Recent sightings from 02 to 08 September 2019

It was a week which was dominated by wading birds and passerines (also known as perching bird or songbirds). A semipalmated sandpiper, a rare visitor from the North American tundra, visited Goldcliff lagoons and attracted many twitchers. The last record of the “semi p” – as it was named – was from Thursday. It wasn’t the only attraction at Goldcliff which once again was a hotspot for wading birds with little stint, curlew sandpiper, greenshank, black- and bar-tailed godwit, snipe, knot, dunlin, ringed and little ringed plovers and ruff all been spotted as well. Yellow wagtails remained a common sight and the glossy ibis was around too. In general, it was an exciting week regarding the migration of the passerines. Flocks of swallows, house and sand martins filled the sky over the Newport Wetlands, gathering for their journey south. A whinchat was spotted in the reedbeds on Wednesday and there were also several sightings of a whinchat at Goldcliff. Wheatear were coming through as well and could be seen along the foreshore as could flocks of linnets. The weekend brought an array of warblers. Cetti’s warblers started to be much more vocal again in the reedbeds and there were still some sedge and reed warblers as well. Saturday and Sunday a willow warbler joined the chiffchaffs and blackcaps and on Sunday a wood warbler was recorded. A rock pipit and a kingfisher were other highlights on Sunday. To the big delight of everyone, the bearded reedlings decided to show themselves nicely and in good numbers during the weekend. Up to at least eight of them could be seen on and around the “wobbly bridge” towards the lighthouse. Sightings of water rails, grey wagtail, stonechat, common redstart, green woodpecker, marsh harrier and plenty of curlews rounded off a great week.

The sightings of the bearded reedlings during the weekend are hopefully a good sign for the Bearded Reedling and Breakfast Walk this Saturday 14th September (booking essential). The guided walk starts at 7:30am and ends with a hearty breakfast. One week later it is all about feeding birds on our Bird Feeder Day. Details of all our events can be found on our website: https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/newport-wetlands/

Bar-tailed godwit, Bearded reedling, Black swan, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chiffchaff, Collared dove, Common whitethroat, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew sandpiper, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Glossy ibis, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey heron, Grey wagtail, Greylag goose, House martin, House sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, 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, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Reshank, Redstart, Reed bunting, Reed warbler, Ringed plover, Robin, Rock pipit, Ruff, Sand martin, Sedge warbler, Semipalmated sandpiper, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Stonechat, Swallow, Teal, Water rail, Wheatear, Whinchat, Willow warbler, Wood 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!

  

Photo credit: Wheatear by Jeremy White