The weekend tides didn't disappoint, many species of wader came in off the Severn to roost and feed over the high tide period, the Dumbles flooded overnight on Saturday/Sunday finally re-filling the saltmarsh pools, saltpans and creeks on the Dumbles, many of our wildfowl and waders have been feeding on the floods since.
Highlights as follows
Tuesday 3 October
Rushy Hide- Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, 8 Redshank, 5 Snipe, 15 Lapwing, 2 Black-tailed Godwit+ Teal and Mallard.
Tack Piece- 50 Teal and 8 Shoveler + 13 Curlew.
Estuary Tower- female Merlin hunting Dumbles saltmarsh and Middle Point area also a Kestrel, 100s Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Linnet and Goldfinch put up. Pair Stonechat on fences. 30 Ruff, 69 Lapwing and 8 Curlew on the floods, Barnacle, Canada and Greylag Geese grazing.
Middle Point - three juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit still with the Curlew flock, scattered distant Ringed Plover and Dunlin flocks, Great Egret among the Little Egrets.
South Lake- 2 Spotted Redshank, 178 Black-tailed Godwit, 49 Lapwing + 100s Teal with a few Shoveler.
Top New Piece- at least nine Ruff (flying back and forth from the Dumbles), 3 Green Sandpiper, 500 Teal.
Bottom New Piece - the Barnacle Goose flock contains the usual Snow x Bar-headed, 2 Barnacle x Canada and Barnacle x Greylag hybrids plus the Ross's Goose.
South Finger - along the pathway, half a dozen Goldcrests, a few Chiffchaffs and Treecreeper among the tit flocks.
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2 October 2023
Rushy Hide - five Green and single Wood Sandpiper, 6 Spotted redshank, 12 Snipe.
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1 October 2023
Rushy Hide- Wood Sandpiper on the top pond with a Green Sandpiper. A Goshawk buzzed Tack Piece side of Rushy.
Top New Piece- 4 juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, 5 juvenile Little Stint, 6 Sanderling, 6 Ruff, 285 Dunlin, 97 Ringed Plover, 5 Spoonbill over high tide plus 9 Wigeon and 580 Teal and two Great Skua downriver, seen from Zeiss Hide and Estuary Tower.
South Lake- 3 Avocet, 2+ Snipe, 167 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 juvenile Ruff, 2 Redshank, 73 Lapwing, 18 Shelduck, 11 Pochard
Rushy Hide/Peng Observatory- 5 Spotted Redshank, 8 Redshank, juvenile Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Snipe + 73 Teal, 6 Gadwall and 4 Shoveler.
Estuary Tower- flocks of 49 and 12 Golden Plover over, 4 Ruff, 17 Curlew, 8 Wigeon on the Dumbles. Wheatear and two Stonechat at Middle Point.
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30 September 2023
Top New Piece - an interesting wader appeared among the gathering birds over the tide, it went missing a few times at the waders were flushed by passing Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel and hunting Sparrowhawk and a Peregrine. The first sighting as it landed among the Ruff led to an assumption that it would just be a Pectoral Sandpiper but the bird seemed very small, hunched, straight/short billed and didn't have the jizz of a Pectoral, features suggestive of Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.
Also from the Zeiss Hide, Marsh Harrier, Wood Sandpiper, 6 Sanderling, 3 Curlew Sandpiper, Snipe 6, 36 Ruff, Golden Plover 9, Greenshank heard, 4 Little Stint, 90 Ringed Plover, 300 Dunlin, three Spotted Redshank, Cranes 12 flew over.
Estuary Tower - a Brent Goose on the Severn over the high tide. A Greenshank flew over. Stonechat and Wheatear on fence near viewing platform plus 104 Curlew on river bank, 5 Little Egret, 3 Herons, 1 Cattle Egret and 1 Great White Egret.
Kingfisher Hide - perhaps empty nest syndrome, af male brought a fish & perched just below nest hole calling. Male turned up & joined female calling. Female moved into willow & ate fish then both flew off!