Sightings

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.

Main sighting: Greylag

From the first hide 69-Greylags.Also 3-Ruffs,2-Curlew Sandpipers and a Wigeon all from the second hide.14h00-15h40.

Main sighting: Tree Pipit / Curlew Sandpipers

En-route to hides: Woodpigeons, starlings, chiffchaff, crows, blue tits, wren, magpie and grey wagtail. Hide one – Passage of house martins (60) and sand martins (108) but only 2 swallows, 6 little egrets, 5 curlew, blackbird, green woodpecker (calling), 3 ringed plovers, numerous pied wagtails with 2 yellow wagtails mixed in (following the cattle), male whitethroat. Hide two – 5 knot, 77 black-tailed godwits, 71 lapwing, 2 herons, Canada geese, 17 redshanks, herring gulls, mallards, 10 gadwall, 35 teal, black-headed gulls, stonechat, skylark, 2 shoveler and moorhen. Seawall – 4 wheatears, lesser black-backed gulls, goldfinches, 1 whimbrel, 15 more curlew, oystercatchers, shelduck, cormorant and 1 tree pipit overhead calling. Hide three – 4 ruff with 2 curlew sandpipers feeding together and 2 snipe. Snipe platform – 1 swan only, 7 more shoveler and 5 more gadwall, tufted family looking well (young almost fully grown), 7 little grebes (family group also doing well) and coot. Other: Green-veined whites, meadow brown, red admiral and common darters.

Main sighting: Mediterranean Gull

1430-1700 – on rising tide. 1 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit (7), Knot (18), Turnstone (2) on the rising tide in amongst the usual Redshank, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover and Dunlin. 1 Wheatear on the rocks.

Main sighting: Goshawk

Sparrowhawk

Main sighting: Bittern , Waders and Peregrine

Visit at low tide , a little after sunrise.
Green Woodpecker, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers whilst walking along the entrance lane. The undergrowth was full of small birds – Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tits.
Monks Lagoons had a small wader flock mainly located opposite hide 2 – 10 x Black Tailed Godwits, 7 x Ruff, 1 x Dunlin,1 x Snipe , 1 x Juve Ringed Plover, 20 C Lapwings, 2 x Curlews and 20 c Redshank. Ducks – mainly teal, shoveler and some gadwall.
Early on a Peregrine Falcon swooped in and chased the waders. On reviewing my pics I have noted that it is a ringed bird but despite cropping the pics I cant read them.
Later in the morning a Bittern took flight from the Becs passed the seawall hide and landed in the reeds on Priors Lagoon.
On Priors lagoon one thing I noticed was a Little Grebe feeding its chick.
On the sea wall a Wheatear was showing nicely and on the mud were 2 x Whimbrels.
Out in the waters of the Estuary was a Common Dolphin that a number of visitors were watching.

Main sighting: Ring-necked Paraket

Working on the castle and saw it flying about 8metres high over a grass field. Swooped up into tree and was lost. Distinctive screech call made once. Am familiar with the bird from London.