Sightings

Main sighting: House martins & Swifts

On a house opposite the garage on Brecon road in Abergavenny there were between 10-20 house martins and 10 swifts in the sky.

Main sighting: red kite

a single red kite spotted heading east over Chepstow at 1800 hrs.

Main sighting: Swifts

Party of three Swifts screaming over the Narth.

Main sighting: Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler singing, near dusk; Blackcap; Willow Warblers; Wren; Chiffchaff; Song Thrush; Siskins; Woodcock; Nightjars; Blackbird; Robin.

Main sighting: Little Stint

Dawn visit – en-route to hides: robin, crows, wren, 2 chiffchaffs, pheasants, magpies, mallards, buzzard (light individual), blackcap, whitethroat, woodpigeons, lesser whitethroat, blackbirds and dunnock. Hide one – 11 little egrets including two fully fledged juveniles, greylags and Canada geese, avocet, 4 lapwing, 1 shelduck, 6 redshanks, 2 oystercatchers, coot, cettis, 2 gadwall, 1 shoveler, 2 cormorants and reed buntings. Hide two – 2 herons, reed warbler, long tailed tits, and lesser black-backed gulls. Snipe platform – 16 mute swans, 2 pairs little grebes, 2 pairs tufteds with 2 other males also present, meadow pipit, cuckoo calling and showing well, goldfinches and linnets. Seawall – single curlew and starlings. Hide three – male pintail still present, 15 more gadwall, single dunlin, 1 stock dove and 22 black-tailed godwits. Back at hide one – 7 ringed plovers with 9 dunlin, 1 little stint mixed in and jackdaws.

Main sighting: Little egret

Little egret feeding in the shallow water.

Main sighting: Wood Pigeon

At least 64-Wood Pigeons were on the salt marsh before flying inland.I thought this an unusual sighting for the time of year.Also,a good number of Swallows. 14h30-15h30

Main sighting: Swift

GOS walk at Collister Pill saw the following species: Collard Dove , Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Shelduck, Pochard, Linnet, Whitethroat, Swift, House Martin, Swallow, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Buzzard, Kestrel, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Skylark, Dunnock, Starling, Pied Wagtail, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Sedge Warbler, Magpie, Little Egret, Meadow Pipit Wren, Robin. Also an unidentified Pipit/Lark on foreshore.

Main sighting: Lesser Redpoll

A beautiful (and unexpected) Lesser Redpoll in a small tree near a bog-pond. Also: Mallard
Woodpigeon, Common Swift, Carrion Crow, Skylark, Barn Swallow, Willow Warbler (lots of them), Chiffchaff, Goldcrest (Elusive, but loud enough I eventually caught sight of him), Wren, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Siskin who seem to be expanding their numbers here this year.

Main sighting: Pintail

Dawn visit: En-route hide 1 – wrens, 2 chiffcahffs, 2 swallows, woodpigeons, blackbirds, pheasants starlings, crows and 2 whitethroats. Hide one – 155 black-tailed godwits started flying off high in small groups between 0550 and 0610hrs, spoonbill rossting but flew off out towards the seawall, Canada geese, avocets (pair with 3 chicks, pair with 2 chicks and 2 further pairs with 2 chick each), 9 shelduck, skylarks, 8 ringed plovers with 13 dunlin, 2 pairs lapwing, 13 mute swans, 5 redshanks, 2 pairs gadwall and 1 oystercatcher. Hide two – whimbrel over and calling, cettis calling, reed warbler singing and pied wagtail. Snipe platform – 8 coot (one pair with a single chick), 3rd chiffchaff, pair tufteds, cuckoo calling in the distance, stock dove pair and 7 more gadwall. Seawall – herring and lesser black-backed gulls, female peregrine perched on the post on the saltmarsh, black headed gulls and jackdaws. The spoonbill passed over flying quite far out over the sea then heading in towards The Point. Hide three – good number of a further 20 gadwall, male pintail, water rail calling, 2 herons, little grebe, 2 little egrets. En=-back to hide 1 – lesser whitethroat calling, reed buntings, pair of blackcaps and moorhen. Back in hide 1 the male garganey was showing but tucked away in the right hand corner, another swallow, blue tits and a pair of ringed plovers with 2 chicks. 2 common swifts later on over Red Barn pool.

Main sighting: Spoonbill

A Spoonbill flew in whilst i was there.1-Lesser Whitethroat singing near the rean bridge,several small juvenile Avocets and Lapwings on first island and a male Marsh Harrier.11h00-12h30.

Main sighting: Marsh tit

Single bird heard calling, then seen in full view (strip of woodland at field edge). First for quite some time. Also several sightings of siskins and five singing male goldcrests.