Recent sightings from 01 to 14 October 2018
October is there and the days are getting shorter. The month, however, started nicely and apart from the “usual suspects” such as Kingfisher, Curlew, Snipe and Shelduck, there was also one Bar-tailed godwit around for a few days. Amongst the plenty little birds that were flying around, there were lots of Stonechat as well as a Redstart and a Wheatear. A Hobby was still around on the 8th and a Bittern could be spotted on the 1st and the 11th which proved to be a rather good day for birdwatching as then Little stint, Curlew sandpiper, Spotted redshank and Pintail could all be seen at Goldcliff lagoons. A Peregrine falcon and a Marsh harrier also showed themselves and the numbers of wintering wildfowl such as Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal and Gadwall should increase in the next few weeks, but all could already be seen.
Bar-tailed godwit, Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Curlew sandpiper, Dunlin, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Herring gull, Hobby, House sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Little egret, Little grebe, Little stint, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pintail, Raven, Redstart, Reed bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Redshank, Stonechat, Teal, Water rail, Wheatear, Wigeon, Wood pigeon 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: Pintail by Ray Kennedy (rspb-images.com)