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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.
Short walk through the Brynllefrith plantation north of Upper Lliw Reservoir..
Crossbills, siskins, many willow warblers, chiffchaff, ravens, skylarks, mipits, 2 red kite.. couple of swallows..
It was very cold and very windy..
27/04/2021 Evening at Llanrhidian marsh. 1 Grasshopper warbler, 2 Cetti’s warbler and 3 flyover great white egrets into roost.
Mill Wood, Penrice
Good range of species noted included a singing tree pipit (possibly a passage bird) in a relatively open area of the woodland and a brown hare on the path.
Other species included: siskin (small parties – probably breeding), green woodpecker, and a range of typical woodland species, with blackcap and wren the most vocal and very good numbers of song thrush.
April 26th Blaengwynfi mountain: tree pipits, siskin, 1 grasshopper warbler (early am BBS square).
Bishopston valley: siskin in song below Chapel House.
April 27th several siskin singing in Crawley Woods. First house martin in Bishopston (that I have seen)
Loughor Bridge over this morning’s HT. Whimbrel 39, Greylag 8, Bar t Godwit 22, Shelduck 15, Gadwall 2, pair, Oystercatcher 44, Swallow 12 north over the estuary, Black t Godwit 28, Curlew 1, Dunlin 1. Very HT lots of movement of birds around the marsh including passerines, mainly Meadow Pipits, looking for a dry place!
Castell Du @HT. Common Sandpiper 1, Shelduck 9, Little Egret 4, Sand Martin 31, Gadwall 1 pair
A flock of 20-30 curlew off Salthouse Point, Crofty this morning.
Whimbrel rather than Curlew. Good numbers migrating at the moment.Always a challenge when they are in flight
Thanks for the positive ID, Dewi.
You’re welcome.Useful pointers from your photo to distinguish from Curlew;shorter bill,the more distinct dark eye stripe and the subtle darker upperpart of head and neck.It’s always easier when they call !
Loughor Bridge @ HT. Whimbrel 20, Wheatear 1 female, Oystercatcher 45, GC Grebe 5, two pairs in display at times, Bar t Godwit 286, Arctic Skua 1, pale phase bird up the estuary then gaining height and heading off SSE, Canada Goose 2, Grey Plover 2, Common Sandpiper 1.
Just seen a photo by Neil Donaghy of an Arctic Skua seen the same morning at Kenfig. It looks like the bird from Loughor, particularly the rather faded breast band and rather ill defined cap.
Port Eynon to Longhole Cliff: 28 whimbrel on the upper shore opposite Sedger’s Bank and a further 11 at Overton. Stonechat and starling provisioning young by the YHA at Port Eynon and in Overton village respectively, and linnet nest building on Overton Cliff. Yellowhammer calling in the valley at Longhole Cliff.
Oxwich Marsh: 2 grasshopper warblers reeling. 3 wheatear in the hay field was unusual. Sparrowhawk (male), brimstone butterfly at Oxwich and holly blue in Langland
River Lliw at Pont-y-cob. Common Sandpiper 1, Mallard 2, a pair plus eight young.
My first Swift of the year at Swansea Vale this morning.
Loughor Bridge on the HT. GC Grebe 2, Bar t Godwit 333, Whimbrel 15, Dunlin 46, Grey Plover 1, Curlew 1, Gadwall 2, Bl t Godwit 7, Knot 1. Nice to be there with no fishermen tramping all over the mud flats pushing the waders around, an increasing problem in recent years it seems to me.
Castell Du at HT. Canada Goose 63, including one on eggs. Pied Wagtail 14, Shelduck 9, Sand Martin 27, Stock Dove 2, oystercatcher 3, Gadwall 2, a pair, Wheatear 1 male, plus another on the opposite bank in Carms.
new garden visitor.. first scoping things out.. then tentatively visiting the patio… fantastic birds
Loughor Bridge. Bar t Godwit 257, Whimbrel 23, Curlew 1, Knot 1, Black t Godwit 1, Oystercatcher 54. I think that’s the largest Bar tailed flock I’ve ever seen in Gower.
Dalton’s Point. Dunlin 34, Whimbrel 5,
Llanrhidian. GW Egret 1, Teal 11 (5 drakes), Gannet 2 adults heading up river then out again.
Horton & Slade
Lesser whitethroat singing from scrub by the diverted path at Slade, and a good few singing common whitethroat on the cliff at the Horton end. Red kite (nowhere near breeding habitat) foraging along the coastal slope.
6 whimbrel on the rock platforms
Male sparrowhawk at Horton village.
Tankeylake Moor. Willow Warbler 1 singing from the gorse.
Broughton Bay. GC Grebe 3
Salthouse Point at HT. Bar t Godwit 169 in various plumages from full bp to nbp, Whimbrel 5, GC Grebe 2, Slavonian Grebe 2 at least. Constantly diving, one in bp the other in nbp, Dunlin 14, Shelduck 35.
Pobbles Valley yesterday morning was alive with warblers.. chiffchaff, blackcaps, whitethroat, probable garden warbler (singing not seen..) wheatear on the fairway above.. Stonechat..Chough in the sky.. greenfinch.. smashing morning shame about the golf. ⛳🏌️
Walk from Lliw reservoir lower to upper today. Yellowhammer, chiffchaff, black cap, dipper, chaffinch, a warbler that I couldn’t quite identify, lesser spotted woodpecker (first I’ve ever seen). A very vocal cuckoo near upper reservoir but not very visible unfortunately!
Llanrhidian. GW Egret 1, Gadwall 3, Teal 8, Shelduck 18, two broods of Mallard totalling 20.
Port Eynon. Grey Heron 1, Whimbrel 23, Gannet 3 east, Common Scoter 3 east, Bar t Godwit 10 (one at the Point with Whimbrels then nine came in off to the beach at HT), Ringed Plover 1, Lesser Whitethroat 1 in song. Several Whitethroat and a few Kitts flying east.
Penclawdd at HT. Whimbrel 3, Curlew 1, GC Grebe 1, Shelduck 12
The final entry should be Dalton’s Point rather than Penclawdd
Worm’s Head (21/04/2021) ~200 Common guillemot (Uria aalge), ~70 Razorbill (Alca torda), ~75 Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), 6 pairs (i.e. 12) Northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), 2 Northern gannet (Morus bassanus), 5 (2 of which juveniles) Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), 2 Great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), ~ 35 Herring gull (Larus argentatus)
Oxwich 20/04/2021 2 sandwich tern, 1 gannet, 1 goldcrest, 1 green woodpecker heard yaffling.
Rhossili 20/04/2021 11 Red throated diver, 3 sandwich terns, 3 sand martin, 2 kestrel, 2 whitethroat, 2 fulmar