Sightings

Main sighting: Whimbrel

Whimbrel (2)
Knot (1)
Black-tailed Godwit (9)
Curlew (10)
Oystercatcher (15)
Redshank (200)
Dunlin (6)
Ringed Plover (8)
Little Egret (1)
Grey Heron (1)
Kestrel (2)
Wheatear (2)
Shelduck (300)

Main sighting: Yellow Wagtail

Highlights of today’s WeBS count: Great White Egret 7 Little Egret 15 Grey Heron 4 Ringed Plover 40 Dunlin 12 Whimbrel 1 Curlew 1 Great B/B Gull 2 Buzzard 4 (2pale phase) Wheatear 2 perched on yellow digger Swallow 30 House Martin 20 Sand Martin 3 Sedge Warbler 1 Chiffchaff 2 Yellow Wagtail 10 Pied Wagtail 6 Stock Dove 1 Raven 2
Other: Small Copper 14 feeding on fleabane

Main sighting: Water Rail

Only water now is visible from hide 3 and will likely evaporate within a week. En-route to hides: crows, woodpigeons, herring gulls, greylag goose, chiffchaff, swallows, jackdaws, collard dove, linnets and a fly-over great white egret. Hide 3: black headed gulls, 4 more great white egrets, 13 grey herons, 1 gadwall, cettis, stonechats, meadow pipit, water rail calling and lesser black-backed gulls. Seawall: (high tide) shelduck, 2 curlew and 3 oystercatchers. Hide 1: Canada geese, buzzard, female sparrowhawk, stock dove and female kestrel. Other: fox in the long grass by snipe platform, gatekeepers and meadow browns.

Main sighting: Little egret

Little egret, two buzzards, three ravens, great spotted woodpecker, juvenile song thrush, nesting house martins, thirty cormorants, 70 Canada geese.

Main sighting: Kingfisher

Afternoon stroll, quiet on bird front but nice to be out – crows, swallows, buzzard, great tit, herring gulls, woodpigeons, mallards, little grebe catching fish, chiffchaff contact call, kingfisher, moorhens and bullfinch.

Main sighting: Euration green woodpecker

Heard the bird call and put it through merlin. Confirmed it was a eruption green woodpecker and then sighted it in a large tree overlooking the football field at the bottom of our garden. Very colourful bird with a distinctive call

Main sighting: Newport Wetlands Bus Service

Starting next week, on Monday, 11th August, there will be a new bus service from Newport City Centre to Newport Wetlands. It will be free to use from 11th to 17th August 2025, providing a great opportunity for a low-cost visit to the site. After these dates, the usual Newport Bus rates will apply.

The bus is the number 45, and will run Monday to Saturday from the city centre at:

0935

1135

1335

Return times from Newport Wetlands car park are:

1010

1210

1410

1625

Information has been posted at the request of the RSPB.

Main sighting: Greenshank

Greenshank (1)
Bar-tailed Godwit (1 – full summer plumage)
Black-tailed Godwit (5)
Whimbrel (6)
Grey Plover (1)
Turnstone (12)
Ringed Plover (10)
Oystercatcher (60)
Curlew (30)
Lapwing (7)
Dunlin (100)
Redshank (100)
Little Egret (2)
Grey Heron (1)
Sparrowhawk
Kestrel

Main sighting: Highlights

En-route to platform: collard dove, blackbirds, house sparrows, blue tits, crows, chiffchaffs, woodpigeons, pheasant, great spotted woodpecker, goldfinches, great tit, 3 stock doves, swallows, lesser black-backed gulls, moorhen, wren and dunnocks. Snipe platform: some water left but little now, black headed gulls, coot, 5 herons, 18 little egrets, 1 great egret, Canada geese, magpie, pied wagtails, 4 dunlin, 6 teal, 1 redshank and house martins aerial feeding. En-route to seawall: linnets and sedge warbler. Seawall: curlew numbers starting to re-build with 18 seen, amazing count of a raft of 844 shelduck (with some young present), 11 oystercatchers, 17 ringed plovers, 5 more dunlin, herring gulls, 3 black-tailed godwits, 1 knot, female shoveler, cettis calling and a harbor porpoise surfacing near the shelduck raft. Hide 3: stonechat, 3 gadwall, 5 more great egrets which were not visible from snipe platform and green woodpecker calling (lagoon 3 totally dry). Hide 1: greylag geese and 3 pale-morph buzzards circling, male kestrel perched on a post. Other: numerous gatekeepers, 1 red admiral.

Main sighting: Little egret

Little egret, 17 redhead goosander, 3 cormorants, 3 herons, a grey wagtail, a common sandpiper, a red kite, great spotted woodpecker and a green woodpecker. Sand martins scarcer here than in previous years.

Main sighting: Spotted Flycatcher

Family of c.5 Spotted Flycatcher by north wall of castle

Main sighting: Great Egret eel eating extravaganza

En-route to hides: Wren, lesser black-backed gulls, pheasant, blue tits, chiffchaff, woodpigeons, robin, crows, blackbirds, swallows, cormorant (perched on a telegraph pole for a change), kingfisher, family groups of 30+ linnets, greylag geese, goldfinches and moorhen. Hide 1: Pair light-morph and 1 normal colour buzzards, Canada geese, marsh harrier, jackdaws, kestrel and 6 ringed plovers. Snipe platform: With the most volume of water, this is where all the activity is, with 1 green sandpiper, 17 little egrets waiting for the 3 great egrets to drop the eels they were catching, 4 oystercatchers, 6 herons, 2 redshank, 191 dunlin, single knot in breeding plumage, mallards, 6 shoveler, coot, 4 teal, 2 lapwing, stock dove (fly-past), 1 great black-backed gull, 1 little ringed plover, pied wagtail, 4 sand martins, reed bunting and sedge warbler. Hide 2: stonechat pair (adult female and juvenile female), 4th great egret flying across to join the others, dunnock and collard dove. Other: meadow browns, gatekeepers, 1 red admiral and 1 green-veined white.