Recent sightings from 15 to 21 July 2019
Family groups of long-tailed tits were seen regularly during this week and sometimes you could even find a goldcrest in amongst them. Lots of the other song birds preferred to keep out of sight, finishing their breeding business or being in the process of moulting. You could still get glimpses of reed and sedge warbler and with a good portion of luck even get a nice view of a Cetti’s warbler. On the mudflats, there were plenty of shelduck and some of them still had ducklings with them. Also, curlews were seen on a daily basis and during the weekend some whimbrel and dunlin could be spotted amongst them. A black-tailed godwit on Tuesday was another great sighting. Marsh harriers kept patrolling over the reedbeds and a peregrine could be spotted near the power station whilst green woodpeckers were regularly around the visitor centre. On Saturday, a kingfisher brightened up the day. Goldcliff lagoons held again a good number of wading birds including lapwing, redshank, ringed and little ringed plover. A knot was seen on Wednesday and Saturday. The glossy ibis was also once again present on Saturday. Gatekeepers were the most numerous butterfly this week, but there was also a good number of freshly emerged brightly coloured peacocks to marvel at. Holly blue butterfly, mother of pearl moth as well as ruddy darter and black-tailed skimmer dragonflies were other highlights from the insect world. Plenty of bees created a buzz with red-tailed bumblebee, common and brown-banded carder bee and the rare shrill carder bee in amongst them. There was also a bit of history made this week when one of our regular visitors found a Levels yellow horned horsefly which was only the second record for south Wales ever and the first since 1986. This proves that there is still plenty more out there waiting to be discovered.
The summer holidays have started so come to the wetlands and take part in one of our activities. We start our programme of summer holiday activities with a week in which the Fabulous Fish take centre stage. In the next few weeks other themes are Flutterby Butterfly Ball, Fairies & Folklore, Dino Dig, Mr Birds Restaurant and Wild Woods. Events run from Mondays to Thursdays and on Fridays there will be special events for toddlers. The Big Wild Sleepout will take place on 17th August. Details of all our events can be found on our website: https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/newport-wetlands/
Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chiffchaff, Collared dove, Common whitethroat, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Glossy ibis, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great black-backed gull, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Greylag goose, Herring gull, House martin, House sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Lesser whitethroat, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Little ringed plover, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Mistle thrush, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Pochard, Raven, Redshank, Reed bunting, Reed warbler, Ringed plover, Robin, Sedge warbler, Shelduck, Shoveler, Song thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tufted duck, Whimbrel, 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: Shrill carder bee by Hannah Beynon