Recent sightings from 13 to 19 May 2019
This week brought a sighting of a hobby which was flying over the reserve on Wednesday on the lookout for dragonflies of which more and more are on the wing now. There were also nice displays of kestrels, buzzards and sparrowhawks and a marsh harrier flew over the scrape right in front of the café on Saturday afternoon allowing some rare close-up views. A red kite which was seen from Goldcliff on Thursday rounded off an interesting week in regard to raptors. The reedbeds were still full of life and there were plenty of opportunities to not only hear but also see our resident warblers. Especially sedge and reed warbler were perching nicely on numerous occasions as were reed buntings. Cetti’s warblers remained trickier to see but certainly would win any song contest being held for the birds of the reedbeds. Bearded reedlings were sighted on four occasions this week but were once again far from easy to spot. A nice sight was the sky over the reedbeds being full of house martins and swifts on Friday. Whilst the mudflats on the reserve were relatively quiet apart from a good number of shelduck being still around and the one or another oystercatcher, Goldcliff lagoons were once again full of wading birds. Dunlin, knot, whimbrel, ringed and little ringed plover, black-tailed and bar-tailed godwit, and grey plover were all spotted and there were young redshanks, avocets and lapwings on show as well. A crane was seen there flying over on Monday and a whinchat made a rare appearance on Tuesday. A duck that delighted birdwatchers at Goldcliff lagoons all week long was a male garganey which is always a special sight. Two great spotted woodpeckers were regulars at our feeding station, up to three cuckoos were seen, and Sunday saw the return of a “good old friend” when a kingfisher was spotted for the very first time this year. There are still plenty of ducklings and goslings to be seen close to the visitor centre and if you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of the flock of long-tailed tits with all their young ones. Saturday brought also the first sighting of some cygnets on the reserve. So plenty of reasons to come and visit Newport Wetlands to welcome our new additions…
On Saturday 8th June the TV presenter and president of the RSPB, Miranda Krestovnikoff will come to the wetlands to unveil a bronze relief model of the Gwent Levels. Activities and talks will be on offer as is an exhibition about the Gwent Levels. For further details please visit: https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/events-dates-and-inspiration/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-464558
Apart from our Mud Magic! Event which will be running Monday to Friday during May half term from 27th until 31st May, we also offer Moths Walks on 15th June and 16th June as well as a Bearded Reedling and Breakfast Walk on 19th June. Details of all those events can be found on our website: 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, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common whitethroat, Coot, Cormorant, Crane, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Egyptian goose, Gadwall, Garganey, Glossy ibis, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Grey plover, Greylag goose, Herring gull, Hobby, House martin, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Knot, 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, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pochard, Raven, Red kite, Redshank, Reed bunting, Reed warbler, Ringed plover, Robin, Sand martin, Sedge warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Swallow, Swift, Tufted duck, Whimbrel, Whinchat, 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: Hobby by Jeremy White