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 »
Gannet and Med Gill at Whiteshell Point this morning at 0730.
Little egret fishing along the shoreline opposite Oystermouth Square
Good to read DC’s report of Croeserw and Cwm nant y Fedw. I was absent from the garden (and talking to Derek Thomas) this afternoon, when Christine had a drama in the garden. As she describes it, her attention was drawn to a disturbance. Then she saw a sparrowhawk chasing a passerine from the sunflower hearts feeder and round & about the back garden before both disappeared over a hedge and away. I suspect the sprawks are not breeding between us and Langland Bay this year, as their appearances here are fewer.
A visit to Croeserw and Cwm nant y Fedw in the upper Afan Valley today where I met up with Gwyn Randall and Phil Routliff. On the edge of Croeserw late breeding records of Robin, blackbird, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock and a family party of Blackcaps, The star bird here was a male Pied Flycatcher although the plumage looked a bit worn and faded. The first I have seen in NPT for a few years. The woodland at the lower part of Nant y Fedw yielded Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jays, Woodpigeon with a family of Grey Wagtails on the… Read more »
Plenty of evidence of breeding successes in the garden today. Here is a young chiffchaff.
Red Kite over Cheriton today.
0730 today: I counted 13 Gannets flying near the Mixen Bell and above a good-sized pod of Porpoise, some of which were jumping clear out of the water.
40+ Linnets a Rhossili Vile today.
Red kite solo flying over Hunts Bay Pennard Cliffs yesterday July 09 about 5pm. This is the second time we’ve seen one there, v exciting.
At Knab Rock no sign of the diver but cormorants were catching dabs so big they had difficulty swallowing them. At Bracelet at noon 21 Med Gulls and a low flying Peregrine which put up a couple of small waders on the light house island but failed to catch one before flying on round to Oystermouth.