Hi,
Highlight of the week had to be the high tides and the thousands of birds which followed the sea water towards the Breakwater, Saltings and Domen Las Hides. The big high tides also coincide with the monthly WeBS Counts on the reserve, in which every individual wetland bird is recorded, providing important data which can be used to measure population trends and also assist with management on the reserve. A good number of birds were recorded during the survey undertaken on the 12th including, 871x Canada Geese, 30x Shelduck, 8x Pintail, 154x Teal, 124x Mallard, 55x Wigeon, 24x Little Egret, 5x Little Grebe, 102x Oystercatcher, 153x Curlew, 1x Green Sandpiper (Marion Mawr Hide), 20x Black-tailed Godwit (Breakwater Hide), 1x Bar-tailed Godwit, 3x Grey Plover (Domen Las Hide) and 73x Dunlin.
With lots of avian prey around it was perhaps not too surprising that there was also a lot of raptor activity on the saltmarsh this week including, 1x Red Kite (Ynys Feurig Hide, daily), 1x Marsh Harrier (juv, daily), 1x Sparrowhawk (Ynys Feurig Hide, 10th), 1x Kestrel (Ynys Feurig Hide, daily), 2x Peregrine (daily) and 1x Merlin (Domen Las Hide, 11th).
Peregrine Falcon were very active on the saltmarsh during the week, this bird was seen from the Saltings Hide.
Odonata and butterfly activity remained high as the excellent weather continued. The Wetland Trail Boardwalk was a particular hotspot where species such as Small Red Damselfly, Common Darter, Black Darter, Southern Hawker, Small Copper, Red Admiral and Peacock butterfly could be seen at close quarters.
This Small Copper was taking advantage of the early morning sunshine near the Ynys Feurig Hide.
Purple Loosestrife is still blooming out in the wetlands providing a valuable source of nectar for insects at this time of year.
Other interesting sightings this week included, 310x Barnacle Geese (Saltmarsh, regular), 29x Pintail (Breakwater Hide, 11th), 1x Water Rail (Ynys Eidiol Screen, 6th), Kingfisher (Visitor Centre Pools, Domen Las Hide, daily), Little Grebe (Ynys Eidiol Screen, 6th), 2x Knot (Saltings Hide, 10th), 6x Snipe (Saltings Hide, 10th), 1x Spotted Flycatcher (Woodland Trail), 1x Sedge Warbler (Ynys Eidiol Screen, 6th) and Hares (some rather showy individuals regular along the Wetland Trail).
The Kingfisher continued to show extremely well from the Domen Las Hide during the week.
Cheers,
Adam