Sightings

Main sighting: Black Swans

Black Swan midway up the Nedern Brook around midday, shortly joined closely, by a second Black Swan. The pair stayed closed together for the two hours of my visit. Others: Black Headed Gulls; Herring Gulls; Bullfinch; Robins; Blackbirds, Blue Tit; Great Tit; Long Tailed Tit; Canada Geese (3); Common Gull (8); Coots; Gadwall (4); Grey Heron (4); Lapwing (10); Shoveler (2); Tufted Duck (20); Wigeon (70+); Teal (30); Mallard

Main sighting: Avocet

Highlights of todays WeBS count; Avocet 53 Grey Plover 6 Pintail 6 Long-tailed Duck 1 Teal 150 Marsh Harrier Curlew 70 Black-tailed Godwit 40 Common Gull 1 Fieldfare 7 Greenfinch 2

Main sighting: Pintail

Single pintail quite high up above the River Rhymney, came from the direction of Caerphiily and heading towards Newport – approx 10.40am.

Main sighting: Amendment to weekly roundup

Forgot to add, two separate groups of snipe flew over seawall totaling 24 birds.

Main sighting: Avocets / Snipe / weekly roundup

En-route to hides – blue tits, starlings, crows, blackbirds, redwings, herring gulls, buzzard and magpies. Hide one – female kestrel, 21 curlew with 2 black-tailed godwits mixed in, 123 lapwing and woodpigeons. En-route hide 2 – robin and fieldfares. Hide two – 2 shelduck, 97 teal, 11 shoveler, Canada geese, coot, mallards, 7 greylags, song thrush, moorhen, shoveler, shelduck, 17 gadwall, fem marsh harrier and 2 little egrets. En-route to platform – goldfinches, great tits and 2 pied wagtails. Snipe platform – 1 heron and 2 black-headed gulls. Marsh platform – 4 male and 2 fem tufteds, meadow pipit and a pair of stonechats. Seawall – oystercatchers, 36 curlew, 2 cormorant, 12 redshanks, 39 avocet feeding close in, gt black-backed gull, ls black-backed gulls, 58 more wigeon, 1 grey plover and 1 dunlin. Hide three – 97 more wigeon, 86 more teal, 12 more shoveler, 5 more shelduck and a male marsh harrier hunting. En-route to car park – 2 stock doves in the field. Car park area – chaffinches, gt spotted woodpecker and a pair of bullfinches.

Main sighting: Long-tailed Duck

A female Long-tailed Duck diving repeatedly on a nearly empty, ice-fringed lagoon at 1100 today. Watched for 10 minutes. Not there by 1300.

Main sighting: Avocet, Bar-tailed godwit

Thos afternoon 5 avocet, 1 bar-tailed godwit, 52 pintail, 13 shoveler 1 grey plover

Main sighting: Herons

Forest farm cardiff 13 roosting herons

Main sighting: Waxwing

We saw one waxwing trying to feed from mistletoe whilst being attacked by very unhappy mistle thrush.

Main sighting: Little Egrets

Afternoon walk on ebb tide started very quiet but eventually gave a flock of 30 dunlin heading upriver, 16 oystercatchers, a flock of 18 little egrets heading upriver, 3 grey heron, female sparrowhawk, single cettis and a male stonechat

Main sighting: Weekly roundup

En-route to hides- Canada Geese, Chaffinch, Jackdaws, Magpies, Moorhen, Herring Gulls, Robin, Song Thrush (in full song), female Reed Bunting and male Goldcrest. Hide one – female Kestrel on a post, female Marsh Harrier, 1 Redshank only, 1 Buzzard and Crows. En-route to platforms – Dunnock, Blackbirds, Woodpigeons, 198 Starlings, female Sparrowhawk, Blue Tits, 11 Fieldfares and 21 Redwings. Snipe platform – 11 Gadwall, Wren, Coot, Greylags, 68 Lapwing, Cettis calling, 3 Snipe, 1 Little Egret, 3 1st-year Mute Swans, 1 Great Black-backed Gull and 16 Pied Wagtails passing just overhead. Seawall – 42 Curlew only. Hide three – lagoon 3 held almost all of the wildfowl with 201 Wigeon, 188 Teal, 58 Shoveler, 2 male and 1 female Tufted Ducks and Meadow Pipits. No sign of the Long-tailed Duck but the wildfowl was so packed together it may still be present. En-route to car park pair of Stonechats, 2 Collard Doves, 2 Black-headed Gulls and a Goldfinch.

Main sighting: Waxwing update

10 present today around mid-day. Still feeding on the rowan berries between houses 217 and 219, and also on another rowan opposite and down towards the junction. However, the local mistle thrush is constantly harassing them so they may move on before long? Also seen on the roof tops and flying back and forth to the large tree by the pond. The rowan berries are still plentiful, the top ones have been stripped but the lower half of these two small rowans still have a good crop left. One birder said they had been seen around 9am this morning and another said there had been sporadic sightings at this location throughout the morning.