Recent sightings from 19 to 23 October 2020
As a result of the Wales Firebreak, the visitor centre including shop, café and toilets, plus the car park, are closed from 5.00pm Friday 23 October until 9.00am Monday 9 November 2020. We look forward to welcoming visitors back once the Firebreak ends. Follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.
Due to the firebreak lockdown, this roundup includes only sightings from Monday to Friday. The number of arriving wintering ducks is rising and there were lots of wigeons and teals on the foreshore. They were joined on Thursday by a male pintail. Shovelers were also around in decent numbers and could be seen both on the lagoons and along the coast. Gadwalls, mallards and a tufted duck on Monday joined the active little grebes on the lagoons. On the mudflats were plenty of shelducks and once again there was also a good number of curlews present. Flocks of lapwings were seen on the coast most days as well as some grey plovers on Monday. Friday brought sightings of small flocks of dunlins and black-tailed godwits. Water rails remained noisy from the reedbeds and some snipe were seen having a rest at the edge of the reeds in the lagoons.
Photo credit: Snipe by Stefan Zitzmann
It was an interesting week in regard to songbirds. Stonechats and reed buntings could not be missed when walking over the reserve and were often seen in the reedbeds or on the paths. Bullfinch and linnet were once again present as well and on several occasions chiffchaff and blackcap were spotted. A wheatear was reported on Tuesday and a lesser redpoll was recorded on Friday. There were lots of blackbirds, some flocks of song thrushes and a few fieldfares and redwings were flying over as were swallows which were seen on Tuesday and Thursday. Bearded reedlings were heard on several occasions and two of them were seen twice flying over the lagoons on Tuesday. Once again there were also regular sightings of the kingfisher. Goldcrest, green woodpecker, raven and jay were all spotted as well. A very late hobby on Monday was a further highlight before Wednesday brought a rather unusual close-up with a sparrowhawk when one flew into the visitor centre and needed a helping hand to find its way out again.
Photo credit: Sparrowhawk by Rhiannon Munro
There were hardly any butterflies seen this week with only two individuals being recorded, one speckled wood and one red admiral. The dragonflies were still much more active. A few emperors were seen over the lagoons and especially the sunny Thursday brought once more good numbers of migrant hawkers and common darters which were again a real joy to watch!
Photo credit: Migrant hawker by Stefan Zitzmann
We had our moth trap out in the night from Thursday to Friday and were treated to 58 individuals from 13 different species. The most numerous amongst them were November moths and there were two figure of eights and several large wainscots. Spruce and red-green carpet were also in the trap as were beaded chestnut and lunar underwing. A large yellow underwing was standing out due to its size whilst straw dot and red-line quaker were of the smaller kind. The black rustic might not be the most colourful of moths – as you would expect from its name – but it certainly is one of the most elegant ones.
Photo credit: Black rustic by Stefan Zitzmann
Without a doubt the highlight was the sighting of a mammal. This week brought not only sightings of rabbits, brown hare, weasel and stoat but also the long-awaited return of a good old friend on Thursday. First a visitor reported that he had seen an otter rolling around on the path near the power station and later in the afternoon it was fishing in the lagoons. What a treat! So, plenty to look forward to when we will come back on 9th November.
Bearded reedling, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti’s warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared dove, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Grey heron, Grey plover, Herring gull, Hobby, Jay, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Lesser redpoll, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow pipit, Moorhen, Mute swan, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pintail, Raven, Redwing, Reed bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Teal, Tufted duck, Water rail, Wheatear, 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!