Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue tit, Canada goose, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dunnock, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Grasshopper warbler, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Herring gull, Hobby, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lesser whitethroat, Linnet, Little grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant…

A familiar sound of summer has returned to the reserve over the past week, the cuckoo. A fantastic looking bird with some fascinating abilities. Firstly they are known as ‘brood parasites’ which means they lay their eggs in other birds’ nests. The female will come along to the nest, usually of birds like dunnocks and reed warblers, and kick one of the eggs out. She then lays one of her eggs in its place. What makes this…

During the holidays there are lots of things to do here at Newport Wetlands. On weekdays we have pond dipping and bug hunting with our knowledgeable guides from 10:30 to 12:30, they will teach you how to look for the fantastic creatures that live in our pond and bug mansions. Then you can look at them up close to work out what you’ve found. These are drop in sessions so pop along and join in!

We also have an Easter…

If you’ve visited Newport Wetlands, especially if you’ve been to the cafe you will have noticed a big rectangular structure on the left hand side of the scrape outside the window. This is our sand martin box, a purpose built box with pre-made holes to encourage sand martins to nest here.

Sand martins however are a wary bunch, and like to nest with others for security, so we haven’t managed to convince them…

Spring is truly in the air at the moment, after returning from my holidays I have found our sightings board packed, the trees are getting greener and birds are singing away. What could be better!

While I was away our most unusual visitor must be a red-rumped swallow that was spotted on the 30/4 on Boat lane close to the reserve, they look very similar to the barn swallow you see regularly on the reserve, but are darker…

Barn owl, Blackbird, Blue tit, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Greenfinch, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Merlin, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pochard, Reed bunting, Robin, Sand martin…

Two celebrities have visited goldcliff recently, Lofty and Gibble, common cranes from the great crane project. The Great Crane Project aims to restore healthy populations of cranes throughout the UK. They were originally released in Somerset and while many have stayed close, two in particular have been spotted on the Gwent levels. The reason why we’re getting excited is because last year saw the first crane born in Wales…

Avocet, Blackbird, Black-tailed godwit,  Blue tit, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock,  Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great crested grebe, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank,  Grey heron, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Linnet, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Mute swan…

The last few weeks have been rather cold here at Newport Wetlands, but today something was a little different. Before heading out over the last week most people, including myself, were bundled up in multiple layers for a brisk walk. But today has been a lovely sunny day and everyone has been thoroughly enjoying it. There is something a little magical about a long period of cold followed by a warm day. If nothing else…

On Saturday 25^th and Sunday 26^th of March we have a fantastic writing in the wild weekend. Together with bestselling author and academic Lucy Christopher, and professional nature writer and author Derek Niemann.

The course will take place over two days, drawing inspiration from the scenery of Newport Wetlands in order to inspire participants' own creative writing about place.  Nature writing in both fiction and non…

Now that the weather is starting to get better, some of our animals are starting to think about settling down and making a nest, some in more unusual places than others. We spotted early yesterday morning that a great spotted woodpecker was having a good peck at the sand martin sand bank outside our cafe window. After a while it became clear that they were trying to widen the hole to see what’s going on inside, potentially…

I’d like to introduce you to a bird who, while is here most weeks, is often cleverly hidden in plain sight. This is the snipe and they are a well camouflaged bird, with patterned feathers that allow them to blend into the background brilliantly. Most often seen in the scrape outside the cafe, they’ll sit on an island next to the reeds and blend in magnificently. If you accidentally spook one they will fly out making a…

I hope everyone has had a great time last weekend counting all the bird in your back garden for the big garden birdwatch. If you haven’t had chance to submit your results yet, you can do so by following this link - https://goo.gl/SJ1EQJ . One of the birds that will be on many people’s big garden birdwatch lists this year is probably the robin. A firm favourite for many people and in the 1960’s in a vote publicised…

