Sightings

Main sighting: Sightings roundup

Sadly (and for reasons unknown) but the thick bushes between snipe and marsh platform that were a valuable haven for wildlife have been ripped out. Water levels higher so very few waders. En-route to hides: robins (at least 6 singing birds on the reserve), crows, 65 greylag and115 Canada’s making their way out at dawn, jackdaws, herring gulls, blackbird and wrens. Hide one: 2 curlew only. En-route to hide 2: cettis, 2 chiffchaffs, pheasant and moorhen. Hide two: 3 black-tailed godwits, mallard and 10 teal. Snipe platform: 33 swans, 1 heron, linnets, 86 wigeon only, 2 snipe, 3 shoveler and 7 gadwall. Seawall: 25 meadow pipits, 19 more curlew, oystercatchers, shelduck, 20 more black-tailed godwits, black headed gulls, chaffinch, goldfinches, skylarks and raven. Hide 3 lagoon devoid of birds. Back at hide one: 24 lapwing and 1 little egret. Bridge by entrance: light-morph buzzard on a telegraph pole, 3 swallows, starlings, great spotted woodpecker and 4 more chiffchaffs.

Main sighting: Skylark movement

Moorhen, robins, long tailed tit, woodpigeons, great tits, magpies, jays, blue tits, greenfinch, mallards, cettis, crows, lesser black-backed gulls and 3 reed buntings (females). Seawall – 21 skylarks overhead calling, greylags, Canada geese, herring gulls, black headed gulls, 18 wigeon, 1 cormorant, 1 little egret, 25 curlew, 6 black-tailed godwits, 7 redshanks, starlings, goldfinches, meadow pipits, linnets, chiffchaff that dropped into a bramble bush, rooks, 2 lapwing, 1 oystercatcher and a chaffinch. Other: 2 large whites, 1 speckled wood and red underwing moth.

Main sighting: Thrush influx

A loose flock of 25-30 thrushes in the garden this morning. Mostly Blackbirds but several Song and Mistle Thrushes too. No Redwing yet!

Main sighting: Waders

At the end of the day 400 Black Tailed Godwits the the mouth of the Usk river(mid – day), 4 hours after high tide!

Main sighting: Avocet

Highlight of WeBS count today. Despite the atrocious weather torrential rain there was a good selection of waders Avocet 3 Whimbrel 4 Curlew 55 Bar-tailed Godwit 4 Black-tailed Godwit 13 Turnstone 4 Ruff1 Ringed Plover 11 Snipe 10 Lapwing 91 Redshank 12 Knot 1 Teal 224 Gadwall 41 We found a lens cap for a Canon camera and placed it on the Reserve sign board.
In the seawall hide the sills and seats were wet through, as all the viewing slats were left open. Please remember when you leave a hide to close up after you.

Main sighting: Waders

En-route to hides: wrens, crows, robins, jackdaws, chiffchaff, moorhen, 110 Canada geese flying out, pheasants, mallards, little egret, black headed gulls, herring gull and blue tit. Hide 1 – 52 greylags, female marsh harrier and woodpigeons. Hide 2 – 2 more little egrets, 2 teal, stonechat pair and cettis. Snipe platform – 13 more little egrets, 31 swans, 20 gadwall, coot, meadow pipits, heron, 74 more teal, wigeon numbers increasing weekly, now at 115, 8 shoveler and 1 redshank. Seawall – oystercatchers, buzzard perched on a dead washed up tree, 2 stock doves, swallows passing (48) with 15 house martins, 1 great black-backed gull and another little egret . Hide 3 – most active lagoon especially as high tide was approaching, 73 lapwing, 1 bar tailed and 1 black tailed godwits, 128 curlew (1 colour ringed), 20 knot, 2 ruff, 35 dunlin, 1 greenshank, 6 snipe, 6 redshanks, female kestrel, 18 ringed plovers and 3 turnstone. Back at hide 2 – pied wagtails, cormorant, 4 little ringed plovers, 1 more snipe and skylark calling. back at hide 1 – four marsh harriers hunting, 2 together and 2 separate. Whimbrel with damaged leg also seen. 4 more chiffchaffs in the bushes.

Main sighting: Disturbance at Goldcliff Laggons

There will be some disturbance tomorrow when we check water levels and conductivities. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Main sighting: Ruff

Ruff (2)
Black-Tailed Godwit (2)
Bar-Tailed Godwit (3)
Whimbrel (1)
Sanderling (1)
Common Sandpiper (1)
Knot (70)
Turnstone (3)
Little Egret (3)
Kingfisher (2)
Teal (2)
Shoveler (12)
Wigeon (4)
Pintail (6)
Shelduck (200)

Main sighting: White Wagtail

En-route to hides – herring gulls, robin, crows, starlings, lesser black-backed gulls, great tit, stock dove, mallard and woodpigeon. In the brambles by hide 1 were 3 chiffchaffs and a male stonechat. Buzzard flew past and 2 more (including the light-morph bird) landed in the poplars by the car park. Hide 1 devoid of birds. En-route to second hide, raven, collard dove and meadow pipits. Hide 2 – Canada geese, 3 little egrets, 36 lapwing, pied wagtails, 4 common gulls, 2 curlew on the island, female kestrel hunting and 3 shoveler. Snipe platform – 20 swans, good count of 67 greylags, coot, 10 gadwall, 12 wigeon (winter numbers starting to build), 42 teal, steady passage of swallows. En-route to sea wall great black-backed gull, skylark calling and dunnock. Hide 3 – goldfinches, family group of stonechats, moorhen, 1 heron steady stream of 21 sand martins through. Seawall – another 21 curlew, 15 oystercatchers, black headed gulls, shelduck and 2 cormorants. Marsh platform – looking to far left corner were waders tucked away including 1 bar-tailed and 35 black-tailed godwits and 31 more teal. Back at hide 2 male white wagtail feeding. Back at the bridge (by the entrance) cettis crossing the reen. Other: 5 green-veined whites, 1 gatekeeper, 1 speckled wood and numerous migrant hawkers.

Main sighting: Chiffchaff

Chiff-chaff Singing – Nuthach calling

Main sighting: Com sands

2 Com sands – Gt bb gulls inc 1 juv and two Ads – Shell duck 1 juv

Main sighting: Black-tailed Godwit

An update on the colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit noted in a flock of 1,100 at St Brides on Monday last: the Iceland Wader Group have identified the bird, even though I only saw it at a distance. It had a Lime ring over an Orange ring on the left tibia, and a Dark Green ring over an Orange ring on the right tibia. The Orange ring on the right tibia should have been inscribed with a black “Z” but I wasn’t able to observe that. So if anyone sees it again, perhaps at Goldcliff, please check and if possible take a photo. The bird was ringed in Iceland on 9 June 2023, and had been seen November 2023 at Slimbridge, in February 2024 in Dorset, then several times at Slimbridge in March 2024. A sighting at Goldcliff in August 2024 is also reported.