Recent sightings from 09 to 15 March 2020

In difficult times in which the Coronavirus has taken over much of our lives, it is quite therapeutic to go out into the nature and to restore a bit of normality. This week did indeed hold plenty of highlights in terms of wildlife here at RSPB Newport Wetlands. Whilst most of the wintering waders have moved on and only curlew and oystercatcher could be seen on a regular basis…

Recent sightings from 02 to 08 March 2020

We are right in the middle of a transition period with winter fading out and spring just about to begin. There were still some of the winter visitors seen such as wigeons and shelducks on the foreshore and fieldfares and redwings on the fields, but there was also an increase in bird songs all over the reserve. The characteristic sound of the bittern could not be missed, and it…

Recent sightings from 24 February to 01 March 2020

The week started like the last one ended, with plenty more rain and wind. The weather stayed rather on the wild side for the coming days as well, however there was plenty to be seen. Tuesday morning began with the melodious tune of the song thrush and had plenty more in store. A really high tide brought nearly 100 wigeons close to the lighthouse in the morning and a bearded…

Recent sightings from 17 to 23 February 2020

The week brought more wet and very windy weather which weren’t the perfect conditions for birdwatching, especially along the coast. It was a challenge to keep the binoculars relatively still which might well be one reason why fewer wading birds were recorded this week than usual. There were, however, still a decent number of curlews and dunlin, oystercatcher, redshank and up…

Recent sightings from 10 to 16 February 2020

The week started with the last impacts of storm Ciara and ended with storm Dennis which came in force towards the weekend and caused lots of havoc throughout the south of Wales. Water levels are really high at the reserve as well but no further weather-related issues here at RSPB Newport Wetlands. There was still a good number of thrushes around with fieldfares in flocks of…

Recent sightings from 03 to 09 February 2020

There was a lot of activity at RSPB Newport Wetlands this week, although not all of it was directly wildlife related. Natural Resources Wales was carrying out some reed cutting which did cause some short-term disruption but will have positive effects in the long run as the reedbeds need to be managed to maintain a diverse habitat which will give the best conditions to many…

Recent sightings from 27 January to 02 February 2020

The week started off very promising on Monday morning. A really high tide brought around 160 wigeon and 70 teal close to the coast path, a flock of 18 grey plovers were flying along the water’s edge, a merlin was hunting over the foreshore and flocks of more than 300 lapwings and 1.000 dunlins alongside good numbers of curlew and shelduck completed a busy foreshore…

Recent sightings from 20 to 26 January 2020

This week brought some frost to start with and some heavy rain on Sunday to end with. Despite the not always favourable weather conditions there was once again plenty of wildlife around and there were some great unforgettable moments! Coming from the car park you were greeted by the tune of the song thrush most mornings and as soon as you went into Perry Lane the bullfinches…

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…

Recent sightings from 06 to 12 January 2020

Star attraction this week remained the black-necked grebe at Goldcliff lagoons which was first recorded Sunday a week ago and has since been seen on a daily basis. Goldeneye, the glossy ibis and the peregrine were other regulars at Goldcliff, where on Wednesday a pintail made a rare appearance as well. At the RSPB Newport Wetlands reserve once again the waders took centre stage…

Recent sightings from 30 December 2019 to 05 January 2020

Starlings remained a main draw thanks to them staying around much longer than last year when they left the reserve at the middle of December. Whilst the numbers are down to around 5.000 to 10.000 now, they did indeed show some nice murmurations which mainly took place over the reedbeds towards the lighthouse. There was also a staggering amount of birds once again…

Recent sightings from 23 to 29 December 2019

Christmas week started promising with the sighting of a bittern and two otters in the lagoons on Monday. The bittern was once again spotted on Christmas Eve and then all through the weekend. My favourite Christmas present came on a misty Friday morning when not only a large flock of long-tailed tits was jumping around in the reeds but also the otter was out fishing actively…

Recent sightings from 16 to 22 December 2019

Once again, the mudflats were the busiest part of the reserve with numbers of wading birds and wildfowl on the up. Especially at high tide, a lot of birds could be seen from the coast path. At least 70 wigeon and around 50 teal and shoveler joined more than 100 shelduck on the water’s edge. Large flock of several thousand dunlins could be spotted performing their aerial display…

