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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.
Briton ferry 21 swifts,screaming over the estate tonight.
Undisclosed location:We had a wonderful display this afternoon of two adult Goshawk and three juveniles.The juveniles were put through their paces at hunting. On two occasions we watched the parent birds hunt down a Meadow Pipit and House Martin before “food dropping” for the three juveniles.
Whimbrel at Limeslade Bay late this morning, together with a lone Mediterranean Gull.
Oxwich Marsh: 37 sedge warbler, 33 reed warbler, 18 greenfinch, 4 willow warbler, 3 whitethroat, 2 treecreeper, garden warbler, kingfisher.
Oxwich Marsh: 2 grasshopper warblers (one carrying significant fat) and 20 sedge warblers this morning.
More than 20 swifts over vile fields near to Lewis Castle this morning.
Oxwich Marsh: flocks of 400+ starling and 200+ swallows roosting in the marsh at present. Sedge warblers starting to build fat in preparation for moving, but little evidence of other migrants passing through. Grasshopper warbler fledged juvenile a couple of days ago. Kestrel using hay field and rushy ground to landward side of marsh road for foraging.
This evening south of the Loughor Bridge. The high tide seemed to have forced birds to roost further up the estuary with only 1 Common Sandpiper, 23 Curlew, 2 Whimbrel and 2 Redshank and very few Oystercatchers present. A surprise on the water was a female Goosander only my second record south of the bridge
91 Med Gulls at Bracelet 0735 today. No rings visible. That’s the highest number I have seen here. Also one seal in the bay.
This afternoon.
At Blackpill
Med Gull 111 including several colour ringed birds, Y L Gull 1 adult.
Bracelet Bay
Med Gull 57 on the rocks including 2 juvs plus 29 down channel, Guillemot 2 on the sea, Gannet 3 down channel, Manx Shearwater 2 down channel, Sandwich Tern 1 in off and settled on the rocks with the Meds. Also a grey seal in the bay and six dolphins off Mumbles head.
This evening at Castell Du
Common Sandpiper 23, L R Plover 5 juvs, Greenshank 3, GW Egret 1, Pied Wagtail 123, Stock Dove 1.
Been meaning to ask GOS for a long time. Where is Castell Du? Would really like to visit. Sounds like a great spot.
The adult Cattle Egret was present at Grove Farm pond earlier today
First signs of autumn passage at Oxwich today with a sedge warbler carrying significant fat and a (potentially) non-local young grasshopper warbler (with relatively advanced post juvenile moult). Day totals included 23 reed warbler and 18 sedge warbler.
Two Red Kites over Higher Lane/ Langland Corner this afternoon.
Red kite at 2.15pm flying west over Brynfield Road, mobbed by one herring gull. Only my second sighting from the garden.
134 Black-tailed Godwits at Dalton’s Point yesterday evening including a colour-ringed bird – can you spot it in the video?
South of Loughor Bridge this evening on the HT
Oystercatcher 915, Black t Godwit 28, Curlew 33, Whimbrel 2, Marsh Harrier 1 female. Inner primaries missing as were the central tail feathers it eventually circled off north.
Castell Du this evening on the HT
Green Sandpiper 1, Little Egret 19, Common Sandpiper 12, Pied Wagtail 73, Oystercatcher 12, LR Plover 4 (3 juvs), Greenshank 3, Cattle Egret 1 adult in bp. A poor BOC attached.
Castell Ddu this morning had 81 Little Egret , 8 Grey Heron and 1 Cattle Egret crammed on the remains of a salt marsh pool … feeding must have been good !
Port Eynon on the rising tide this afternoon.
Med Gull 11 on the rocks, Manx Shearwater 1474, all on the water in several rafts drifting up with the tide, later in the afternoon birds peeling off and moving down channel. Oystercatcher 5, Gannet 14, Fulmar Petrel 1 down channel.
Dalton’s Point this evening on the falling tide.
Whimbrel 5, Redshank 81 (1 juv), Shelduck 2 with 7 well grown young, Common Sandpiper 1, Black t Godwit 213, Dunlin 7, Curlew 10.
The NPT swift website is now up and running, if you could please report all your swift sightings in Neath Port Talbot here would be fantastic. Thanks
https://www.naturenpt.cymru/swifts
Two grasshopper warblers both reeling and showing well at Pant y Sais Fen this morning. Chasing each other around a bit, seemingly in a territorial duel. Behaviour I might normally expect earlier in the breeding season – I guess they are on to second broods now.
This afternoon
From Loughor Foreshore Car Park
Little Egret 120, GW Egret 6
South of Loughor Bridge
Whimbrel 1, Little Egret 20, Bl t Godwit 11, Dunlin 12
This evening at Castell Du
Green Sandpiper 1, Pied Wagtail 66, LR Plover 2 juvs, Greenshank 3, Sand Martin 35 resting on mud flats, Oystercatcher 2
Nightjar spotted having a rest, top of baglan mountain sa12
About 30 Swifts over Middleton this afternoon.
Flying ant day: 20+ Herring Gulls on Langland golf course eating ants on one green and a good flock of 20 odd Swallows wheeling about overhead too.