Sightings

Main sighting: Soaring ravens and raptors

56 ravens, 13 buzzards and a sparrowhawk soaring. One other sparrowhawk, 4 swallows, grey wagtail, female yellowhammer, song and mistle thrush, 2 wrens, great spotted and green woodpecker, stock dove, chiffchaff

Main sighting: Swallow

Our first swallow over Vedw wood, a week earlier than last year, also Brimstone yesterday

Main sighting: Wheatears

A pair of male wheatears just on the bend for the turning from Beaufort to Llangattock with a third seen later. At llangattock – 4 buzzards, 2 red kites, female sparrowhawk, pied wagtails nest building in a dry stone wall, 6 ravens and 2 chiffchaffs.

Main sighting: blackcap

Blackcap singing in woods also Buzzard soaring over area and being mobbed by several
LBB Gulls.Chaffinchs singing throughout theRisca area not seen for sometime

Main sighting: Red Kite

Kite seen lunchtime hovering quite low over Stelvio and Handpost area. Being mobbed by gulls and watched by a buzzard. My first sighting of Kite in this area.

Main sighting: House Martin

In the morning gloom a flock of 30 House Martins later, Peregrine 1 Sparrowhawk 1 Chiffchaff singing.

Main sighting: Cettis Warbler

Walk from Goldcliff to the seawall produced a singing cettis warbler, 5 skylarks (2 pairs displaying), 9 linnets, displaying meadow pipits, 1 lapwing, 125 Canada geese, 8 greylag geese, 11 avocet roosting on the tideline, 2 common redshanks, 1 buzzard, the male peregrine from Goldcliff earlier that morning flying through towards Red Barn hide and a pair of gadwall.

Main sighting: Golden Plover and Little Ringed Plovers

3 singing chiffchaffs, 3 cormorants, pair of male pheasants. Hide one – 136 shelduck, 2 common redshanks, lapwing (2 sitting), 1 skylark singing, 16 dunlin, 1 lt egret, 20 ringed plovers, 2 gt black-backed gulls and a male peregrine came in and took a dunlin out on its own and moved to the edge of the 2nd lagoon to start plucking. Redshank Platform – 6 pairs of tufted ducks, 2 pair of pintail (later flew over the seawall), 11 teal, 1 grey heron, white-fronted goose still present, male reed bunting singing, 75 avocet (no ringed birds) and 49 shoveler. Snipe Platform – 9 gadwall, 2 pairs of wigeon, 7 sand martins and the bean goose still present. Drake scaup present (hybrid bird)? Hide three – a pair of little ringed plovers on the left side feeding, single golden plover on the island, 45 black-tailed godwits, 4 swallows passing with 2 more sand martins, 10 common redshanks (one pair copulating), with 38 oystercatchers and 42 curlew from the seawall. The male peregrine made another pass through also.

Main sighting: Spotted Redshanks

Afternoon low tide visit.
Generally very quiet – 1 x Spotted Redshank on Monks Lagoon. “Bosprey” Buzzard sat up on post at Becs. Absence of the big wader flocks noted. Little Ringed Plovers on Becs.
Lapwings on Monks and Becs.
Merlin seen flying between Monks and Priors Lagoon and flew off towards Farm.
Reported to me that the Bean and White Fronted Goose has been seen earleir.

Main sighting: Waders and Merlin

Visited at dawn at high tide. Monks Lagoon – 43 x Curlew and 2 Great Black Backed Gulls and lots of shelducks. Priors Lagoon – 1 x White Fronted Goose and 1 x Bean Goose showing in front of Marsh Platform. Scaup/Hybrid duck in with Tufted. 2 x Pochard. 9 x Mute Swans. There was a flock of 85 x Avocet showing on Priors and Becs.
Becs Lagoon – Big flock of 292 x Black Tailed Godwits and 1 x Knot. 2 x Little Ringed Plovers. 12 x Ringed Plovers ( some flew by in a flock with c10 Dunlins). 30 x Redshanks throughout the reserve. Female Merlin showing well for some. Sparrowhawk.
Spotted Redshank seen on Monks Lagoon.

Main sighting: Brambling

A female Brambling and 40 Linnets this morning.

Main sighting: Sand Martins

First bird seen was a singing Blackcap, On the river, a pair of Goosander, a Kingfisher and two Sand Martins. Several chiffchaffs in full song. Later, returning to Pontypool, a Buzzard and a Red Kite close together.