Sightings

Main sighting: Crossbills

Flock of around 10 crossbills this morning in Beechwood Park in the centre of Newport.

Main sighting: Young kesstrel

Newly fledged Fluffy kestrel perched, male stonechat with fledgling.

Main sighting: Siskin

Siskin on garden feeder – unusual at this time of year here. 42 juv house martins on wires this morning. 5 song thrushes on walk last evening (often pleased if we see one – must be doing well this year)

Main sighting: Crossbills

A party of about 10 crossbills were in Douglas Firs on the road from The Narth to Pen y Fan Green this morning.

Main sighting: Garden Warbler

River low, Himalayan Balsam high. Sand Martin colony still active, 56 Canada Geese including juvs, Garden Warbler, 2 well-grown juv Goosanders plus the head of a decapitated Goosander in the field. Be alert – ticks rife across the Severn.

Main sighting: Green Woodpecker

Walk around Garn Lakes. No sign of the Great White Egret on the upper pond.
Lots of Bull Finches around the lakes.
Buzzard being mobbed by Magpies, near the Whistle Pub . Later it was doing a balancing act on a telegraph wire.
Green Woodpecker showed well at a distance. Really impressed by the amount of wild flowers and insects on the site.

Main sighting: Chats

Walk to the mast and back. Stonechats in the patches of bracken. Juvenile Wheatears , Linnets and Meadow Pipits. Pair of Ravens.

Main sighting: Whimbrel

12noon – 1500hrs. Hide one – 2 house martins, 2 common sandpipers, 3 swallows and yellow wagtail calling. Redshank platform – 61 lapwing, 310 dunlin 6 of which were juvs, 3 shelduck, chiffchaff contact call, 2 greenshanks (1 in adult plumage), green sandpiper still present, 1 ruff (damaged leg), 6 ringed plovers and 5 yellow wagtails overhead. Snipe platform – 8 lt egrets (3 of which were juvs), 9 grey herons (3 of which were also juvs), 6 redshanks, ravens, 6 teal, another yellow wagtail over and a female reed bunting in the hedgerow. Marsh Platform – a single whimbrel passing was a nice surprise, possible juv spotted redshank (pictures awaiting confirmation). Seawall – 304 black-tailed godwits on the mudflats with 18 knot mixed in (no sign of any avocets), oysteratchers and 2 gt black-backed gulls. Hide three – 2 more yellow wagtails. Other: Green lacewing, numerous gatekeepers, meadow browns, small copper, large skipper and several hawkers species but too far to ID.

Main sighting: Amendment

Apologies, my sightings were for Saturday 1st not Sunday 2nd August.

Main sighting: Waders

Dawn visit at high tide. All three lagoons this morning had good numbers of birds, especially waders.
Priors is going from strength to strength.
Todays list –
Black-Tailed Godwits ( total 300+) main flock on Priors and seems to be growing every week. Avocets, Dunlins, Redshank, Ruff ( not the one with the dodgy leg), Curlew, Lapwings, Common Sandpiper, Black-Headed Gulls, Gerring Gull, Lesser-Black Backed Gulls, Little Egrets, Grey Heron, Carrion Crows, Yellow Wagtails and Pied Wagtails. Loads of Geese and some Mallards.
“Flossy” the Glossy ibis put in an appearnce on Priors early on before dissapperaing into the reed bed.

Main sighting: Great White Egret

GWE still at upper lake. Lovely to point it out to a young birder, who then got a close range fly-past 🙂

Main sighting: Raptors

Sparrowhawk, red kite and buzzard all seen in / above Blaen Bran; also stonechat (lots on moors), wheatear, willow warbler, grey wagtail