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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.
At Mewslade – there was a Pied Flycatcher (in the upper valley) , 10 Chiffchaff , 4 Blackcap and a Spotted flycatcher at Middleton Farm. Several Skylarks, Swallows and House martins moving through
At Port Eynon – 43 Med Gulls, 7 Sandwich Tern, 20 Turnstone, 67 Ringed Plover- inc 3 small dark tundra types. 15 Sanderling, 2 Dunlin
At Blackpill – around 80 Med gulls inc 2 white colour rings, 3 Yellow Legged Gulls, 7 Dunlin and 2 Bar Tailed Godwit. Also a black colour ringed Black headed Gull
Oxwich Marsh: yellow-browed warbler (trapped and ringed), 16 chiffchaff, kingfisher, small influx of goldcrests and reed buntings. Read more about the ringing session here: https://www.gowerbirds.org.uk/oxwich-marsh-26-september-an-autumn-sprite/
Margam Park today with Phil Routliff- 112 Canada Geese, 22 Mallard, 5 Moorhen, 20 Pied Wagtails & 63+ Swallows migrating SSE.
At Blackpill today on the run up to high tide 1 Yellow legged Gull (- diff to yesterdays this a 2nd year bird). 25 Med gulls only 2 1st years the rest were adults ( non with colour rings). Also 20 Bar tailed Godwit, 10 Sanderling, 3 knot, 4 Dunlin, 4 Curlew, 30 Swallow flew east, 1 Wheatear near the stream and 3 Little Egret
A Jay this morning at Higher Lane, Langland with a call imitating a buzzard’s call.
At Weobley track today 31 Golden Plover with 7 Dunlin on the saltmarsh. A kingfisher was out fishing the saltmarsh pools. On a Post a Osprey was seen on posts towards Llanrhidian was presumably a new bird in. At Blackpill 75 Med Gulls which none were colour ringed and mainly adults about 20 1st years and 2 2nd winters. Also a Adult Argentatus Herring Gull a , 1st year Yellow legged Gull and a adult intermedus Lesser Black back Gull was quite dapper and were mixed in with the usual Common, Herring , Lesser black backs and Greater Black back… Read more »
A crested duck has taken up residence on Brynmill pond. Its been there since the summer.
Do you mean “tufted” is it black and white?
Two black-tailed godwits and around twenty oystercatchers on the beach in West Cross this afternoon. Also small group of ringed plovers headed towards Mumbles Head
Bracelet Bay car park this morning..
11 med gulls.. none ringed
7 BH gulls
2 herring gull
1 rock pipit
Flock of approx 30 goldfinches regularly at my garden feeders.. most I’ve seen in 30 yrs here.. 1 greenfinch mixes with them.. my sparrow flock has deserted me.. only 2 or 3 birds daily.. good news is the feral pigeon flock has disappeared..
This fellow was coming at dawn and dusk, but is now getting bolder. This was at 2.43pm today. The grey in its pelage suggests it’s old. Maybe for that reason getting food is becoming harder. It knows there is something to be had here, underneath the feeders.
At Whiteford sands this morning , single little stint and curlew sandpiper with approx 140 dunlin, 115 ringed plover , 12 grey plover were good to see , and 2 sandwich tern feeding close in .
Very little vis-mig and quiet in terms of passerines . A few groups of up to 10 of chaffinch and goldfinch , with several Siskin around the pines .
Fenrod lake this afternoon 18 mute swan 30 Canada geese 80+ black h gulls 60 herring gull few tufted coots moorhen chaffinch house sparrows. And mallards.
The quays Briton ferry this evening trying to count the pre roost jackdaw flock about 500+ by taking photos just put the camera away when a barn owl flew out of the council depot and over my head always nice to see one.
6 Choughs on the 7th fairway Langland Bay Golf Club this morning
Blackpill after high tide this morning
NO med gulls at all… must have been foraging elsewhere in Gower
4 little egrets
1 sandwich tern
200 herring gulls
10 lbbs
1 gbb
100 bh gulls
20 oycs
1 Brent goose
A brief stop on the Middle Head, Mumbles resulted in a late tree pipit over. Also moving (in approx 20 minutes): 60+ goldfinch, 20+ greenfinch, 20 + linnet, a few siskin, numerous meadow pipit, 4-5 grey wagtails and a few white / pied wags.
Redpoll over the garden (Langland) this morning in small numbers.
Also the non-native invasive box tree moth to light this morning.
out at Weobley saltings this morning on the incoming high spring tide were only 2 small sandpipers, 1 dunlin and 1 little stint. 8 golden plover flying around the only other sandpipers\plovers seen.
approx 30 skylark, 50+ meadow pipit, and around 40 linnet were being pushed back by the flooding tide. 2 green sandpiper , 5 snipe and 8 wheatear were at the base of the saltmarsh near the reen.
4 Wheatears, 1 Whinchat with a number of Stonechats, Meadow Pipits and Linnets near Sluxton Farm, Rhossili Down. Choughs overhead.
Aberavon Beach with Phil Routliff- 8 Guillemots,8 Cormorants,very small numbers of waders, 56 Black-headed Gulls,221 Herring Gulls,21 Lesser & 1 Great -black backed gull. 2 Ravens & a Adult male Wheatear.
Hobby hawking around Oxwich marsh this morning, now over the dunes opposite.. also Grass Hopper Warbler & whitethroat.. per Owain Gabb & Gower Ringing Group
High tide this morning at Culfor road , Loughor,,,,juv ruff , prob male on size , juv curlew sandpiper , grey plover ( all singles) , 82 redshank, 8 dunlin , 6 snipe , 36 teal .
A few hours up the gnoll with grandkids managed to sneak a few bird counts 105 black h gulls 24 Canada geese 3 grey wagtail 20 mallards a buzzard and two red kites
Whiteshell Point again. Five choughs in a flock seen from the path both going and coming. I flushed two as I climbed down to the rocks, so that’s more probably a total of seven than five. Before going into a cave I saw one rock pipit. Once in the cave I flushed another and it flew out at the north end of the tunnel-cave.
I walked from Brunel Dock to the river mouth this morning.7 Linnets, 2 Meadow pipits, I fem/imm Wheatear, 53 Curlew, 24 Dunlin, min 5 Ringed plover,4 Black tailed godwits, 1 Little egret. About 2000 Oystercatchers on the Crymlyn Burrows side of the river which were flushed by a man walking as close as he could to them to take a photo on his phone .His dogs were well-behaved and didn’t chase the birds .On the way back there were 24 Redshank in Brunel dock as the tide dropped. I didn’t count the gulls although most were Black headed with a… Read more »