Visit to Goldcliff and Newport Wetlands 14th August 2023
Twelve of us set out under grey and threatening skies on our 25 mile journey into Wales.
Goldcliff was the first area visited, where we were pleased to see swallows overhead on our arrival.
The first hide and lagoon were very disappointing, with a few Canada Geese and a distant curlew spotted.
Hide 2 was more promising with sand martins in the air, two little egrets, a ringed plover and a flock of lapwings, which were disturbed by a marsh harrier.
Some of the party headed for the next lagoon, which could be viewed from a screen. Over 20 mute swans were present along with shoveler, little grebes and coots.
We reached the shoreline at low tide, so there was little to see in the brisk breeze apart from a few black-headed gulls.
Sadly we were not able to increase our sightings when we reached hide 3.
On our walk back to hide 2 we finally saw patches of blue sky and sunshine. This seemed to have benefits for the bird population, which had increased dramatically, with the return of a large flock of lapwing, a grey heron, yellow wagtails, pied wagtails, starlings and a ruff.
We returned to our cars and headed for the RSPB. Most of our sightings were next to the visitor centre with a greenfinch, great tits and blue tits on the feeders and gadwall and moorhens on the lake.
The strong winds in the reserve kept most of the birds hidden in the reeds but we did see two very young little grebes by the wobbly bridge and then finally in the distance a large flock of over 250 black-tailed godwits.
This brought our species list up to be creditable 39 considering the grey skies and windy conditions.
Alan
| Swallow | Magpie | Canada Goose | Crow | ||||
| Little Egret | Lapwing | Curlew | Wood Pigeon | ||||
| Sand Martin | Mallard | Ringed Plover | Marsh Harriet | ||||
| Meadow Pipit | Mute Swan | Coot | Teal | ||||
| Shoveler | Little Grebe | Starling | Greylag Goose | ||||
| Black-headed Gull | Ruff | Grey Heron | Pied Wagtail | ||||
| Yellow Wagtail | Chaffinch | Greenfinch | Blue Tit | ||||
| Great Tit | Moorhen | Gadwall | Black-tailed Godwit | ||||
| House Sparrow | Robin | Dunnock | Pheasant | ||||
| Shelduck | Blackbird | Great white egret |
Total 39