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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.
My first Swallow of the year! Only the one, just north of Ilston.
3 swallows near stockhams corner neath today.
Canada Geese over Crofty and in the pil near GG’s, Penclawdd this morning.
Singing Chiffchaff in our (Bishopston) garden this morning and Red Kite overhead.
Adult tawny owl seen, and what sounded like juvenile tawny owls begging call, last night in our garden on Sketty Cross
Clyne Valley this afternoon: dipper on the watercourse in the country park. Lots of brimstone, a comma and an early large white.
Yesterday was the first day with lots of willow warbler at Oxwich. 2 ringed and birds singing from various locations around the marsh.
Neath A465 roundabout at first light – 6 Sand Martin flew upriver
Salthouse Point on falling tide – 1 dark phase Arctic Skua flew down river before climbing high and lost in low cloud towards Llanmadoc Hill. Later 3 pairs of Red-breasted Merganser off Wernfrrwd
Very quiet for migrants at Mewslade Valley, Thurba and Llangennith Burrows/Moors but 1 Swallow over fields near Burry Green
Neath A465 roundabout marsh- at high tide 1 Water Pipit- looked diff bird to previous set of high tides, 6 Med Pipit, 5 Curlew, 5 Teal,
Aberavon- A 1st Year Little Gull, 1 Shelduck and 1 Canada Goose flew west. 1 Great Crested grebe and a Knot.
2 Avocets were at Salthouse Point this morning. Most of the winter birds have now moved on.
Oxwich Marsh north and south ponds: 3 shoveler, 4 teal, 3 mallard, 4 water rail (of which 2 seen close to north pond hide and others calling close to south pond), 4 mute swan, 3 moorhen and 2 grey heron. Swallow over.
Singing blackcap and 5 chiffchaff river tawe path morriston
Between Thurba Head and Overton Cliff
1 Wheatear, c.10 singing Chiffchaffs throughout the walk, and several species of BOP, including a pair of Buzzard courting, a pair of Kestrel mating, and a separate male Kestrel. 2 seperate singing Yellowhammer males. Plenty of Stonechat, a couple of singing Skylark and Mipits. Around 5 Shag on and around The Knave.
Castell-du (early afternoon)
18 Teal, 62 Wigeon, 2 Greenshank, 22 Redwing, 2 (f) Wheatear and lots of singing Greenfinches
Crymlyn Burrows (late afternoon)
3+ Little Ringed Plovers in the main channel and single Greenshank
It was lovely, if surprising, to see the over wintering male blackcap on the feeder this morning. He took ownership of that feeder in early January. I’d expected him to have left us by now.
Pleased, though rather surprised that the male black cap is still feeding in my garden. He first arrived in early January. I presumed that over wintering birds would have left by now.
Whiteford today 10:30 to 15:30 with high tide at midday The undoubted highlight was a Slavonian Grebe in full summer plumage which showed wet from Berges Island hide. It was with a second Slav which was only starting to transition from winter plumage. The most unusual sighting was a Common Buzzard that headed straight out from the dunes, putting up c150 Brents and 300+ Oystercatchers, to the Lighthouse and proceeded to head north into a stiff northerly wind towards Pembrey. It made slow progress against the wind occasionally ‘shearing’ widely to the left and to the right. I watched for… Read more »
Excuse a newbie’s ignorance but could anyone identify this duck I saw near Neath this afternoon please? Poor quality photo I realise which may explain why Merlin bird ID app couldn’t find it. It’s around the size of a mallard.
Odd looking thing that Carl. Certainly some mallard in it.
23 March. Cefn Bryn near Frog Moor, my first Wheatear of the year sighted this morning, also present were a few Yellowhammers, several Stonechats, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Linnets, a Green Woodpecker and Song Thrush. Rooks and Blackbird were seen collecting nest material there.
22nd March: Walking from Llanrhidian to Llanmadoc, the woods were full of Chiffchaff song. Also Stock Doves calling in two different areas and lots of Pied Wagtails along the saltmarsh.
23rd March: On Kilvey Hill a mixed flock of about 15 Goldfinches and Lesser Redpolls. Probably a 50/50 split between the two species in terms of numbers but hard to estimate as they flitted through the pines. Also 3 Sand Martins flew over heading northwest.
This may be of interest to Richard Dann. There was a Jackdaw with a yellow ring around Morriston Park yesterday. I was unable to note the deatails on the ring. I was thinking wheteher this bird is part of your scheme ?
That would certainly appear to be the case Dewi. It would be one of the furthest sightings of my colour-ringed birds from my ringing site in Southgate. It would be great to get a ring reading to identify the individual.
I’ll pop over again armed with some bread to see if I can get the details on the ring.
This evening before sunset on Cefn Bryn: one each of skylark, raven, female mallard and snipe.
This morning a female Ring Ouzel was at lower western slope of Foel Fynyddau and also here my first Swallow of the year flew north. My first Wheatear of the year was near the Ragworm Farm, behind Baglan Burrows. There were also 11 Common Scoter on the sea in Baglan Bay. This afternoon a walk to the Kenfig Rivermarsh was fairly quiet but in the open pools in the reedbed were 4 Pintail (of which 2 drakes were inside West Glamorgan) with 30+ Teal, 10+ Gadwall and 3 Tufted Ducks. 4 Swallows and a Sand Martin were flying above the… Read more »
Lliw Reservoirs
Lower Lliw: 338 herring gull, 5 lesser black-backed gull, 2 great crested grebe, singing mistle thrush
Upper Lliw: 2 Canada geese.
Banc Darren Fawr: 11 red kite, 9 raven and 2 buzzard indicated carrion / a carcass was present on the top close by.
1 red kite west cross 12.30 wednesday.
2 tawny owls calling near underhill, last night 9.00 pm