There’s a chill in the air down here at Newport, signalling Autumn is well and truly here. The reserve is gradually changing colour, and the team are gearing up for the October half term holidays which start next week.
In terms of sightings, recordings are still taking place and you’ll be excited to read that the Bittern has made a reappearance!! On Tuesday (12th) our new volunteer Liv sighted not one but two Bitterns!! On one of her first wanders around the reserve it’s certainly one to remember! This is also very exciting as for the last few weeks they’ve been rather quiet, with virtually no sightings recorded.
Image credit: Bittern - Liv Davies
The Water Rail has also been giving it welly around the kiosk and offices, although we haven’t caught a glimpse of them, their calls are certainly making their presences known. Furthermore, the kingfisher has been spotted around by the café area, putting on a show for our visitors. Not only has it been seen by the café but also around the screens up on the reserve too.
Josh’s birdfeeder buffet around Perry Lane seems to be receiving 5-star reviews from the Great tits, Blue tits and even the great spotted woodpecker! On Saturday the team were incredibly excited to witness a greenfinch perched on the feeder, and as we left for the night you could hear it calling.
Image credit: Greenfinch - Tracey Dunsford
The insect recordings are gradually declining with only the large white butterfly and common darter and southern hawker dragonfly being recorded. However, starting to emerge are the fungi which are always great fun to observe, along with guessing if it’s poisonous or not! Glistening Inkcaps were spotted by our handyman team in the early part of the week and hopefully more species will start appearing soon.
Image credit: Glistening inkcap - Beth Lewis
Image credit: Common bonnet - Beth Lewis
Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring gull, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Linnet, Little egret, Little Grebe, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine falcon, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pochard, Raven, Redshank, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Siskin, Spoonbill, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Tufted Duck, Water Rail, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Large white butterfly, Common darter dragonfly, Southern hawker dragonfly, Stoat, Glistening Ink Cap, Common Bonnet, Common Inkcap
Author: Beth Lewis
Look out for some fabulous Autumn events coming up at the Wetlands, including a bat and moth walk on 29th October. Our sunset and starlings events are now open for bookings. To see all our events please visit https://bit.ly/3E0GWcj