Recent sightings from 17 to 23 September 2018

It has been a rather wet and windy week at the wetlands with storms Ali and Bronagh “visiting” Wales. The blustery conditions also made birdwatching quite tricky, but there were some really nice sightings. A hobby was still seen hanging around at Goldcliff and there were still a few swallows around as well before heading off south. The mudflats held a good number of Curlew…

Recent sightings from 10 to 16 September 2018

The wetlands still attract quite a number of waders with Curlew, Oystercatcher and Black-tailed godwit amongst the regulars. There has been a big flock of the latter of around 70 or 80 on Sunday. Another wader which is more regularly seen again now is the Snipe. Sometimes it can even be seen on the scrape out of our café window from where you can still see Teal, Grey heron…

Recent sightings from 27 August to 02 September 2018

The warblers put on another good show: Reed warbler, Sedge Warbler and Cetti’s warbler could all be seen right in front of the visitor centre. The mudflats regularly held vast numbers of Shelduck, Curlew and Black-tailed godwits could be spotted there once again as well. Sightings of Snipe, Oystercatcher and Avocet rounded off another interesting week in regard to…

Recent sightings from 20 to 26 August 2018

The scrape right in front of our café offered some really nice sightings this week. Quite often you could see a Grey heron and a Little egret fishing there at the same time (while eating your own lunch at the other side of the large glass window). Moreover, there have also been some Teal around for some time now which are easy to spot and there are still some little Moorhen…

Recent sightings from 13 to 19 August 2018

It has gone a bit quiet in the reed beds with all the reed specialists having finished their breeding business. The warblers, reed buntings and bearded reedlings are still around, but can be even trickier to find than usual. However, it has become really lively on the mudflats recently. If you come at the right time of the day (that is when the tide isn’t high), you might well…

Bearded Reedling Guided Walk – Wednesday 20 June 2018

Bearded reedlings are a bit like people – they like warm, sunny weather that’s still.  Starting out at 07:30 on a day that was cold, damp, breezy and threatening rain from the west wasn’t ideal but it did offer the best chance of a sighting. We might have caught a glimpse of one beardy in flight just above the reeds, but it was hard to be certain.…

Recent sightings from 30 May to 04 June 2018

There has been a real baby boom as of late and especially the young ones of our waterfowl are very popular with our visitors and staff alike. Some of our moorhens have up to 6 chicks and also the little grebe on the scrape can be spotted from our café feeding its 2 remaining chicks. There are several Canada goose families around with up to 4 goslings and pochard and mute swans…

Recent sightings from 26 to 29 May 2018

The bittern delighted staff and visitors alike with many sightings in the last few days. It was regularly seen flying from one end of the reserve to the other. Always a fantastic experience to get a close view of this great and usually quite elusive bird! Another very elusive species and a favourite of many of our visitors, the bearded readling, has also been spotted regularly…

Yes – it’s official! Spring is most definitely on its way according to the recent sightings this week at Newport Wetlands.  In 2015 & 2016 the cuckoo arrived on 19 April and the following year it was a day earlier, first sighted on 18 April.  So we have all been waiting to see when it would arrive this year.  Despite everything else being late the cuckoo was sighted today, arriving a little earlier than anticipated…

It was not at all clear if the ringing demonstration would proceed yesterday as rain and windy conditions early on cast a doubt on proceedings.  However, the unsettled weather moved through and the Goldcliff ringing group set their nets and the demonstration proceeded. 

Overall, some 89 birds were trapped coming to the feeders including: 31 Blue Tit, 22 Great Tit and 2 Long-tailed Tit (always a favourite).  There were…

Recent sightings from 17 to 23 March 2018

Today's guest blogger is Jeremy, who has been looking at birds around the visitor centre today and replenishing the feeders, trying to keep up with some hungry birds now that they are marking out their territories and starting to build their nests.  His observations for the day are as follows:

'Volunteer days at the Wetlands are usually really varied. Today (25/3) was…

Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great crested grebe, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie…

Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit,  Blue tit, Bullfinch, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great crested grebe, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed…

Avocet,  Bearded reedling, Blackbird, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenshank,  Grey heron, Hen harrier, Herring gull, House sparrow, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Little Egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard…

Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit,  Blue tit, Bullfinch, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Grey heron, Greylag goose, Herring gull, House sparrow, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute swan…

If you are a regular visitor to Newport Wetlands, you may notice that there have been some recent changes to the car park. On arrival you will now go through a barrier to enter the car park.  Before leaving, you will need to come to the visitor centre to get a token to open the barrier at the exit. The car park opening times are between 9am and 5pm so that you are able to get your token from the visitor centre.

From …

Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black redstart, Blue tit, Carrion crow, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Golden plover,  Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey wagtail, Greylag goose, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Merlin, Mistle thrush, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher…

Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Fieldfare, Firecrest, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank,  Grey heron, Grey plover, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Little egret, Long-tailed tit…

Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank,  Grey heron, Herring gull, House sparrow, Kingfisher, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Mute…

Updates

We have been spoilt for choice this week with sightings! I have been out for walks and seen water rail, kingfishers and bearded tits and we have had some brilliant pictures sent in by people on twitter of otters and bittern. On top of all that going on our starling murmurations have really outdone themselves recently and will hopefully continue, if you haven't had a chance to pop down yet i would highly recommend…

Murmuration update

An amazing murmuration last night against a lovely sunset, a large group all together and stayed up for a long time (no birds of prey interrupting!). The starlings are still settling in the same reedbed, we can point you in the right direction from the visitor centre if you don't know where this is. Very chilly but well worth it!

Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black…

Starling update

The starlings have been doing very well this week with some fantastic displays, including some cameos from birds of prey. I'd recommend coming early if you're watching the murmurations, some days they have been starting a bit earlier than expected. Getting into position about 40 minutes before sunset should give you enough time. If you'd like to know where the starlings have been roosting recently, please…

Bearded reedling, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit,  Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Greater black-backed gull,  Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Greenshank,  Grey heron, Grey plover, Grey wagtail, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing…

Bearded reedling, Bittern, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit,  Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Common crane,  Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Egyptian goose, Fieldfare, Gadwall,  Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Greater black-backed gull,  Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Grey plover, Herring gull, Jackdaw,  Kestrel…

Bearded reedling, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Cetti's warbler, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker,  Great tit, Green woodpecker, Grey heron, Greylag goose, Jackdaw,  Kestrel, Kingfisher, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pochard, Raven, Redwing…