Sightings

Main sighting: Various

First Back Garden Grey Wagtail at pond. Also huge flock of mixed Hurindines ( mainly House martin } moving south at altitude Probably around 200 birds . Nuthatch Siskin Goldfinch and Tit flocks visiting feeders plus a sudden appearance of 14 Blackbirds arriving together on the Rowan Berries.

Main sighting: Common Scoters

two Common Scoters on Severn probably female and juv approx 5.20 pm on turning tide

Main sighting: Pectoral Sandpiper

2 buzzards, gt spotted woodpecker, pheasant, 3 chiffchaffs, cettis calling and a flock of 13 jays overhead. Hide two – 3 black-tallied godwits, 2 herons and 3 little egrets. Hide three – wigeon, teal, linnets, 8 mute swans, female marsh harrier, shelduck, kestrel, 2 male stonechats and around 60 meadow pipits. Seawall – only 13 swallows overhead, 1 yellow wagtail calling, 1 gt black-backed gull, black headed gulls, 61 curlews and oystercatchers. A flock of about 75 dunlin flew in but lost sight of them over the lagoons. Marsh platform – looking back towards hide 3, down in the dip on the waters edge were all the waders – the pectoral sandpiper was roosting amongst 3 snipe, also there were 4 ruff, 1 greenshank and 97 lapwing. Lapwing platform – 7 ringed plovers only and a single redshank. Lots of migrant hawkers on the wing.

Main sighting: Pectoral Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper showing well from sea wall hide.9-Ruff,3-Buzzards and several Wheatears around the hay bales.13h30-14h55.

Main sighting: Merlin

Merlin low and fast over the road just above The Riflemans Pub

Main sighting: Redshank

Redshank 132, Dunlin 2, Ring plover, also a very suttle looking Ad Med gull?

Main sighting: Curlew Sandpiper

1730-1820 – Curlew Sandpiper on rising evening tide. Eventually flew west with Dunlin flock. ~25 Knot as well and ~250 Redshank

Main sighting: Colour-ringed Curlews

The high tides at Goldcliff this week may well push good numbers of Curlews on to the lagoons. Please look carefully for colour-ringed birds and send any sightings to smartmike143@gmail.com – see the Home page for details.

Main sighting: Kingfisher

Regularly seen along river . Also saw a Hobby early in the month

Main sighting: Pectoral Sandpiper and Marsh Harrier

My observations from yesterdays visit. Dawn until mid-day.
A female type Marsh Harrier was seen eating a vole and later an unlucky duck on Monks Lagoons for most of the morning.
Sparrowhawk flew through mobbed by Carrion Crows at Monks.
Swallows were passing through the reserve and feeiding on lots of airborne insects. Whetears , Stoenchats and Meadow Pipits all over the place.
Spotted Flycatcher seen in the hedgerow at the rear of Redshank Platform.
Priors Lagoon with the usual ducks , geese and Mute Swans.
Becs Lagoon west again was host to majority of the waders.
Highlights 11 x Ruff, 10+ Snipe at least. Lapwings and some Black Tailed Godwits and Curlews present but most keeping their heads down out of sight behind the island or out of view.
The Pectorial Sandpiper was found on Becs by a Paul Hayward. It was hanging about by the channel between the island and the field on the left of Becs.
Kestrel was seen several times around the reserve.
Other sightings of note – Several Migrant Hawker Dragonflies near Hide 2.

Main sighting: Kingfisher

Dawn to mid-morning. Hide 1 – 72 curlew in the roost with 2 black-tailed godwits and 5 knot mixed in. The hedgerows between hides 1 and 2 had a female blackcap, 2 willow warblers, common whitethroat (contact call) and 9 chiffchaffs. Redshank platform – redshanks, 2 ringed plovers, 93 teal, 58 wigeon and a pheasant calling. Snipe platform – 3 tufted ducks, female pintail, male kestrel, pair of little grebes and a buzzard calling. Seawall – 3 wheatears (1 more on a hay bale), only 1 yellow wagtail all morning, 11 more knot on the saltings with singles of common and gt black-backed gull. A kingfisher was flying across the reserve towards hide 2. Hide 3 – only 4 dunlin (1 lighter bird but was not the pec sand seen by B Thomas later), snipe numbers now at 26, 2 herons, 4 little egrets, 11 ruff, 23 shoveler, 9 gadwall, 35 lapwing, 9 mute swans, 1 oystercatcher, juv female marsh harrier, steady passage of 60 swallows, 1 whimbrel and 2 stock doves. Small regular groups of meadow pipits just out over the sea. Back behind the lapwing platform was a red kite circling (not the scraggy one that has been about the past 2 weeks) and a spotted flycatcher. Other: Southern hawkers, common darters, red admirals, small copper, large whites, speckled woods, comma and a rabbit.

Main sighting: Pectoral Sandpiper

Possible Pectoral Sandpiper seawall hide.