Sightings

Main sighting: Red Kite

2 x Red Kite over Foxhunters Carpark. Cuckoo on lower slopes chased off by one of the Kites. Stonechat, Willow Warbler, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Buzzard.

Main sighting: Goldcrest

Dawn chorus 0430 to 0530:
Goldcrest, robin, wren, blackbird, m. thrush, s. thrush, blue tit, great tit, blackcap, siskin, chaffinch, goldfinch, wood pigeon, heron, carrion crow, pheasant chiffchaff, dunnock

Main sighting: Goldcrest

Dawn Chorus 0430 to 0530:
Goldcrest, blackbird, m. thrush, wren, blackcap, chiffchaff, blue tit, great tit, siskin, chaffinch, heron, carrion crow, pheasant, robin, dunnock, wood-pigeon, s. thrush, goldfinch

Main sighting: Swifts

Swifts x 10 screaming overhead feeding above the Afon Llywyd.

Main sighting: Red Kite

Red Kite flying over the course pm today

Main sighting: 3 Swifts over Brynmawr Town this evening

3 Swifts over Brynmawr Town this evening.

Main sighting: Red Spotted Bluethroat

Greylag Goose; Mute Swan; Egyptian Goose; Shelduck; Garganey; Shoveler; Gadwall; Pochard; Tufted Duck; Pheasant; Swift; Cuckoo; Stock Dove; Woodpigeon; Moorhen; Coot; Little Grebe; Great Crested Grebe; Oystercatcher; Grey Plover; Ringed Plover; Lapwing; Whimbrel; Curlew; Bar Tailed Godwit; Black Tailed Godwit; Woodcock; Redshank; Turnstone; Little Tern; Common Tern; Sandwich Tern; Kittiwake; Black Headed Gull; Mediterranean Gull; Herring Gull; Great Black-Backed Gull; Lesser Black Backed Gull; Razorbill; Guillemot; Fulmar; Manx Shearwater; Gannet; Cormorant; Shag; Bittern (booming); Little Egret; Great White Egret; Grey Heron; Marsh Harrier; Buzzard; Barn Owl; Little Owl; Green Woodpecker; Kestrel; Hobby; Peregrine; Jay; Magpie; Jackdaw; Carrion Crow; Raven; Coal Tit; Blue Tit; Great Tit; Bearded Tit; WOODLARK; Skylark; Sand Martin; Swallow; House Martin; Cetti’s Warbler; Long-tailed Tit; Willow Warbler; Chiffchaff; Reed Warbler; Blackcap; Garden Warbler; Whitethroat; Dartford Warbler; Goldcrest; Wren; Treecreeper; Starling; Song Thrush; Mistle Thrush; Blackbird; Robin; Redstart; Whinchat; Stonechat; Wheatear; House Sparrow; Dunnock; Pied Wagtail; Meadow Pipit; Tree Pipit; Rock Pipit; Chaffinch; Greenfinch; Linnet; Goldfinch; Siskin; Reed Bunting.
(106 species in total) Many thanks to GOS and all contributors to this event.

Main sighting: Greenshanks

Car park – hide: Mallards, song thrushes, pheasants, crows, moorhens, starlings, blackbirds, blackcaps, woodpigeons, several swallows, goldfinches, pied wagtail, robin, graylag geese pair overhead, wren, blue tit, chiffchaffs, whitethroats, siskin and lesser black-backed gull. Hide 1: 2 lesser whitethroats around adjacent brambles, cormorant, skylarks, Canada geese (some with chicks), 15 redshanks, pair little ringed plovers, 18 dunlin, reed bunting, 8 black-tailed godwits. A pair of tufteds and a heron were in the reen en-route to next hide. Hide 2: Herring gulls, 42 avocet, cettis calling, 105 more godwits, 6 gadwall, 4 shoveler, 32 shelduck, 4 lapwing, 3 oystercatchers, spotted redshank pair (male in almost full breeding plumage now) and 3 pairs teal. Snipe platform: Coot, 9 mute swans, 1 little egret, 8 more graylags and pair pochards. Linnet and male stonechat en-route to seawall. Seawall: male wheatear, black headed gulls, 2 whimbrel and meadow pipits. Pair reed warblers singing back by hide 2. Hide 1: jackdaws, sand martin and 4 greenshanks feeding.

Main sighting: Green woodpecker

In flight, briefly on open ground.

Main sighting: Common Crane

Thee Common Cranes flew north at circa 10:25/30. They did not appear to be ringed.
Whitethroat 8 Lesser Whitethroat 1 Cetti’s Reed and Sedge Warblers lots of Blackcaps. Whimbrel 1 Curlew 2 Oystercatcher 41.
Other: Brimstone Small tortoiseshell Holly Blue and lots of Peacock butterflies.
Hairy Hawker 2 was a nice surprise.

Main sighting: Greenland Wheatear

A male Wheatear with a rich orange throat shading into paler orange all down its breast, in contrast to other birds present. Otherwise quiet with a cold NE wind.

Main sighting: Male Kestrel

Male Kestrel on the forest coal pit side of the Sugar Loaf. A cuckoo calling on Bryn Arw.