Outside our visitor centre for the majority of the week we have had a beautiful kingfisher sat in a tree. He’s a firm favourite and is clearly not camera shy as he poses for the visitors. We have had some fantastic views of him diving for fish from his perch, before eating them on a lower branch. You can see them prepare to dive when their bill points toward the water, spotting the fish. They then bob their heads to gauge…

A couple of days ago I got asked this question, and I had no idea, so I thought I’d give it a go. We have a lot of interesting wildlife here at Newport Wetlands and where to see it is a very common question from visitors. I started off in the visitor centre looking out of the cafe at a brilliant kingfisher a visitor had pointed out. The kingfisher has been around quite a bit recently and he is quite happy to sit there…

As I walked to work this morning down Perry lane saw a bright green bird flash past me, a beautiful bird called the green woodpecker. They are regularly seen on the reserve and have a few interesting traits you might not expect. For instance they don’t ‘drum’ on trees much, as they are famously known for, preferring to eat ants from the ground. And for a shy bird it rather draws attention to itself with its loud calls…

It has been a brilliant week to take a stroll around Newport Wetlands, and there have been lots of interesting sightings.  Starting from the car park and following the perimeter footpath has revealed two surprises - both right next to the power station pond.  A confirmed black redstart has been seen flitting from the ground back into the trees, and a suspected scaup has been spotted on the pond.  A better photo or film is…

Though often overlooked on sightings sheets and on walks round the reserve Wrens really are quite interesting. With a tiny round body (often quite rudely called dumpy!) and a brown and grey barred body, they have an almost mouse like quality about them. The Wrens scientific name troglodytes troglodytes roughly translates to cave- dweller in Greek, a name it got from chasing insects and roosting in holes in trees and logs…

The Christmas holidays are nearly here and we have plenty to do at Newport Wetlands.  Many of our winter visitors have arrived and birds such as bearded tits and kingfishers have been seen on a regular basis across the reserve. Even our starlings are even sticking around later than usual and murmurations are still being seen in good numbers on an evening.

We also have our winter nature trail all about hibernation and…

Another of our elusive species has been spotted again this week, the bittern! A member of the heron family who are well known for being very secretive, being pale brown with darker streaks gives it the perfect camouflage amongst the reeds. They keep themselves...

While out and about this week on the reserve we have been hearing a noise you may not expect among the reeds, a high pitched pig squealing. This isn’t actually a very lost pig but the water rail, the odd looking bird pictured below.  This squealing is actually part of their call and is called sharming. They are about 25cm long and are brown on top and a blue/grey underneath with a long reddish beak. They also have…

Today’s blog is by guest write Linda Joseph, a regular volunteer here at Newport Wetlands.

There has been some exciting news that got the ‘twittersphere’ going in recent weeks. A WRYNECK (Jynx torquilla) arrived at the Wetlands in September and stayed for several days.  This bird is no longer a regular breeding bird in the UK. However, It’s a regular but scarce passage migrant, usually in autumn, along…

After the success of the summer another year’s fledglings are ready to stretch their wings and take their first flights around the reserve, and thanks to an exciting partnership between the RSPB and Aldi your fledglings can spread their wings too, gliding around Newport Wetlands on a FREE staff-led school visit.

Like our fledglings your little ones may be ready to flutter and flap around the reserve on a…

The last few weeks at the reserve have been a time for change, as fledglings find their feet – or should that be wings… and many adults start their seasonal moult following the breeding season.  This is why it might seem a bit quiet, as birds are more vulnerable during the moulting period, which can last up to 5 weeks for small garden birds.  Male ducks are left completely flightless during their moult so they…

Summer is finally upon us, albeit a rather changeable and unpredictable one - and it’s a really busy time for wildlife on the reserve.  Most will have offspring to nurture, feed and protect.   The adults will be working overtime to keep up with the endless round of feeding and fending off predators.

Flowering plants are at their best at this time of the year, which is just as well as they are so important for the…