Sightings

Main sighting: Wheatears

Car park – hides: crows, herring gulls, mallards, pheasant, jackdaws, chaffinches and lesser black-backed gulls. Hide 1: distant flock of 150+ golden plover passing and following the coastline. En-route to hide 2: blackbirds and chiffchaff (contact call and only 1 today). Hide 2: starlings, Canada geese, 12 lapwing, raven, 1 shelduck, black headed gulls, 1 heron and goldfinch flock. En-route to seawall: buzzard, 3 stock doves, cettis, woodpigeons, male kestrel, magpies, blue tits, meadow pipits, long tailed tit flock and a robin. Seawall: 18 swallows passing, single redwing over, 7 wigeon, 1 black tailed godwit, 4 oystercatchers, 8 curlew, 76 teal (numbers almost doubled now), 17 grey plover passing low down with 8 dunlin mixed in and 2 shoveler. Rope by hide 3 remains (Phoenix hide be an appropriate name when new hide eventually erected) – 2 pairs stonechats, 5 more stock doves, wheatear on the fence post but no waders on the lagoon. Marsh platform: 6 skylarks calling and a single pintail overhead. Back at hide 2: little egret, pied wagtails, 2 wheatears on distant fence posts. Song thrush and moorhen back near the car park.

Main sighting: Redwing

1 over early evening calling.

Main sighting: Yellow-browed warbler

Another couple of brief visits to the garden today and yesterday – I believe the increasingly frequent sightings of this species in the UK might be signs of a new migratory passage from Siberia to North Africa.

Main sighting: Disturbance at Goldcliff Lagoons today

There will be some disturbance today when we check water levels and salinities, between 12pm and 2pm. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Main sighting: Lesser Redpol

Two redpols flew over mid morning (ID’d by flight calls)

Main sighting: Redwing

Flock of around 25 Redwing over Blaencuffin Barn Farm.

Main sighting: Wigeon

Very busy on the Waun pond (near Asda) with first sightings of Wigeon, at least 8 there, also Great Crested Grebe family still about with 2 Adults and 2 of this years chicks. 3 Goosanders,1 moorhen, 1 BH Gull, 1 Herring gull, 1 Cormorant, 2 Mute Swans, over 30 Tufted Duck, Mallard and over 50 coot. Fairly quiet around Parc Nant y Waun, with Carion crows, Magpie, Goldfinches, Robin, Dunnock and variety of Tits.

Main sighting: Red Kite

1 x Red Kite flying above B4248 as I drove down the hill towards Brynmawr.

Main sighting: Dipper and Grey Wagtail

Walk along the river to Lower Clydach Falls.
1 x Dipper, 2 x Grey Wagtails, 1 x Jay, 3 x Blackbird, 2 x Robin, 1 x Buzzard, 1x Wren, 2 x , 1 x Great Tot, 2 x Blue Tit, 2 x Woodpigeon.

Main sighting: Little Stints and wader flock

Early AM visit up until high tide.
The wader flock came in from the foreshore eventually and landed on Becs Lagoons ( on the far side for most of it.
2 x Little Stint ( photographed) 40 + Dunlins 10c Ringed Lover 15+ grey Plovers, 1 x Whimbrel, 2 x Black Tailed Godwits, 20+ Curlew. 2 x Wigeon, and Shelduck, Mallard and Teal ( not counted). 1 x Kestrel, 1 x Buzzard(Bosprey), 1 x Sparrowawk. Lots of Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Chiffchaffs are moving through the reserve. 1 x Stonechat. Cetti Warbler heard. Carrion Crows and Magpies. Herring, Lesser Blackbacked and Black Headed Gulls seen. Hordes of Canada Geese at first light. 2 x Mute Swans. 1 x Grey Heron and 1 x Little Egret.
Fox seen on the salt marsh.
Swallows seen on Monks.

Main sighting: White Wagtail

Car park to hides: crows, blackbirds, buzzard (normal-phase), magpies, wren, robins, moorhens (2 in the upper branches of the willow by the bridge), mallards, herring gulls and raven. Hide 1: heron and 3 shelduck. Cettis calling on way to next hide. Hide 2: Canada geese, 90 greylag geese, male wigeon (1st returning autumn duck), 2nd buzzard (light-morph), pair of kestrels on the posts, little egret and jackdaws. En-route to snipe platform: green woodpecker calling, stock dove, great white egret passing, flock of 40+ linnets, woodpigeons and pheasant. Blackthorn bushes from hide 2 to the platform were alive with warblers, 21 chiffchaff counted with 1 very smart and quite late willow warbler mixed in, 1 female reed bunting, chaffinches and blue tits. Snipe Platform: stonechat pair, 15 golden plover low overhead and calling, 2 white wagtails in with 9 pied wagtails. Seawall: 25 curlew, 2 cormorants, lesser black-backed and 1 great black-backed gull, 6 more wigeon and a fox crossing the saltings. By what would be hide 3: good mix of waders on the lagoon including 95 lapwing, 16 more curlew, 2 black-tailed godwits, 4 ringed plovers, 1 little stint, 2 juv curlew sandpipers, 8 grey plovers and 1 oystercatcher. 12 teal and 2 siskins calling overhead, female sparrowhawk crossing overhead. Back at hide 2 were 6 swallows feeding and a pair of mute swans. No sign of wryneck.

Main sighting: Black redstart

Feeding on pile of stonework inside north transept