Hi,
The spectacle of thousands of wetland birds feeding and roosting on the Breakwater field over high tide has to be one of the main highlights over the past week. With the high tides being over five metres most of the saltmarsh was inundated with seawater pushing the estuary birds over the railway line and onto the wet grassland. Peak counts from the Breakwater field over the past week included, 20x Shoveler (8th), 10+ Pintail (8th), 1x Golden Plover (5th), 900+ Lapwing (8th), 37x Dunlin (8th), 125x Redshank (7th), 1x Spotted Redshank (7th & 8th), 4x Greenshank (8th), 36x Black-tailed Godwit (7th), 19x Bar-tailed Godwit (7th) and 500+ Curlew (7th).
Over 100 Oystercatcher could be seen roosting on the saltmarsh (Many Thanks to Keith Roberts for the photo).
Another highlight was a single Water Pipit observed feeding alongside Meadow Pipits right in front of the Saltings Hide (4th & 7th). Fingers crossed that this scarce bird will winter on the reserve.
The wintering flock of Greenland White-fronted Geese increased to 20 birds (5th) with the Breakwater Hide being the best place to catch a glimpse of the birds, which tend to hang out on either the saltmarsh or wet grassland to the west. The diversity of feral waterfowl on the reserve increased with 1x Australian Shelduck, 1x Cackling Goose and 1x Pink-footed Goose joining the flocks of Canada and Greylag Geese grazing on the reserve.
Over 360 Barnacle Geese remained on the saltmarsh, including some returning colour ringed birds. Last winter a small number of Barnacle Geese were ringed here (blue ring with a number and letter on the left leg, metal ring on the right leg) in order to find out where the birds moved to during the breeding season. Through people reporting their sightings, it was discovered that the geese were heading up to the Lakes District in North West England. On the 8th November, I managed to get great views of two of the colour ringed Barnacle Geese, 3C and 3T, a pair who were grazing with their two offspring opposite the Domen Las Hide.
Keep a lookout for colour ringed Barnacle Geese like 3C and 3T who were seen feeding with their two offspring from the Domen Las Hide.
The Starling roost continued to provide some excellent viewing from the Ynys Eidiol screen. On the 2nd November around 5000 birds put on a great show which was lengthened due to the presence of a huge female Peregrine and 2 Sparrowhawk on the lookout for a Starling supper. Check out the RSPB Mid Wales Facebook Page for a short video of the murmuration taken during the week.
On the non-avian front, a small number of Red Admiral butterfly and a single Common Darter dragonfly took advantage of the milder weather at the beginning of the week and of course how can I forget the superb autumn colours that are currently on show in the woodlands.
Wrens could occasionally be heard belting out short bursts of song (Many Thanks to Keith Roberts for the photo).
Other interesting sightings this week included, 3x Gadwall (pair Marian Mawr Hide, 8th and 1x female Ynys Edwin Pool, daily), 3x Goldeneye (1ml 2fm, Domen Las Hide, 8th), 8x Red-breasted Merganser (Breakwater Hide, regular), 9x Little Grebe (Domen Las Hide, 4th), 1x Great Crested Grebe (Breakwater Hide, 8th), 47x Little Egret (roosting on the northern side of the estuary), 1x Hen Harrier (male, Wetland Trail Boardwalk, 3rd), 1x Peregrine Falcon (Saltmarsh, regular), 1x Green Sandpiper (Domen Las Hide, 8th), 2x Kingfisher (Domen Las Hide, 4th), Redwing (small numbers around Visitor Centre, daily), Chiffchaff (heard calling around the Ynys Eidiol screen, regular) and c.40 Lesser Redpoll (Wetland Trail Boardwalk, regular).
Cheers,
Adam