Sightings

Main sighting: Kestrel

On the other side of Llanvetherine on the B4521 road opposite Ty-Deri house was a kestrel perched on a electricity line.

Main sighting: Lesser Yellowlegs

A bird found by Jackie, offering only tantalising views, was initially identified as Wood Sandpiper. Later thanks to Pics from John Lawton the bird was correctly identified as Lesser Yellowlegs.

Main sighting: Osprey

Osprey perched on pole on eastern side of reservoir at 10.00am. Access via fisherman’s car park.

Main sighting: White Wagtail / Bittern

En-route to hide: 52 starlings, robin, woodpigeons, crows, goldfinches, linnets, 2 chiffchaffs, mallards and moorhen. Hide one – 3 herons, 31 swallows, stonechat family group, 11 teal, magpies and pied wagtails. Hide two – 35 more teal, cettis, 6 little egrets, 10 shoveler, 2 snipe, 4 curlew, marsh harrier, meadow pipits, single avocet, sparrowhawk, 2 yellow wagtails, 1 white wagtail, 1 ruff, fem kestrel and blackcap in full song. Snipe platform – green woodpecker by the hay bales, coot 8 gadwall, 25 more shoveler, lt grebes, fem tufted, 5 swans, 8 sand martins, black headed and lesser black-backed gulls. Seawall – 210 shelduck, 42 oystercatchers, single whimbrel on the mud, 18 avocet, 37 curlew, cormorant and house sparrows. Hide three – herring gulls, Canada geese, 12 black-tailed godwits, 4 dunlin, 9 redshanks, 2 lt stints, 1 curlew sandpiper, 50 lapwing, 8 knot, 9 ruff (feeding together in far left corner), 11 more snipe and reed bunting. Marsh platform – bittern flew across and 25 house martins feeding. Other: MIgrant hawkers, 3 red admirals, large whites, meadow brown and 1 small tortoiseshell.

Main sighting: Goldcrest ( Britain's smallest bird )

In a field with a hedgerow and trees was a female and male goldcrest zi-ing ( calling ) with blue tits and chiffchaff’s. Also two buzzards.

Main sighting: Osprey

Two Osprey over the reservoir this morning (9:30 am). One successfully caught a fish and flew off east. Seen from Fishermans Car Park.

Main sighting: Hobby

1-Hobby,3+Ruffs,15-Avocets,16-Little Egrets,1-Grey Plover,1-Curlew Sandpiper,1-Yellow Wagtail,37+Knot and good numbers of Black ‘wits.11h00-13h30.

Main sighting: Spotted Flycatcher

1 bird perched on wire. Also 2 wheatears long dry stone wall.

Main sighting: Grey Seal

A surprise non avian sighting this morning was a Grey Seal close in to the access ladder.It surfaced four times,putting all the wild fowl to flight.Also 3-Common Sandpipers.

Main sighting: Crossbill

Eleven birds flew over.

Main sighting: Swift

1 over house this evening

Main sighting: Waders, especially Curlew

Evening look on big high tide (13.0 metres) to see if Curlews came in to roost when there is a high evening tide. They do! At least 400 Curlews came in from 18h15 onwards, and some sat quite well for ring reading, but I couldn’t see any rings! Also many hundreds of Blackwits (at the very least 500), 5 Whimbrels, 8 Ruff, 5 Avocets, at least 40 Knot, 3 Snipe, at least 30 Ringed Plovers, 50 Dunlin. At least two Wigeon. Among the Greylags, two with colour rings, no doubt from Llanwern: Z4B and UC4.