Reserve Warden Sam takes us through the latest wildlife highlights from our wetlands.
We’ll start small this week with a Little Stint (Calidris minuta), which was frequently seen on the Freshwater Lagoon. This species is one of the smallest waders regularly seen in the UK. But despite its size it definitely punches above it’s 20-40 grams of weight when it comes to plumage. Its back and wings display intricate dark brown speckles, interspersed with silvery flecks. This creates a stark contrast to its bright breast and underbelly, which contrast again with its long dark legs. It also has an incredibly dark bill that sticks out from a head of lightly dappled, grey-brown plumage. Once you’ve managed to find one of these little guys with a scope or binoculars, it’s hard to take your eye off them!
A Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) and a handful of Green Sandpipers (Tringa ochropus) have also been around this week. A number of lucky visitors managed to see the little stint, wood sandpiper and green sandpipers all in one sweep of their binoculars!
Staying with the small theme, but far less gangly, we had a few Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) sightings this week, particularly over the Saline Lagoon. Seeing this species is always a welcome sight and can be an indicator of good local population numbers, for kestrels rarely fly far from their place of birth. They’re also very tolerant of their own species and will sometimes nest semi-colonially, which is quite uncommon for raptors.
It’s been mentioned a few times this year, but we’re still regularly seeing a handful of Spotted Redshank (Tringa erythropus) as well as Ruff (Calidris pugnax). While the spotted redshank tend towards the Saline Lagoon, and often mingle among the Black-Tailed Godwits (Limosa limosa), the ruff can be a little bit more solitary, and is sometimes found out on the Deep Water Lake. While these species are semi-regular occurrences here at WWT Llanelli, they’re still facing a great deal of challenges throughout the rest of the UK and seeing them is always a source of inspiration for us, and might be for you, too!
