Image credit: Terry Winter
What a busy two weeks it has been here at the wetlands! The breeding season is in full swing with many species either wandering round with a trail of fluff or flying over the lagoons hoping to catch a fish. From mallard ducklings to little grebes to blackcap chicks and baby blue tits keeping our kiosk volunteers happy there is plenty of new life to go around.
Image credit: Kirsty Lindsay
The delayed April showers are a sign of relief for our wildflowers and hungry bumblebees and the lagoon verges are brimming with Southern marsh orchids. Common carder bees, Shrill carder bees and Early bumblebees swam the comfrey which luckily bloomed nice and early to give them the food needed to get a population going.
Image Credit: Kirsty Lindsay
Hairy dragonflies and four spotted chaser dragonflies are now buzzing about the reserve to the hobbys delight and with an increase in flying insects; as the days are warm and damp, the swifts and house martins are very active. Watch over head for a close call dive from them!
Image credit: Sarah Landeg - Hobby with prey
National moth weekend was a success with 99 moths of 33 species including Light Brocade, Yellow belle (A new moth for Gwent!!), cream-bordered green pea and 13 poplar hawk moths. We are getting very excited for the summer months and the sighting of a Emperor moth on a guided walk got our new moth country recorder/rspb volunteer VERY excited.
Image credit: Kevin Hewitt - Yellow Belle, a new one for Gwent.
Now for the bit you’ve all been waiting for… The purple heron! Yes, we were treated here on the Uskmouth reeds to a 2 day delight with many sightings from visitors of the rare bird who is only seen roughly 20 times in the UK a year but a first for the Wetlands.
The cuckoo’s are still calling with sightings fairly frequently. Our bitterns are booming round the clock and sightings are delighting many visitors. Oystercatcher have been spotted down on the foreshore and Marsh harrier have been spotted carrying food.
Image credit: Phil James
Avocet, Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-headed gull, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared dove, Common Whitethroat, Coot, Cormorant, cuckoo, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, grasshopper warbler, Great black-backed gull, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Greylag goose, Herring gull, hobby, house martin, House sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, lesser whitethroat, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Meadow pipit, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, purple heron, Raven, Red kite, Redshank, Reed bunting, Reed warbler, Robin, Ruff, sand martin, sedge warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, spotted flycatcher, Starling, Stock dove, Stonechat, Swallow, swift, temmincks stint, Tufted duck, Wheatear, whimbrel, willow warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, cockchafer, brown-banded carder bee, cardinal beetle, great diving beetle, red and black froghopper, thick-legged flower beetle, Buff-tailed bumblebee, common carder bumblebee, early bumblebee, Garden bumblebee, shrill carder bee, white-tailed bumblebee, comma butterfly, common blue butterfly, gatekeeper butterfly, Green-veined white butterfly, large white butterfly, orange tip butterfly, Peacock butterfly, Red admiral butterfly, Small Copper butterfly, small white butterfly, speckled wood butterfly, blue tailed damselfly, common blue damselfly, four spot chaser, hairy dragonfly, emperor moth, german wasp, bank vole, brown rat, Grey squirrel, Rabbit, Weasel, Common spotted orchid, Southern marsh orchid, Grass snake.