied wagtails. Snipe platform – 1 heron and 2 black-headed gulls. Marsh platform – 4 male and 2 fem tufteds, meadow pipit and a pair of stonechats. Seawall – oystercatchers, 36 curlew, 2 cormorant, 12 redshanks, 39 avocet feeding close in, gt black-backed gull, ls black-backed gulls, 58 more wigeon, 1 grey plover and 1 dunlin. Hide three – 97 more wigeon, 86 more teal, 12 more shoveler, 5 more shelduck and a male marsh harrier hunting. En-route to car park – 2 stock doves in the field. Car park area – chaffinches, gt spotted woodpecker and a pair of bullfinches.

Main sighting: Long-tailed Duck

A female Long-tailed Duck diving repeatedly on a nearly empty, ice-fringed lagoon at 1100 today. Watched for 10 minutes. Not there by 1300.