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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.
Partly frozen baglan pool today (21st) 21 black headed gulls
2 mute swan 1 common gull 1 cormarant sm all flock of mixed tits. .. long tailed blue and great, magpies, and robin.
Possible sighting of two Brent Geese at Oxwich yesterday. Apologies for poor quality photos. Can anyone confirm?
Definitely brent geese Anna. Not regular there.
Thank you!
Female Hen Harrier hunting low over the marsh this afternoon between Crofty and Penclawdd.
I caught and ringed this juvenile Barred Warbler in my garden on Pennard Cliffs this morning. A lovely addition to the garden ringing list.
Also a Siberian (tristis) chiffchaff there yesterday morning
Yesterday morning, with Mark Hipkin at Mumbles Head, there was a decent movement of birds flying east, including 7200 Wood Pigeon, 243 Starling, 32 Meadow Pipit, 870 Chaffinch, 7 Brambling, 144 Linnet, 75 Goldfinch, and 2 Siskin.
In the afternoon, we saw 78 species at Whiteford, including the sub-adult Pallid Harrier, 4 Great Northern Diver, 2 Jack Snipe, 1 Woodcock, and 2 Firecrest. Also 63 Stock Dove were seen flying into roost at dusk.
female blackcap spotted twice in garden in West Cross, today
Male blackcap in my Tycoch garden today. First blackcap I’ve had this autumn/winter.
Two male goosander in the river neath by the look out platform by Morrison’s.
13th/ a pre roost flock of est 700 jackdaws over Tesco
Llansamlet at dusk.
45 curlew & 34 oystercatcher on Ashleigh Road playing fields at high tide earlier today. Also c500 oystercatcher, 4 bar tailed godwit, 1 sanderling, 4 grey plover and 2 Greater Blackbacks at Blackpill
Firecrests were caught and ringed, both today and yesterday in my garden on Pennard Cliffs. These bring the year total to 4 so far, it’s also been the best year for Goldcrest here with 43 individuals ringed to date.
Oxwich Marsh (Saturday): 97 blue tits captured (and over 100 present). 12 coal tit, 6 great spotted woodpecker, 2 chiffchaff (collybita) and a female blackcap among 162 birds processed.
Southgate: firecrest, 3 blackcap (per Richard Dann)
Clyne cycle path Saturday PM: marsh tit, dipper, green woodpecker
At Middleton farm, Rhossili today …. a YBW and a Black Redstart today ( P Stephens)
CWM Ivy: A YBW near the gate at first cottage calling and Sibe Chiffchaff was calling by the last gate out to point as you leave the pines. Whitford point; 2 Great Northern Divers, 30 Redwing, 160 Wigeon, 9 Knot , 60 Dunlin, just 2 GC Grebe, 120 Dark B Brent, 1 Water rail, 5 Bar Tailed Godwit. No sign of any Eider which was odd as usual places checked. Middleton farm ; I Firecrest appeared near dusk ( unringed), A pale chiffchaff – clearly eastern origin – but not a Siberian as did not respond to calls and lacked… Read more »
At Blackpill this morning: 17 Curlew, 1 Bar T Godwit, 4 Grey Plover, 5 Knot, 1 Dunlin, 3 Little Egrets, 18 Oystercatcher, 2 G C Grebes and the usual range of Gulls.
Siberian Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus Collybita Tristis) caught and ringed on Pennard Cliffs this morning.
Ashley Road Playing Fields: 8 little egrets, at least 26 curlew, lots of bhgulls herring gulls.. and lots of oytercatchers
Short cropped video
2 Dartford warblers together feeding between Langland and caswell – maybe feasting on all the red berries that are plentiful? Think they do have berries in autumn – plus black redstart at bottom of dunns lane – similar time of year to previous sightings in this part of oystermouth in recent years
Firecrest (male) trapped and ringed on Southward Lane this morning.
Dipper and marsh tit in the Ilston Valley yesterday
2 Ring-necked Parakeet in Morriston Park this morning. One local dog walker said he often sees around 8 together, and another said he thought there were about 14 breeding pairs in the area. Down on Aberavon, c.100 Sanderling along the beach and 15 Turnstone on the breakwater.
An amazing murmuration of several thousand starlings over Oxwich Marsh last night. Was in progress by 16:30 when I arrived and went on for at least half an hour. Flock was harassed by a sparrowhawk for sustained periods. Worth going to have a look at.
Around the Loughor bridge area , 26 Greenfinch , 18 Chaffinch, 36 Goldfinch , Couple of Reed bunting and Linnet . 1 Brambling . the bushes alongside the edge of the marsh and railway track as well as seed washed up along the high tide line seem to be good feeding areas for finches / buntings . As the hedges have mostly been flailed already , these areas are great habitat .
biggest surprise for me and a bit of patch gold was a Guillemot floating up river with the incoming tide at Castell Du
Went to see the Murton Hooded Crow at South Gower RFC before walking out to Whiteford Point where there were a minimums of 22 Eider, 2 RB Merganser, 125 Brent Geese and a summer plumage RT Diver. Single Swallow seen near Reynoldston.
Female Black Redstart briefly in Townhill this afternoon