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Guidelines for Reporting Rarities and Submission of Annual Records
Detailed records of nationally or locally rare species (guidance on these is
here) should be sent to the County Recorder Eddie Hunter (
goweros23@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 Eddie 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.
PLEASE NOTE
Please could we ask that detailed locational information that may lead to the disturbance of the nest sites of species listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981) is omitted from any posts. This may otherwise lead to an offence being committed.
Schedule 1 species that regularly breed in the recording area are Dartford warbler, chough, honey buzzard, crossbill, goshawk, kingfisher, hobby, red kite, barn owl, peregrine, little ringed plover and Cetti’s warbler.
Over the last few days a Peregrine (or poss. 2) has started targeting the wader flock at Loughor Foreshore, resulting in a decline in numbers of most species. Today I watched a big juvenile force a Bar-tailed Godwit (the only one in a flock of 182 Black-wits) into the water. After several attempts, it eventually lifted it from the water and carried it off over the saltmarsh. As I was following it, a Buzzard appeared from nowhere and successfully robbed the Peregrine. Just before this action a Goshawk flew over the estuary, so perhaps it’s not surprising the waders are… Read more »
In the garden this afternoon. He was standing in the ornamental tree (now dead) on which we hang our feeders.
This late afternoon I walked from National Trust Rhossili to the CoastWatch hut. The last 200 yards is a gentle, wide, uphill slope, close cropped by sheep and by walkers’ feet. Here were 13 choughs feeding confidently and all but ignoring the few walkers, runners and a dog which were about. I think we are seeing their behaviour changing as they get accustomed to the large numbers of people who walk in Rhossili. (Earlier: in my garden a grey wagtail, which may visit us much of this winter.)
A great couple of hours seawatch off Port Eynon this morning the highlights being a Black Tern ,2 Arctic Skuas and a 1st year Little gull. These were with a good movement of 90 Sandwich Tern, 5 Commen tern, 1 Arctic tern,110 Kittiwakes, 45 Med Gulls, 12 Common Scoter, 48 Gannet, 1 Fulmur and 150 auks all heading west as soon as the rain stopped. On the beach there was 21 Med Gulls, 7 Sandwich Tern and a Grey Plover. At Kittle a 1st year med gull with 3 Black headed gull At Blackpill at low tide :11 Curlew, 35… Read more »
Delighted and surprised to see a kingfisher this morning flying through the marina in Swansea
Ysgol Bae Baglan playing fields
100+ gull flock .. 50/50 herring / bhgs
2 med gulls
1 lesser BB..
3 skylark flying around Pennard Golf Course this morning.. pretty sure they are the first I’ve seen this year .
For reference, the main muddy patch feeding areas off Loughor Foreshore car park are shown here
The ‘muddy patch’ off Loughor Foreshore continued to draw in more Black-tailed Godwit last week, though numbers didn’t quite break the 600 barrier. Other waders noted there over the same period included 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Curlew, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 58 Dunlin, 80 Knot, 20 Oystercaycher, 1 Ringed Plover & 2 Ruff.
Numbers of the two commonest duck species have fallen slightly from the previous week, with maxima of 84 Pintail & 130 Mallard, though 4 Gadwall today were new for the autumn period..
This feeding opportunity was taken by a cloud of Gulls, two Grey Herons, a Cormorant and over 40 Little Egrets. Across the water from Loughor car park.
A large skein of Greylags flew 11.45 this morning. 60 plus birds heading east towards Swansea Bay
3 reed warbler and 1 sedge warbler were the only long distance migrants at Oxwich this morning other than the swallows and house martins feeding over the reed bed.
A large pied / white wagtail roost has built up estimated at 60+ birds.
80 greylags over the marsh mid morning
Dear All We are now in the breeding season. For Schedule 1 species at risk of disturbance at the nest, we need to ensure that any sightings do not provide information that may lead to their disturbance. This includes cliff-nesting species such as Dartford warbler and chough which have been targeted by photographers (some of whom have used tape lures) in recent years, and species expanding their range / becoming locally commoner in some parts of the recording area such as red kite and goshawk. Please be aware of this in your posting. A list of Schedule 1 species that… Read more »