My eye remains on Goldcliff

 

I've still got my eye on Goldcliff Lagoons despite the lack of time to visit as often as I would like, so far this year.

Life has been busy and that thing called "work" tends to get in the way a great deal these days. I have a lot of personal interests on the go as well. My photography has diversified and other places have caught my attention that has led me to focus my attention elsewhere.

My love of Goldcliff however has never diminished - I am always keeping an eye on the latest sightings being reported and pictures posted on Social Media.

Breeding season for the waders remains ongoing and I have been fortunate on a number of visits to see a few Avocet , Redshank and Lapwing chicks.  I am privy to reports from the NRW concerning the monitoring of the breeders and I do hope the Avocets manage to have some success this year. A successful fledging of one or two would be good.

Unfortunately I have missed a few good birds this spring - one notably was a Temmink Stint, and another was a Black Tern!. I would have loved to have seen those. However I have been fortunate to see the lagoons turning into an Egret Summer resort.

One of the Great White Egrets

Great White Egret

I believe the lagoons are now full of young eels and its attracting hordes of Egrets. Little Egrets have been their in their legions. I am sure someone told me the other day that there had been 25 recorded at least. There has been four Great White Egrets. These massive birds seem to be turning up more and more regularly.

My friend Neville Davies spotted a ringed Great White Egret recently and managed to get some really clear pictures of the birds red colour ring APB. He has written a nice blog post which can be found here that provides a lot of information about the birds history and movements. I saw it again on Saturday 10th June 2023 on Becs Lagoon but the heat haze made getting a good picture impossible.

I was really pleased to see a Cattle Egret during one visit last month and it have me the courtesy of doing a nice fly past.

Cattle Egret

At long last a nice big flock of Black-Tailed Godwits has been hanging out on the reserve. These are on of my favourite species of waders and I was fortunate to witness them doing some synchronised aerial acrobatics.

Flock of Black-Tailed Godwits

Elsewhere on the reserve there has been plenty of birds to see. On nearly every visit I have had Reed Buntings popping up on the reeds in front of me with beaks full of insects. Looks like they have had some breeding success.

Reed Bunting

This month marked the first time this year that I have been down to Goldcliff Lagoons in the evening.

I visited with my friend Paul and enjoyed watching a lovely sunset.

Sunset at the lagoons

I also took some drone pictures from outside reserve. I am expecting the water levels to plummet with all this heat we are getting . Monks will probably be the first to dry out. The water levels are just about reaching a sweet spot for waders that are continuing to migrate through.

Today there has been reports of Greenshank and a Wood Sandpiper.

Goldcliff really is great, you never know what is going to show up.

I will finish off with one of my drone pictures. Will be interesting to see what the water levels will be like next month.

View large . Panoramic. Goldcliff at sunset.

PS 

I forgot to mention the Spoonbills ;)