Sightings

Main sighting: Little Owl (late entry)

Added amendment to sightings for Saturday 1st – little owl pellets found near to hide 2. @M Pointon – in your sightings report, what is BP please and WP? Thanks.

Main sighting: Pochards

Spring pairing up, displaying / courtship behaviour and territorial disputes starting now with the water birds. Bit more activity this week (I am away for 2 Saturday’s after today so more highlights when I get back). En-route to hides: magpies, starlings, collard doves, Canada geese, pheasant, mallards, wren, herring gulls, crows, chaffinch, woodpigeons, goldfinches and 1 buzzard. Hide 1: female goldcrest, greylags, 23 shelduck, 41 teal, pied wagtail and a female sparrowhawk put up the godwit flock. En-route to hide 2: skylark in song, great tits, blue tits and single redwing. Hide 2: 13 shoveler, 7 gadwall, 18 redshanks, 8 wigeon, 1 lapwing, 8 curlew, cettis calling, 2 oystercatchers and female marsh harrier. Snipe platform: 5 male and 1 female common pochards was a good number here, pair of tufteds mixed in, coot, pair of little grebes and a single male, 2 mute swans and blackbirds. Seawall: female stonechat, 48 more wigeon out on the high tide, 1 little egret, 27 more curlew and house sparrows. Hide 3: male pintail, 43 avocet, relocated the black-tailed godwit flock (278) with a single dunlin mixed in, black headed gull, 14 more lapwing, 1 heron, 10 more shoveler, 4 more gadwall, pair stonechats, 1 ringed plover and reed buntings (3). 4 more oystercatchers one pair ‘piping’. Back at hide 2: 2 snipe. back at the car park 1 rook over with jackdaws and robin in song.

Main sighting: Curlew

Single curlew flushed off bracken at dusk and returned a few minutes later on Machen Mountain, south facing side.

Main sighting: Red Kite

Two days running a Red Kite flying over same field by my house.

Main sighting: Curlew

The first Curlew of the year has arrived back in Gwent!
This is earlier than usual so please, everyone, keep your eyes open and send all sightings (and heards) to Curlew@gwentbirds.org.uk.
All reports will be followed up on so please include the location (a grid reference is a huge help), date and time, and the number of birds.

Main sighting: Great White Egret

En-route to hides: robin, woodpigeons, crows, 5 greylags, song thrush in song, collard dove, herring gulls, blackbird, moorhen and 1 fieldfare calling. Hide 1: Canada geese (some paired up), mallards, 73 teal, 53 wigeon, 3 shelduck and magpies. Hide 2: cettis calling, 267 black-tailed godwits, 4 shoveler, female marsh harrier, 2 cormorants, wren, coot and lapwing pair. Goldfinches and dunnock en-route to platform. Snipe platform: 8 more shoveler, 1 little grebe, reed buntings, snipe calling and 2 fly-by mute swans. En-route to seawall: 1 mistle thrush, starlings and blue tits. Seawall: 34 more wigeon, 8 curlew, 2 oystercatchers, single barnacle goose, male peregrine perched up, 14 more shelduck, black headed gulls, lesser black-backed gulls and house sparrows. Hide 3: meadow pipit, 46 more lapwing, 4 more wigeon, 2 drake pintail, 9 more teal, skylark singing, little egret and great white egret which flew out of the reeds and into the Pill area. Marsh platform: pair of tufted ducks and a pair of stonechats near to hide 2 on the way back aorund.

Main sighting: Spotted Redshank

1-Spotted Redshank from sea wall hide on the near side of the island.Also 3-Avocets on the island and a female Marsh Harrier made a brief appearance.Also good numbers of Shelduck,Teal,Wigeon,Shoveler.10h30-12h45

Main sighting: Water Rail

1 water Rail seen feeding in marshy field

Main sighting: F blackcap

Posted a few weeks ago about a resident male blackcap. Joined today, probably from Africa by a female!!! Garden quite small, but lots of bushes and feeding stations

Main sighting: American Wigeon

American Wigeon (good views of this scarce species, in sunshine). Great Crested Grebe; Coot; Pochard; Shoveler; Gadwall; Wigeon; Dunnock; Blackbird; Robin; Wren; Woodpigeon; Carrion Crow: Great Tit; Blue Tit; Red Kite (en route to Llanelli).
Llanelli WWT: Black Tailed Godwit 200+; Lapwing 50+; Tufted Duck 34; Black Headed Gull 40+; Canada Goose; Greylag Goose; Mute Swan; Shelduck; Pintail; Teal; Goldeneye; Mallard; Grey Heron; Herring Gull; Lesser Black Backed Gull; Moorhen; Spoonbill 8; Snipe 20; Cormorant; Bullfinch; Chaffinch; Greenfinch; House Sparrow; Magpie; Jay; Kestrel; Mistle Thrush; Redwing; Song Thrush; Nuthatch; Grey Wagtail; Chiffchaff; Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaw; Sparrowhawk; Kingfisher (dead remains, on its back, on post in small lake – assumed Sparrowhawk kill). 52 Species in all.
Many thanks to Nick Beswick for leading us around the Llanelli WWT site.

Main sighting: Gowits

En-route to hides – 1 heron, crows, chaffinch, moorhen, herring gulls, greylags, blackbirds, magpies, robin, mallards, woodpigeons and blue tit. Hide one: 20 curlew from the evenings roost (2 black-tailed godwits mixed in), Canada geese, 7 fly-by mute swans, 2 more herons (roosting), 3 shelduck, 4 lapwing, 16 wigeon, cettis calling, 11 teal, wren and 3 cormorants. Hide two: 300+ black-tailed godwits (flew across to lagoon 3 before an accurate count could be taken), pair pintail, marsh harrier, 10 gadwall, 5 shoveler and water rail heard. Hide 3 not visited due to incoming heavy showers.

Main sighting: Change of start time for WWT Llanelli on Sunday.

Hi all

I’ve just found out that the Llanelli Half Marathon run is taking place on Sunday at 9.00am causing the WWT Centre to delay its opening to 11.00am

Having looked at several possibilities ,and taking into account the different routes that will be taken to get there, I’ve decided to keep it simple and just move our start time to 11.00

However several options have been suggested to make best use of the lost 90 mins and some of us will be going to Kenfig for 9.00am to see the American Widgeon that should still be there

I trust we will still see you at the Centre and later at Whiteford Burrows and Llanrhidian Marshes

Cheers

Dave Brassey

Field Secretary