Recent sightings from 15 to 21 April 2019
The Easter week brought glorious sunshine to the wetlands which not only attracted lots of visitors but also lots of birds and butterflies. On Monday, the first reed warbler of the year was recorded, they have been very active since and can be heard singing emphatically around the visitor centre and all around the reserve. Other arriving migrants included sedge warbler, common and lesser whitethroat and finally we also heard (and saw) the first cuckoo. This year the cuckoo arrived on 17th April which is very much in line with the arrival date of the last two years (17th and 15th April). Fortunately, we got much more regular sightings of the bearded reedling which were recorded on every day this week apart from Wednesday. The bittern and marsh harrier remained active. On the mudflats a flock of around 100 black-tailed godwit joined the curlew and shelduck on most days. There have also been sightings of a whimbrel in amongst the curlew. A great white egret made a rare appearance on Tuesday and even went down into the reedbeds for a while. Further highlights of an eventful week were a grasshopper warbler which was heard on Thursday, a short-eared owl on Saturday and a wheatear on Sunday. Eight different species of butterflies were seen on the reserve this week: brimstone, peacock, speckled wood, orange tip, small white, small tortoiseshell, holly blue and red admiral. Weasel and grass snake did not go unnoticed and on Wednesday our family of four otters were seen once again. It proved to be another thrilling week at Goldcliff lagoons as well. A spoonbill was a regular feature as were spotted redshanks, avocet, little ringed plover and whimbrel to name but a few. The glossy ibis was seen on Monday, a golden plover joined the “waders’ party” on Tuesday, a curlew sandpiper was spotted on Saturday, and a grey plover was around on Sunday alongside a greenshank and some bar-tailed godwit. A well and truly great week at the wetlands full of nice Easter surprises!
We have had a wonderful couple of weeks pond dipping with families over the Easter holidays, discovering what is springing to live in our ponds and lagoons. Our findings included stickleback, lesser water boatman, damselfly nymph and toad tadpoles. We also found some impressive specimens of water scorpion and cased caddis fly.
Next month the Friends of Goldcliff are leading a breeding waders walk at Goldcliff on 4th May. This event offers a great opportunity to benefit from their years of knowledge and experience of the wildfowl and waders found in this special area. There’s also a Family Birdsong Walk on the same day from 9.30am - 11am to celebrate International Dawn Chorus Day with a slightly later start!
Read more at https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/events-dates-and-inspiration/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-464554#RmiRcij5YQTCXLKA.99
Read more at https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/events-dates-and-inspiration/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-465084#hLUgBerMfRiIt9RL.99
On May 5th the Newport Marathon will be implementing road closures along the route, which will stop access to Newport Wetlands National Nature Reserve as follows:
Meadows Road closed 09:00 - 14:40 / Access between 10:00 -10:45
The visitor centre will be open as normal throughout the day.
Here is the link to the Newport Marathon map with full details: https://newportwalesmarathon.co.uk/road-closures/#
As the road closures on Sunday will make it difficult to access the reserve, NRW will be leading a Dawn Chorus walk on Monday 6th May from 5.15am - 7.30am
Details of all these events can be found on our website here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/newport-wetlands/
Avocet, Bar-tailed godwit, Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chiffchaff, Common whitethroat, Coot, Cormorant, Cuckoo, Curlew, Curlew sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Glossy ibis, Golden plover, Goldfinch, Grasshopper warbler, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Great white egret, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey heron, Grey plover, Greylag goose, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Lesser whitethroat, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Little ringed plover, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Mute swan, Otter, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pochard, Raven, Redshank, Redstart, Reed bunting, Reed warbler, Ringed plover, Robin, Sand martin, Sedge warbler, Shelduck, Short-eared owl, Shoveler, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spoonbill, Spotted redshank, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Tufted duck, Wheatear, 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: Reed warbler by Jeremy White