Recent sightings from 07 to 13 September 2020
Swallows were still seen flying over in big numbers with smaller flocks of house martins joining them. Along the hedgerows blackcap, bullfinch, chiffchaff and goldfinch were regulars and robin, blue and great tit and not least flocks of long-tailed tits brought many a smile to our faces when they visited the feeders next to our welcome marquee. Jays added a splash of colour as did the kingfishers which were once again often seen fishing in the lagoons. Stonechat and wheatear were recorded this week as well as yellow and grey wagtail and on Wednesday not only a common but also a lesser whitethroat was spotted. Main characters on the lagoons were little grebes, gadwalls and mute swans with some sightings of tufted duck and teal.
Photo credit: Little grebe by Jeremy White
Up to five bearded reedlings were seen in the reedbeds on several occasions from Wednesday to Friday. The bridge leading to the lighthouse proved to be a good place to see or at least to hear them “pinging“. On Wednesday also a water rail was heard squealing in the reedbeds. Peregrine, buzzard, kestrel and marsh harrier were the birds of prey recorded this week. Along the coast you could not only find flocks of linnets and several little egrets but also up to 130 curlews and 450 shelducks. A small flock of dunlins and two knots joined them on Thursday, a golden plover was reported on Friday and black-tailed godwits and a whimbrel were around on Saturday. The first larger flocks of lapwings were seen flying over as well. Things are definitely getting busier along the coast.
Photo credit: Small copper by Stefan Zitzmann
It seems to get a bit quieter in regard to insects. There were still a few butterflies on the wings. Large and small whites could be found all over the reserve, speckled woods were a regular sight around the woodland area, red admirals could be spotted mainly along the coast path and small coppers were very active close to our welcome marquee. Roesel’s bush-cricket could be identified there as well,a field digger wasp showed an interest in our sign and common, brown-banded and shrill carder bee were still buzzing around. When the sun was out, there was a good number of dragonflies to be seen. The bigger ones were migrant and southern hawkers and on the paths you could find plenty of common darters as well as the one or the other ruddy darter.
Photo credit: Field digger wasp by Stefan Zitzmann
Our resident glossy ibis showed well at Goldcliff lagoons and was joined on Saturday by three great white egrets. Apart from the usual suspects such as knot, redshank, lapwing, dunlin, snipe, ringed plover and hundreds of black-tailed godwits there were also some rarer visitors. A greenshank was around most week, little stint and curlew sandpiper were seen on Wednesday and bar-tailed godwit and avocet didn’t go unnoticed on Thursday. There was also a growing number of shovelers and teals and peregrine and sparrowhawk showed an interest in the rich birdlife. Yellow wagtail and stonechat were once again amongst the migrating songbirds.
Photo credit: Glossy ibis by Jeremy White
For latest updates on when our visitor centre will reopen, please click here and follow us on Twitter. Right now, toilets, shop, café and playground are still closed but all the main paths are open as usual and the car park is open daily between 9am and 5pm.
Avocet, Bar-tailed godwit, Bearded reedling, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti’s warbler, Chiffchaff, Oystercatcher, Common whitethroat, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Glossy ibis, Golden plover, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Great white egret, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey heron, Grey wagtail, Herring gull, House martin, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Lesser whitethroat, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Little stint, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Meadow pipit, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Raven, Redshank, Reed bunting, Ringed plover, Robin, Sedge warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Teal, Tufted duck, Water rail, Wheatear, Whimbrel, 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!