A warm hello during all this wet weather we’ve been having, but with the wet weather our beloved wetlands have been having a much-needed soak after our most recent mini heatwave. At this rate we'll be writing to you about a completely different type of weather next month.
photo credit: Ieuan Evans
It's that time of year again when the wildflower verges become inundated with a high volume of our resident buzzy stars, the shrill carder bees. These bees have hit a massive decline in the last century, making it one of the U.K’s rarest Bumblebees. This decline has been caused mainly by the loss of flower-rich meadows, and a greater intensity of farming practices, highlighting the importance of re-wilding in relation to supporting rare and endangered species such as this. Easily identified by their silvery- straw coloured appearance and high-pitched wingbeats, hence the name “Shrill”, these bees can be seen emerging from their burrows during the month of May. Commonly found near their nests in dense vegetation such as tussocky grassland. Shrill carders prefer long tubular flowers of plants such as Red Clover, Birds-foot Trefoil, and tufted vetch, all of which are found in abundance on our reserve. We’re very lucky indeed to have a haven for these tenacious and unique little bees in such numbers.
Photo credit: Claire Fidler
The reserve and our wildlife sightings are full of surprises and this week we have been lucky enough to some special stars, one of which is a very rare visitor indeed especially to this part of the country. Preferring to sit in plain view directly in front of our cafeteria, a great white egret has decided to grace us with its presence. These impressive birds are most sighted during the Spring and Winter months, which makes our sighting a rather special one for it to be so far out of the norm. Easily identifiable by their size and distinctive bright yellow beak, the great white egret can also be identified by its black feet and very similar movement, size and hunting behaviour to that of a grey heron.
Photo credit : Ieuan Evans
In between the rain we have had some strong sunshine, and with this a large number of butterflies have come out to flit about in the humidity. Species such as the Comma, Holly blue, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper and a very special dark Green Fritillary Butterfly, to name a few. Butterflies are drawn to the warmth and sunshine, where they search for wildflowers rich with nectar. These flourishes of colour appearing over our wildflower beds have also brought the attention of predators, and the Emperor, Southern Hawker, Ruddy Darter and Broad-bodied chaser Dragonflies have been frequently seen across the reserve, primarily nearer the water either at rest, or on the wing.
photo credit: Jeremy White
Hopefully with the rain passing relatively soon, we’ll be set up for some lovely weather to host our numerous summer events and trails, all of which can be found via the link: https://events.rspb.org.uk/newportwetlands
Our recent Sightings: 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, Curlew, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Greylag goose, Herring gull, House martin, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser black-backed gull, Lesser whitethroat, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine falcon, Pheasant, Pintail, Raven, Reed bunting, Reed warbler, Robin, Sand martin, Sedge warbler, Shelduck, Song thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Treecreeper, Tufted duck, Woodpigeon, Wren, 7-spot ladybird, great diving beetle, Brown-banded carder bee, Buff/white-tailed bumblebee, Shrill carder bee, Comma butterfly, Common blue butterfly, dark green fritillary butterfly, gatekeeper butterfly, Holly blue butterfly, Large skipper butterfly, Large white butterfly, Meadow brown butterfly, Painted lady butterfly, Peacock butterfly, Red admiral butterfly, Ringlet butterfly, Small copper butterfly, Small skipper butterfly, Small tortoiseshell butterfly, Small white butterfly, Speckled wood butterfly, Black-tailed skimmer dragonfly, Broad-bodied chaser dragonfly, Common Darter Dragonfly, ruddy darter dragonfly, southern hawker dragonfly, 6-spot burnet moth, Brimstone moth, drinker moth, poplar hawk moth, Scarlet tiger moth, swallow-tailed moth, yellow-tail moth, Median Wasp, Rabbit.