Recent sightings from 23 to 29 December 2019

Christmas week started promising with the sighting of a bittern and two otters in the lagoons on Monday. The bittern was once again spotted on Christmas Eve and then all through the weekend. My favourite Christmas present came on a misty Friday morning when not only a large flock of long-tailed tits was jumping around in the reeds but also the otter was out fishing actively – and successfully – in the open. It can’t get much better than that! To the delight of many a visitor the otters stayed active during the whole weekend as well. Bullfinch, stonechat and goldcrest were regulars throughout the week and the – admittedly not quite so Christmassy – sound of water rails could be heard all over the reserve. A song thrush added some more melodious tones at the car park on Friday morning. Once again, the mudflats were the busiest part of the reserve and held lots of wading birds. Large flocks of thousands of dunlins showed some spectacular aerial displays whilst black-tailed godwits, redshanks, grey plovers, lapwings and curlews were also present in good numbers and some knot were recorded on Sunday. Flocks of linnets were seen along the salt marshes on several occasions. Along the water’s edge shoveler, wigeon and shelduck were a common sight. A kestrel could be seen on the pylons out of the café window regularly and marsh harriers were spotted over the reedbeds at the weekend. There were still some starlings around as well and especially during the weekend there were nice murmurations over the reedbeds towards the lighthouse although the numbers were not as big any more as they were at the beginning of the month. At Goldcliff lagoons there were lots of wildfowl around including teal, gadwall, pochard, an Egyptian goose and two barnacle geese. A goldeneye and a snipe were seen on Saturday and on Sunday. During the weekend more than thirty Avocets were spotted on the tidal mudflats from Goldcliff as well. The glossy ibis was around at Christmas Eve and on Saturday and also the peregrine was a regular once again. Let’s see how this year ends and how the new one will start, hopefully with some more exciting sightings.

Join us on our New Year’s Day Twitch and Tick Guided Walk to start the new decade with some great sightings. If you are new to birdwatching then our Birdwatching for Beginners Guided Walk on 26th January will give you an opportunity to get further into this rewarding hobby. On 1st February the award-winning author Lucy Christopher will show you how writing in the wild and using setting can be an inspiring starting point for fiction during the event Creative Writing. The following day we will celebrate the World Wetlands Day with a guided walk to find out more about this important ecosystem. Details of all our events can be found on our website: https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/newport-wetlands/

Avocet, Barnacle goose, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Egyptian goose, Gadwall, Glossy ibis, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Grey plover, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Mistle thrush, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pochard, Raven, Redshank, Reed bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Song thrush, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Tufted duck, Water rail, Wigeon, 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: Otter by Jeremy White