LIVE 24-SEVEN
Goosander – Increasingly familiar on our larger rivers, it used its serrated bill to hold on to slippery fish.
Shoveler – Their huge shovel bills are used to filter food out of the water. (Credit: Andy Karran)
and Shelduck can be found and some of our larger inland waterbodies, with Llandegfedd Reservoir being the prime site, hosting nationally important numbers of Teal, Wigeon and Pochard.
Newport Wetlands has also rapidly, since its creation in 2000, become home to considerable numbers of a wide range of duck species. Even the smallest pond may play host to a Mallard or two every now and again, and it is the Mallard that is the most widely occurring and familiar of our duck species.
Not all ducks are so ubiquitously occurring as the Mallard however, some ducks such as Scaup and Eider which whilst also being only infrequently occurring are almost exclusively marine ducks, whereas Tufted Duck are almost exclusively freshwater and Goosander have a strong affinity with rivers.
Along with the Mallard, good numbers of a number of other species can be found in Gwent and can be quite readily found, these are Tufted Duck, Pochard, Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Shelduck and Teal. Gadwall are also occurring in increasing numbers, particularly at Newport Wetlands and Goosander numbers have increased greatly in recent years and should be quite readily observed by taking a walk along stretches of some of our larger rivers.
Other duck species such as Scaup, Goldeneye and Common Scoter occur annually but in small numbers and generally quite restricted localities. Scarcer still are species such as Long-tailed Duck and Smew and their great beauty adds to the excitement of their rarity should you stumble upon one of these.
Teal – Our smallest duck and a common winter visitor (Credit: Andy Karran)
So don’t duck the challenge, get out there and see how many of our duck species you can find this winter. I would recommend a visit to Peterstone Gout, near Newport at high tide, just remember to go at high tide otherwise they will be a long, long way out.
To find out more about the work of Gwent Wildlife Trust visit
www.gwentwildlife.org
95
LIVE24-SEVEN.COM
GWENT WI LDL I F E TRUST WINT ER WI LDFOWL
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