Recent sightings from 2 to 15 December 2019

The starlings were still accompanying us throughout the first half of December. Numbers peaked at the beginning of the month with well over 40.000. Since then the numbers have dropped slightly and on some days we could see that the flock split into some larger groups which went down in different parts of the reedbeds. Redwing and fieldfare remained regulars especially in the…

Recent sightings from 25 November to 1 December 2019

Once again there were big numbers of redwing and fieldfare all over the reserve, feasting on the remaining berries. Blackbirds, song and mistle thrushes completed the thrush party. They did, however, not quite outnumber the starlings of which around 30.000 were roosting in the reedbed. Marsh harriers were still very interested in all the starling activities and on Wednesday…

Recent sightings from 18 to 24 November 2019

The otters were once again very much the star attraction at Newport Wetlands this week. Up to two otters could be seen fishing in the lagoons on a daily basis and on a rainy Friday two were feasting on apparently utterly delicious fish in front of the hide for no less than 45 minutes. Unsurprisingly the starlings were a big attraction as well and some nice murmuration of around…

Recent sightings from 11 to 17 November 2019

This week we finally had some bigger numbers of fieldfare and redwing although the flocks are still not quite as big as you would expect at this time of the year. Especially redwings could be seen feeding on the berries along the paths and flying over in flocks of around twenty or thirty. Perry Lane was full of thrushes in the mornings with some song thrushes and mistle thrushes…

Recent sightings from 04 to 10 November 2019

We had some heavy rain this week but also some glorious autumn sunshine. Common darters, migrant hawkers and red admirals made the most of the weather and could be seen on sunny days. Finally, the winter thrushes made it back to the wetlands in some numbers although there haven’t been big flocks of fieldfare and redwing yet. Noticeably the number of blackbirds has increased…

Recent sightings from 28 October to 03 November 2019

The week started with some nice autumn weather before things took a turn to much wetter and windier conditions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Large flocks of long-tailed tits could be seen all over the reserve and managed to put a smile on everyone’s face. Goldcrests and green woodpeckers remained regular sights as well and the calls of bullfinches could be heard…

Recent sightings from 21 to 27 October 2019

The week got off to an exciting start on Monday. Huge flocks of woodpigeon were dominating the sky, red admiral and comma were on the wing, goldcrests were jumping about in the trees and black-tailed godwits, wigeon and shoveler were seen along the coast. On Tuesday morning three brent geese were flying over the visitor centre and around 20 of them were later spotted on the…

Recent sightings from 14 to 20 October 2019

The most visible bird species this week was without any doubt the stonechat. Stonechats could be seen jumping around in the reedbeds, on the paths and along the foreshore in good numbers and were a joy to watch. In general, the salt marshes were busy with little birds and flocks of linnets and reed buntings regularly joined the stonechats and a wheatear on Monday and a whinchat…

Recent sightings from 07 to 13 October 2019

It was a wet week at Newport Wetlands which brought some rather unpleasant weather conditions which weren’t perfect for birdwatching. However, there were still plenty of nice sightings. Flocks of long-tailed tits were jumping around all over the reserve and brought a ray of sunshine to many a grey day. In amongst them you could regularly find goldcrests and chiffchaffs. Stonechats…

Recent sightings from 30 September to 06 October 2019

There was definitely no shortage of great sightings this week. The colourful kingfisher could be spotted on most days and was once again seen hovering over the lagoons (see photo below) while fishing. A truly spectacular sight! Some of the migrating passerines were still about as well. There were regular sightings of wheatear along the seawall and a yellowhammer was…

Recent sightings from 23 to 29 September 2019

The week was definitely on the wild side in regard to the weather and brought a fair share of wet and windy conditions. Unsurprisingly, insects such as dragonflies and butterflies were not as active as in the previous weeks although there were still some migrant hawker, comma, red admiral, painted lady and a vapourer moth spotted this week. The feeders in front of the café…

Recent sightings from 16 to 22 September 2019

It was a week with lots of glorious sunshine. Butterflies and dragonflies made the most of these conditions. Lots of hawkers and darters filled the air and especially common darters could often be seen in tandem flight. The sun shining on the dragonflies certainly brought the best out of them. Speaking of bright colourful delights, the kingfisher once again made regular appearances…