Detailed records of nationally or locally rare species (guidance on these is
here) should be sent to the County Recorder Rob Taylor (
gowerbirdrecorder@gmail.com) as soon as possible after the sighting. An appropriate description should be provided of the species, your previous experience of it (and similar species), the circumstances and weather conditions in which the sighting occurred and any other pertinent information (such as photos). He will then circulate to the local or national records committee as relevant.
Day to day observations, including of nest sites, flocks of birds and species of local interest, should be collated in the Annual Record Form and sent to Rob as an email attachment following each calendar year. Receiving these by the end of January is ideal as an early start can then be made on compiling the annual report.
Reporting Schedule 1 Birds We are now in the breeding season. Please do not post information concerning nests or core territory locations which may lead to the disturbance of species listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is an offence to disturb these species (whether this is unintentional or not) at the nest. A full list of Schedule 1 species is here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wildlife-and-the-law/wildlife-and-countryside-act/schedules/ For anyone who is not aware, the Schedule 1 species that breed in the Gower recording area include: chough, crossbill, goshawk, honey buzzard, barn owl, kingfisher, red kite, peregrine, little ringed plover,… Read more »
Blackpill: 2 common sandpiper.
Sketty Lane: 22 Mediterranean gulls, 25 black-headed gulls
Bracelet: 22 Mediterranean gulls, 3 black-headed gulls
Visit to Pant-y-Sais with Rob Jones. Very quiet birdwise apart from a few Redpolls in songflight and the odd Cetti`s.The best sightings were of insects which included four Musk Long-Horn Beetles and a few Four-Banded Longhorns,apparently quite rare. A Green Sandpiper flushed from Red Jacket Pill plus a Kingfisher. A pair of Mute Swans had just one cygnet on the Tennant Canal at Jersey Marine village.
Wheatear on the rocks between Horton and Slade this morning
Blackpill: 104 oystercatcher, 121 black-headed gull, 5 Mediterranean gull, 5 curlew at high water.
Sketty Lane playing field: 17 Mediterranean gull, 29 black-headed gull
Ashleigh Road western playing field: 74 Mediterranean gull, 26 black-headed gull
Ashleigh Road middle field: 3 black-headed and 1 Mediterranean gull.
Bracelet: 27 Mediterranean gull
Mumbles Pier area: 50+ turnstone
Rothers Tor: digger wasp Cerceris rybyensis and beautiful orbweaver spider
Llanrhidian. Greenshank 3, Green Sandpiper 14, Teal 9, GW Egret 1, Lapwing 10.
Loughor Bridge. Curlew 27, Whimbrel 5.
4 juvenile Choughs huggled together on a cliff ledge at Pennard today.
Castell Du. Common Sand 2, Green Sand 2, Little Egret 14, Canada Goose 177.
22 Mediterranean gulls at Ashleigh Road this morning.
Common sandpiper and curlew off the Tivoli, Swansea Bay
At Penclawdd from the car park – 2 Greenshank on 28th July.( Pics attached from Port Eynon over previous days )
I was camping at Port Eynon from 25th to the 28th July and it was certainly very good for Mediterranean gulls! – the best I have seen here. The numbers changed regularly daily with the best count of 85 on 25th. Many birds were observed ( when flushed) heading inland towards Scurlage presumably cutting across to the Burry Med Gull flock at Pwll. Previously I have seen this with a inland high flock in Sept so maybe possibly be a regular route. The true figure is very hard to say as the same colour ringed bird (3ILE) was seen on… Read more »
Ed. Interestingly different colour ringed Sandwich Tern from the one I saw on the 27th.