Recent sightings from 13 to 19 January 2020

It was another exciting week at RSPB Newport Wetlands with lots of great sightings. The coastline was once again the busiest part of the reserve. There was still a big number of wintering ducks and wading birds present. Lots of shelduck and wigeon were joined by shovelers and teals and the amount of waders were up compared to the previous weeks. There have been at least up to 6.000 dunlin spotted swirling around on the coast, filling the sky with a rather spectacular aerial display. More than 500 lapwings were no less impressive and also the number of curlews was quite respectable with well over 200 gathering on the saltmarshes and mudflats. Black-tailed godwit, knot and redshank were also seen along the coast and grey plovers as well as snipe were reported from Goldcliff on Wednesday. Bullfinches remained very visible all around the visitor centre, where green woodpecker and jay were once again regulars too. Goldcrests didn’t go unnoticed either and in the reedbeds the stonechats liked perching high up, showing themselves in all their glory. Flocks of linnets were “jumping through the air” over the salt marshes. The number of winter thrushes were on the up with flocks of up to 40 fieldfares gathering in the fields and redwing were often seen along Perry Lane close to the visitor centre. A chiffchaff on Saturday was another noteworthy sighting for this time of the year. If you took the time to look at some birds for a bit longer, then you got rewarded with the one or the other great behavioural insight as well. On the lagoons a fight between a mute swan and a cormorant broke out which was – perhaps surprisingly – won by the cormorant which made the swan recede. High wind speeds made the gadwalls and tufted duck shelter in the scrape in front of the café rather than staying in the more exposed lagoons. A peregrine was seen going after the waders on the coast, making the most of his speed advantage. Water rails added their squealing to the soundscape of the reserve as did the bittern which decided to start booming rather early this year and was also seen flying over the reedbeds. Marsh harriers and sparrowhawk were recorded this week as well. There were regular otter sightings from the middle of the week, and it was rather successfully hunting in the lagoons. On Sunday a bearded reedling made a rare appearance. Goldcliff lagoons still held the glossy ibis and the very popular black-necked grebe and the goldeneye was seen during the weekend as well. Seeing all the waders taking to the air on the coast is well and truly one of the “wow” moments that nature delivers on a regular basis and is right up there with any starling murmuration!

On Sunday, 26th January, our Birdwatching for Beginners Guided Walk will give an introduction in how to get most out of the lovely hobby of birdwatching, just in time for the Big Garden Birdwatch which takes place the same weekend. The Creative Writing event on 1st February will be led by the award-winning author Lucy Christopher who will show how to use the natural setting as an inspiration for your writing. No previous writing experience is necessary. On 2nd February you can join us on the World Wetlands Day Walk to explore the reedbeds and the views of the Severn Estuary. During the Wetland and Estuary Waders Guided Walk on 15th February you should be able to see several of our wintering waders and wildfowl, including dunlin, black-tailed godwit and wigeon. This February half term it is all about building nest boxes during the Big Bird Box Build on Monday 17th, Wednesday 19th and Friday 21st February. Details of all our events can be found on our website: https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/newport-wetlands/

Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black-necked grebe, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Glossy ibis, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great black-backed gull, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Grey plover, Greylag goose, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Linnet, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Meadow pipit, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pochard, Raven, Redshank, Redwing, Reed bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, 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: Black-necked grebe by Jeremy White