Recent sightings from 17 to 23 August 2020
It was another rather wild week at RSPB Newport Wetlands with heavy rain and stormy conditions. All week long you could still see the swallows preparing for their migration south and there were a few house and sand martins amongst them as well. During a rainy Wednesday four swifts were flying over and a few more individuals were seen in Goldcliff during the weekend. Our bird feeder next to our welcome marquee attracted robins, great tits, blue tits and towards the end of the week also long-tailed tits which are always simply lovely to see!
Photo credit: Long-tailed tits by Stefan Zitzmann
Chiffchaff, bullfinch, blackcap and willow tits were around most days and the green woodpecker was once again a regular as well. Along the coast the numbers of curlew and shelduck were quite high and flocks of dunlins were recorded as well as some oystercatchers and redshanks. In addition to the black-headed, lesser black-backed and herring gulls, a great black-backed gull was about repeatedly. The kingfisher was seen on several occasions and enjoyed the wealth of fish near the “wobbly bridge“. A stonechat was spotted on Thursday before Sunday brought some exciting sightings including treecreeper, bearded reedling and grasshopper warbler. The same day tree pipits and a common crossbill were spotted flying over. It wasn’t a bad week for raptors either. Not only peregrine and sparrowhawk were spotted, but on Thursday there were also two marsh harriers and a red kite. Another regular visitor this week was the little egret, which tried to shelter behind the visitor centre on a stormy Friday.
Photo credit: Little egret by Stefan Zitzmann
Some butterfly species are coming towards the end of their flight period now. We still managed to get a total of 11 species with comma, common blue, gatekeeper, large and small white, meadow brown, painted lady, red admiral, small copper, small tortoiseshell and speckled wood all recorded this week. The windy conditions weren’t the best for moths either, but silver-Y, shaded broad bar, large yellow underwing, southern wainscot, oak eggar and Agriphila tristella were present and a red underwing on Sunday was paying us a rather spectacular visit and did seem to be quite a brave individual judging by its choice for a resting location…
Photo credit: Red underwing by Stefan Zitzmann
Stoat and weasel were seen running across the paths and on Sunday a sighting of an otter on the foreshore was reported. There was still lots of activity with the bees and bumblebees and on in addition to the usual species, black-horned nomad bee, common furrow bee, and heath bumblebee were also identified. Other highlights from the insect world included a scorpion fly and a bee wolf, a rather spectacular looking species which feasts on honeybees. It also was a very good week for the dragonflies with lots of southern hawkers as well as common and ruddy darters on the wing. Emperor and migrant hawker were also seen.
Photo credit: Ruddy darter by Stefan Zitzmann
It was another very interesting week at Goldcliff. Once again Goldcliff lagoons were a great place for watching waders. The highlights this week were a pectoral sandpiper on Thursday and Friday and up to four curlew sandpipers from Friday to Sunday. Little stint, ruff, greenshank, knot, turnstone, sanderling and whimbrel were all recorded as well to name but a few. Highlights amongst the songbirds were whinchat, yellow wagtail and wheatear whilst the glossy ibis was also seen, and great crested grebes made a rare appearance on Sunday. The stormy conditions on Friday made some interesting seabird watching from the seawall in Goldcliff and the lucky ones who were in the right place at the right time were treated to two passing gannets and an Arctic skua that got blown into the Severn Estuary.
You can keep up-to-date with what facilities are available via our twitter page or by clicking here. At the moment the visitor centre with toilets, shop and café as well as the playground are still closed, but there is plenty to look out for on the walks over the reserve!
Arctic skua, Bearded reedling, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti’s warbler, Chiffchaff, Collared dove, Common crossbill, Common sandpiper, Common whitethroat, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Gannet, Garganey, Glossy ibis, Goldfinch, Grasshopper warbler, Great black-backed gull, Great crested grebe, Great tit, Green sandpiper, Green woodpecker, Greenshank, Grey heron, Greylag goose, Herring gull, House martin, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Little ringed plover, Little stint, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Meadow pipit, Little egret, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Pectoral sandpiper, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Raven, Red kite, Redshank, Reed bunting, Reed warbler, Ringed plover, Robin, Ruff, Sand martin, Sanderling, Sedge warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Turnstone, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tree pipit, Treecreeper, Turnstone, Wheatear, Whimbrel, Whinchat, Willow warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren and Yellow wagtail.
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!