Sightings

Main sighting: Sandpipers

Pheasant, chiffchaff (contact call), 3 stock doves, 3 cormorants, rooks, sparrowhawk, 2 sedge warblers and 1 common whitethroat. Hide two – 52 lapwing, 1 heron, 12 teal, 2 little egrets, juv female marsh harrier (seen 3 times), 10 mute swans, 62 black headed gulls, redshanks, 4 ringed plovers, 1 little stint, 1 wood sandpiper (flew up high and headed off around 0800, 2 black-tailed godwits, 3 snipe, skylarks, 3 swallows and reed buntings. Snipe platform – 32 sand martins (more seen throughout the morning numbering over 100), linnets, adult male little grebe, green woodpecker yaffling and female tufted duck with 6 chicks. . Seawall – gt black-backed gull, 37 oystercatchers, shelduck and 72 curlew. Hide three – 2 greenshanks, 87 dunlin (including 3 juveniles), single knot, great white egret flying past the Pill heading out towards Magor/Slimbridge direction. Hide one – on way back out 1 common sandpiper and 1 juv wood sandpiper feeding and joined by the little stint. OTHER: 7 green-veined whites, 1 large white, meadow browns, 1 red admiral, countless gatekeepers, 1 small copper, 1 common blue, 1 ruddy darter and 1 black-tailed skimmer (possible migrant hawker but could not get close enough look).

Main sighting: Kestrel

5-Kestrels together,almost certainly a family group,working their way east over the saltmarsh.12h00-13h00.

Main sighting: Little Stint

Little Stint – 2nd hide.

Main sighting: Little Stint

Adult Little Stint on Monks Wood Sandpiper 1 Common Sandpiper 1 Greenshank 2 Little Ringed Plover 2 Stock Dove 2 pale phased Buzzard 1

Main sighting: Little Stint

visit 17:35-20:15 low tide; Adult Little Stint on Monks Greenshank 2 Common Sand Piper 1 Wood Sandpiper 1 Stock Dove 2 pale phased Buzzard 1

Main sighting: Wood Sandpiper( 3)

No other birders present for my peaceful low tide visit over from Bristol between 4 and 7 this evening. Wind dropped as it clouded over. Walk to Bec’s lagoon rewarded with 3 lovely Wood Sandpipers hugging the rushes at the back and nice male Ruff among the Lapwings ( counted 163). Other waders were 2 adult Dunlin, 1 juvenile Redshank, 4 Little Ringed Plovers ( on Monk’s). On the shoreline were 14 Curlew, 1 Whimbrel and 7 Oystercatcher with a Raven on the sea wall.. Other highlights were female Tufted Duck with 6 ducklings ( 2nd brood?) , 1 Lesser Whitethroat behind Snipe platform and a Kingfisher on the sluice by the entrance path. Nice to be back in my birth County.
( Complete list on e-bird)

Main sighting: Hobby

Highlights of todays visit, very windy. Hobby 1 Mediterranean Gull 2 juvs Ruff 2 a male in partial BP + a Reeve Yellow Wagtail 1 Wood Sandpiper 1 Little Ringed Plover 2 Little Grebe 2 one juv.
Lots of Gate Keepers and Meadow Browns

Main sighting: Migration

6am – 11. Despite sat in hide 2 amongst the thunderstorms there was a great mix of birds on the lagoons today with 14 species of wader. Hide 2 – good count of 83 oystercatchers (5 non-breeders going into 1st year plumage – white collars), 30 lapwing, 8 curlew, 3 cormorants over, 5 teal, single bar-tailed godwit, 1 heron, 15 redshanks including 1 juvenile, 55 black-tailed godwits (all in breeding plumage), 30 dunlin, 5 ringed plovers, 2 common sandpipers, 1 whimbrel, adult greenshank, 1 common gull over with several herring gulls, 2 common terns that came over the seawall but dipped back down out of sight, large flock of 100+ linnets, skylarks, 3 shoveler, shelduck, chiffchaff contact call, 1 yellow wagtail over, female marsh harrier and ravens. 3 common whitethroats seen between hides 2 and 3 with lesser whitethroat also heard, green woodpecker, buzzard, reed warbler singing and pheasant calling. Hide 3 – the 2 wood sandpipers were feeding along the far bank towards the left (pub in the background), 6 knot, 340 black-headed gulls (several juveniles), 5 little egrets, 1 avocet, 106 more dunlin with the first juvenile of the season (1), 73 more lapwing, 9 mute swans, little grebe, reed buntings, gadwall with 3 ducklings, 2 more yellow wagtails, 25 pied wagtails, 1 lt ringed plover, 11 more ringed plovers, juvenile snipe and good numbers of migrating sand martins with 620 in small flocks with others still passing through as we left. Other: several gatekeepers and meadow browns.

Main sighting: Swifts

25 swifts, 4 ravens, buzzard, 2 gsw, green woodpecker, a jay and a stock dove.

Main sighting: Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper from hide 2

Main sighting: Nightjars

went back to “Gavin’s spot” from earlier walks – reckoning weather would be good for them – started churring and flapping about 10pm; saw 3 (1 hovering kestrel-like just overhead) , heard 5 (2 more on the walk back) probably; also heard woodcock patrolling.

Main sighting: Little Ringed Plover

Picnic breakfast beside the Usk this morning. Lapwing, LRP, 4 Common Sands, Mandarin and Goosander young, Little Egret, Little Grebe, 3 Kingfishers, Yellow Wag, 8 Grey Wags, Sand Martin colony still active. Trout jumping. Heaving with dragonflies and butterflies including Marbled White. What a river!