Recent sightings from 10 to 16 June 2019
It was definitely a mixed bag in regard to the weather at Newport Wetlands last week – as it was indeed for most of the UK. Therefore, it wasn’t a big surprise that a lot of birds preferred to seek shelter from rain and wind. It was relatively quiet on the mudflats but there was still a whimbrel about on Monday alongside a good number of shelduck. It was a rather good week for birds of prey sightings with peregrine, kestrel, sparrowhawk and marsh harrier all been spotted. The cuckoos were not quite as active any more as when they first arrived in the middle of April but they were still around. A bittern was recorded from the reedbeds on Tuesday and the favourite of most of our visitors, the bearded reedling, was seen each day from Wednesday to Friday. A willow warbler rounded things off on the reserve on Sunday. The week started quite promising at Goldcliff Lagoons on Monday with sightings of kingfisher, wigeon, dunlin, black-tailed godwit, and little ringed plover whilst the beautiful song of the skylark filled the air. There was also a welcome return of the spoonbill which was seen the same day and then once again on Saturday and on Sunday. Being quite a regular sight during the last few months, the glossy ibis joined the party at Goldcliff on Sunday as well. With the forecast predicting some nicer weather for this week, there is hope that it might bring out more birds and more birdwatchers and will produce plenty of great sightings.
There are only a few more spaces left on our Bearded Reedling and Breakfast Walk on 19th June. If you want to join us on the search for the bearded reedling, then please give us a ring to check whether we still have spaces available. Details of all our events can be found on our website: https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/newport-wetlands/
Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chiffchaff, Collared dove, Common whitethroat, Coot, Cormorant, Cuckoo, Dunlin, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Greylag goose, House martin, House sparrow, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser whitethroat, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Little ringed plover, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Redshank, Reed bunting, Reed warbler, Ringed plover, Robin, Sedge warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spoonbill, Swallow, Swift, Tufted duck, Whimbrel, Wigeon, Willow warbler, Woodpigeon and Wren.
Please note that we take our recent sightings list from the visitor sightings board that anyone can contribute to. This is great as everyone can get involved, but obviously can lead to potential errors too as they aren’t always verified! We try to keep this list as accurate as possible but if you see something unusual feel free to comment here!
Photo credit: Spoonbill by Jeremy White