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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.
GOS Field trip to Banwen: twenty-six of us turned out on this beautiful morning for a three-hour, five mile walk in the uplands from Banwen. We saw or heard 31 species with the highlight perhaps a distant Goshawk. The views from the top of the hill (SN 865089)stretched from the Neath Valley round to the Brecon and Carmarthen Fans, great sweeping vistas worth going to see just for the views. Throw in the birds and what more can you want? A great day and many thanks to Ed Hunter for leading this most enjoyable field trip. Blackbird. Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow,… Read more »
Chiffchaff seen yesterday between Rotherslade and Bracelet Bay
Oxwich Marsh: 2 male brambling, c. 40 siskin, 40 goldfinch, snipe
Very vocal chiff chaff and skylarks on Kilvey Hill this morning, also Buzzards, four Red Kite and two Raven flying well above Tir John and Port Tennant.
Yesterday, the first wheatear I’ve seen on the cliffs at Pennard this year (poor photo below). And although there’s a lot of flying to and fro to decide boundaries, I can’t remember seeing male stonechats actually fighting before.
4 Grey Heron fishing the canal between Ynysmeudwy and Cilmaengwyn.Including this cracker
Two Greylag Geese flying west over Groves Avenue, Langland this morning at 0700.
Swansea Vale this afternoon 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Green Woodpecker, 3 Tufted Ducks on the western pond and a first for me over the Vale 2 Lapwings.
Walk from Overton to Longhole Cliff, along the sheep tracks to Common Cliff and back by the coast path: merlin female tucked into a shelf on a rocky tor where may have roosted gave great views through the telescope (later seen hunting), kestrel (f), two yellowhammer territories (either side of Longhole Cliff), green woodpecker (Overton village). A few gannets offshore. No sign of wheatears on the rocks, but chiffchaffs singing in all suitable scrubby valleys.
I found a male Wheatear last Friday at Llyn y Fan; not in Gower, but he probably flew over.
Rhossili Bay late morning held 4 common scoters, a close in great crested grebe, and we had good prolonged views of a sheltering great northern diver snorkelling, diving and preening in the Bay just below the coastguard hut.
Oxwich Bay: great northern diver on sea, red-throated diver flew west. Also loose flocks of common gull loafing inshore.
Burning on Cefn Bryn last night looks to have taken out the eastern slope of the hill above Penmaen where at least one yellowhammer holds territory and Dartford warbler has bred. Custodians of the countryside are at it again.
.2 Lapwing Old Felindre works site (recently returned from last season first sighting)…
.Lone Great Cormorant Lower Lliw (perched
in tree)…
.4 Canada Geese Farmland Salem…
.Lone Pheasant Rhydypandy Rd Salem…
.Nuthatch with nest material entering/re-emerging from hole in tree Rhydypandy Rd Salem…
.Stonechat Old Felindre works Site…
.Blackcap near Felindre Energy Park…
.Green Woodpecker Fforest Newydd
.Buzzard with new Nesting material in conifer pine tree Mynydd y Gwair…
.Possible Goshawk sighting – took to flight through wood? Penllergaer Fforest (Light fading)…
Felindre Update Lapwing 3 pairs viewed today… ( Remember only 2 pairs last season viewed)