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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.
Peregrine calling then flying from Mumbles Yacht Club to the pier and on to Bracelet this morning at 0730.
C300 Oystercatcher at Blackpill at high tide this afternoon as well as 5 curlew and 15 bar-tailed godwit. Sadly a lot of dog disturbance as well…
more ropey photos !
At Rhosilli this morning , a juv Ring-necked duck was with a small flock of Common Scoter out in the bay . my attempts at record shots were pretty basic as it was at range . Approx 35 C Scoter dotted around . 4 Juv Mute Swan flew across the bay . 5 Siskin over , c 65 Skylark moving west , then back . a further 40+ around the Vile . 18 Meadow pipit dotted around , a few small flocks of Goldfinch .. c 40 all told . very few other finches/flocks around . Plenty of weedy ,… Read more »
Oxwich Marsh AM: 2 firecrest trapped with possibly another seen. Birders searching for bunting (Rob Jones, Lukas le Grice et al) reported 2 yellow-browed warblers in wet woodland near road.
No sign of black-faced bunting despite numerous people looking.
Brambling and siskin over
A Yellow Browed Warbler was at Middleton Farm at 1pm prior to this no sign of YBW unlike at Oxwich which is interesting , also 6 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler – quite standard looking by fig tree in Mewslade , 3 Siskin, 1 Redpoll and Skylarks over. Large group of Jackdaws – 400 making attempts to cross to Devon but chickening out and returning to headland. Amazing find at Oxwich ….the Black Faced Bunting !! Well done !!! I think only been 9 UK records now and 3 have been in the last week. Apparently 10 Western European records in… Read more »
Oxwich Marsh: black-faced bunting (1st winter), 6 yellow-browed warbler, firecrest, 8 chiffchaff
Black Redstart remains at Clydach frequenting rooftops. It is very elusive due to harassment from local Robins once it finds a vantage point.
Black Redstart at Clydach early morning(25.10.2024).Not re-located after.
Sorry should be 24th not 25th !
This morning at Castell Du
Wigeon 240, Lapwing 98, Redshank 2, Common Sandpiper 40, Greenshank 1, Merlin a nice blue male.
This afternoon at Oxwich
Little Egret 1, Common Scoter 425, many flying in from the west, Ringed Plover 33, Sanderling 69, RT Diver ,1 in nbp
Late afternoon Llanrhidian Marsh
GE Egret 3, Stonechat 5 and still one Whinchat present
That should, of course, Common Sandpiper 4
Redwing heard flying over copper quarter last 2 evenings
Firecrest. First winter female captured and ringed in Langland this morning.
Sparrowhawk hunting redwings / song thrushes pre-dawn
0705 this morning two Tawny Owls calling in Mumbles behind the old rugby club. One Kee-wick call the other hoo-hoo.(from different directions)
Langland (Southward Lane): yellow-browed warbler
1 of the 3 Spoonbills at Dalton’s Point this afternoon was ringed as a nestling in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany in June 2024. A female Marsh Harrier also flew over spooking the waterfowl.
diff Marsh Harrier by sounds them
Some pics kindly sent from Paul Lewis from the GOS trip to Port Eynon on the weekend, the Great northern Diver was a ace shot to capture as it flew over very quick and a great bird to see overhead and still in summer plumage … just like the Red throated battling the wind. The Turnstones capture the strength of the storm soaking the YHA on occasion. We saw the same colour ringed Rock pipit several times as well as a green ringed Med Gull which evaded reading of the digits. On north Gower ( on the way home …kind… Read more »
Petrels wise …these too brief and distant unfortunately which was shame but one was shearing far more , 2 were seen…we needed to be on the head for these but wind too south
A Cetti’s Warbler was caught and ringed in my garden on Pennard Cliffs this morning, a new species for the site. The bird was carrying fat indicating a post juvenile dispersal.
Brilliant! match’s a Mewslade bird couple of autumns ago…top stuff !
Great Northern Diver added to the sightings at Port Eynon by Ed and Josh after I retired early this morning.
Port Eynon: and the weather was unkind! The storm had blown in a few birds and the eight hardy souls who turned out saw twenty species including Red Throated Diver flying over in full summer plumage. Gannet, Guillemot, in the distance and were those Petrels? The colour-ringed Rock Pipit was still present. Thanks again to Ed who got the bird of the day in his scope.
Five Little Egrets flighting into Cilibion at this morning.
18th October: c70 Sanderling on Swansea beach between the slip bridge and the civic centre at about 9pm.
19th October: 1 Kestrel hunting on far east side of Kilvey Hill, by Crymlyn Bog. At Crymlyn Bog: 2 Buzzards, 1 Red Kite seen, and 1 Water Rail heard calling.
Llanrhidian Marsh late afternoon.
GW Egret 5, Marsh Harrier 1 fem type, probably a juv, Whinchat 2 late birds, Golden Plover 350, the flock put up by something, Kestrel 1 sitting on the ground.
Wernfrrwd on the big tide today, 165 Curlew, 6 Grey Plover, 15 Med Pipit, 2 quite late Whimbrel, 4 Bar T Godwit, 10 Black T Godwit, 4 Knot , 7 Dunlin, 2 Chiffcahff, 165 Redshank,1 Redwing, 46 Shelduck, 400 Starling, 4 G C Grebe, 80 Dark bellied Brent,4 Great White Egret, 3! Linnet, 14 little Egret, 14 Skylark, 155 Shoveler, 350 Pintail, 40 Wigeon,100 Teal , 26 Cormorant, 7 GBB Gull, 1 Red kite, 1 Sparrowhawk Rhossili- in Mewslade and Middleton migrants – 5 Jay, 10 Skylark, 45 Chaffinch, 4 Goldcrest, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Bulfinch also Green Wood. Scurlage-18 Med… Read more »
Today Saturday 80+ Canada geese flying towards the neath estuary at dusk over Briton ferry.