Recent sightings from 25 February to 03 March 2019
After some quiet months in the reedbeds and on the lagoons at the Newport Wetlands, things are starting to change and to become much livelier again. Lots of Tufted ducks and a good number of Gadwall, Pochard, Canada geese and Coot can be found on the lagoons alongside the always active Little grebes and on Thursday there was still a Scaup in amongst them as well. Fortunately, a pair of Little grebes is back on the scrape in front of the café as well and hopefully they will raise their young ones there once again. The explosive song of Cetti’s warblers fill the air, competing with the booming Bittern, the squealing Water rail and the “pinging” of Bearded tits. The Marsh harrier was seen flying over the reedbeds as was a Glossy ibis on Tuesday. On Friday, two Otter have been seen in the lagoons. Big flocks of Fieldfare were still around in the surrounding fields and up to two Little owls were seen regularly. The mudflats hosted once again a good number of wading birds with Dunlin being the most numerous. Good numbers of Curlew and Black-tailed godwits were also present and Knot, Lapwing, Redshank and Oystercatcher have been recorded. Goldcliff lagoons proved to be a hotspot for waders as well with Spotted redshank, Ringed plover and Avocet to be added to the list above. There was also a Peregrine and a Common gull on Friday.
Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Coal tit, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Glossy ibis, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Greylag goose, House sparrow, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Little egret, Little grebe, Little owl, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pochard, Raven, Redshank, Redwing, Reed bunting, Ringed plover, Robin, Rook, Scaup, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted redshank, Starling, Stonechat, Tufted duck, 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: Tufted ducks by Jeremy White