Recent sightings from 20 to 26 January 2020
This week brought some frost to start with and some heavy rain on Sunday to end with. Despite the not always favourable weather conditions there was once again plenty of wildlife around and there were some great unforgettable moments! Coming from the car park you were greeted by the tune of the song thrush most mornings and as soon as you went into Perry Lane the bullfinches would take over and dominated the soundscape. Occasionally you could also hear the “laughing” of the green woodpecker when flying off the path. Long-tailed tits and goldcrests would add their high-pitched notes before the Cetti’s warbler took over once you reached the reedbeds. Especially at the beginning of the week the elusive Cetti’s warbler was sometimes uncharacteristically showy and allowed some lovely close-up views. The squealing water rails competed with the Cetti’s warbler for the title “the loudest reedbed singer” whilst you could hear curlew and redshank calling from the coast. Just during this little stroll from the car park to the lighthouse you would pick up lots of different songs and calls that made the walk an acoustic delight. Apart from curlew and redshank there were lapwing, black-tailed godwit and grey plover present along the mudflats and once again the dunlins performed their stunning aerial display in their thousands. Shelducks were grazing the mudflats in good numbers whilst along the water’s edge wigeon, teal and shoveler could be spotted. Stonechats and linnets were regulars on the saltmarsh and on Friday a water pipit was passing through. The same day some bearded reedlings were heard “pinging” from the reeds. Sometimes the marsh harrier extended its hunting range from the reedbeds to the coast. A goshawk along the coast path on Friday was an exciting sighting as was the bittern in the reedbeds on Monday and Tuesday. In the lagoons the number of ducks were slightly higher this week with nearly 50 gadwall and a handful of tufted ducks joining the little grebes and mute swans. The fields were full of fieldfares with some redwings mixed in and kestrel and sparrowhawk could be seen hunting close to the visitor centre. At Goldcliff lagoons the female goldeneye, the glossy ibis and the black-necked grebe were seen all week long. The peregrine was spotted regularly – as usual – and snipe and up to 28 avocets (on the coast from Goldcliff) were recorded as well. Saturday was a quite exciting day at Goldcliff when – in addition to the species mentioned above – also a pintail, two barnacle geese and a flock of twite didn’t go unnoticed. In terms of mammals, we had several sightings of a fox and a stoat and there was good news about “our” otters. For the first time this year, two of them were spotted in the lagoons together. Many visitors commented this week that seeing the otter/s made their day. On Tuesday morning – when all the lagoons were frozen – the otter was out on the icy grassy path, rolling around and grooming itself and with the sun shining onto it from behind it was one of these perfect magical moments one will never forget! Let’s see what magic the new week will bring…
Our February events start with the World Wetlands Day on 2nd February. During the guided walk you can learn more about this important ecosystem. The Wetland and Estuary Waders Guided Walk on 15th February will put the spotlight on the wintering waders like dunlin, redshank and lapwing. This February half term you can let the RSPB’s motto “giving nature a home” become reality with building nest boxes during the Big Bird Box Build on Monday 17th, Wednesday 19th and Friday 21st February. 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, Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black-necked grebe, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Glossy ibis, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goshawk, Great black-backed gull, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Grey plover, Greylag goose, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Linnet, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Meadow pipit, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pintail, Pochard, Raven, Redshank, Redwing, Reed bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Tufted duck, Twite, Water pipit, 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: Dunlins by Les Davies