Fighting Shelduck, a start and getting into a Knot!

 Shelduck having a right old ding-dong.

Goldcliff as usual graced itself with my presence at dawn, where a lovely sunrise added to a really good mix of birds. I made my way quickly to the 'Lapwing screen' as I was hoping the Glossy Ibis was still around. Arriving there I enjoyed looking through the 194 Black Tailed Godwits that were on the lagoon but there was nothing amongst them - except a smaller wader tucked away in the middle of them. It stayed there with its head huddled into its back, happily kipping away and only giving a tantalising glimpse to what it could be. After a while it popped its head up and I could now see it was a Knot. Soon all their heads looked skywards and they suddenly took flight with a loud whooshing noise coming from their wings. They made their way quickly over the seawall and out of sight and then the reason for this sudden commotion became apparent - the resident male Peregrine had turned up to promptly sit on the island.

 The Ibis in flight.

With no sign of the Ibis I moved along to the next platform where I was joined by a birding friend of mine Paul. Canada Geese (including one ringed bird), Coot, Moorhens, Shoveler, Wigeon and Common Redshanks all showed well and a pair of Shelduck were having a right old ding-dong and splashing about in the water. We were watching several Common Snipe huddled together in almost perfect camouflage along the bank, when suddenly a large dark bird caught our attention - yes, the Ibis. It promptly flew a short way to the bank and preened for around half an hour giving us excellent views through the telescopes. A Siskin called as it passed overhead and a Stonechat and Meadow Pipit made a brief appearance. Robins, Wrens, Jackdaws, Greylag Geese, Teal, Goldfinches and Wigeon were all added to the list and a distant Cettis Warbler could occasionally be heard.
The Glossy Ibis took of at 0845 and climbed quite high before moving away out of sight - was it going to drop back down onto the nearby wetlands reserve or was it finally heading off to somewhere different?  I suppose time will tell!
Mr and Mrs Tufted Duck - Goldcliff's finest couple

We moved around to the seawall and there was no sign of the Black Redstart. The tide was high and right up to the seawall, and the only exposed bit of 'saltings' had a long line of Curlew present with the recently spooked Black Tailed Godwits in a long line beyond them. Out on the water making their way back and forth towards the Pill was an excellent count of 73 Avocet. As we walked down to the third hide a Stoat showed very briefly on the seawall before dropping down the other side.
From hide 3, with a flask of tea and some nibbles, we watched eleven Ringed Plovers flying in, and most of the Curlew left the saltings to land on the lagoon. Amongst them was at least four colour ringed birds from the recent Severn Estuary ringing project. Several Tufted Ducks made an appearance including some fine looking males and a Fox was patrolling the seawall giving those of use in the hide good views.  Three distant Buzzards were circling and several Skylarks were singing away.
After fuelling up birders style we returned to the seawall and this time I located the Black Redstart which was on the usual line of fence posts. Every time it flew off to quickly return to the post the Sun would catch the beautiful red of it's tail. In fact the word 'start' means tail flicking. It showed for some time and by now several other regular visitors had arrived and enjoyed some fine views. A lone Great Black-backed Gull was out on the water and Canada Geese were coming and going in very noisy groups. Another stop off at one of the viewing screens gave us the pair of Spotted Redshanks which had been frequenting the Gwent Levels for a week or so. They were joined by a pair of Common Redshanks which offered a great opportunity to see the differences in the two species.  Finally, a Reed Bunting gave close views and the return of the five White-fronted Geese also frequenting the Levels ended an enjoyable and bird filled exciting morning.
Reed Bunting.   All photos copyright of Neville Davies.















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