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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.
Surprised to see a great spotted woodpecker on a telephone post (wooden ) outside my house found at least two active swifts nests on my street in Briton ferry
Parties of 6 and 4 very low screaming swifts over Cromwell Street, Mount Pleasant and King Edward’s Road, Uplands this morning. Flock of over 20 swifts slightly higher over Mount Pleasant.
Limeslade to Rotherslade this morning. One Gannet off shore, five Chough flying east. Three seals close inshore and barking. Over Thistleboon 10 Swifts feeding and screaming.
Nine Swifts feeding over Clydach this morning and another two around the Church at Trebannws..Wont be long before they start on their return journey.
A red kite over caewern neath this afternoon
Nice to see 15 swifts over Briton ferry this evening they were probably screaming but I can’t hear them these days even with my hearing aids
Up to 13 swifts this morning low over Morriston, suggesting they are breeding in small numbers there. Singles and groups of up to 5 noted over a two hour period in various areas. Peregrine eating a feral pigeon on the Tabernacle in Woodfield Road.
West Cliff, Southgate, this morning: Whitethroats, Goldfinches and a flock of Linnets. Only a couple of Swallows at Hunts Farm, Peregrine flying low along the cliff, Kestrel higher up and three Herons flying together from the roost to fishing grounds. Also this dead Adder and Field Vole on the road, probably run over by a car.
At the moment there are around 500 Jackdaws around Clydach-with a large number of juvenile birds. This afternoon they were intermittently put up by the local falcons. The immature falco was put through its paces by mother using the fragmented flock as target practice. At one time it went for a Lesser Black Back Gull but the gull appeared unperturbed.
Six swifts foraging high between Rotherslade and Limeslade this morning.
Fulmar over the sea, and a grey seal at Limeslade.
Can anyone explain sudden singng in the last week of blackcaps in many places, after silence since early May? Is it idle males in a gap between two broods?
Young chough have finally appeared on the cliffs here. This family of two adults, three young and one (nearest) uncertain seen this morning, along with two other adults. At about 17:30 ten chough past heading west, and at 20:25 five heading east. (Also this morning, about three feet in front of me, a large hawkmoth with very long straight proboscis hovering by thistles and quickly moving on. I assumed a hummingbird hawkmoth from the hovering, but after consulting an insect book I though the one I had seen was much bigger. Is this unusual? Couldn’t identify wing colours because they… Read more »
Sorry, photo appears not to have attached.
Oxwich Marsh this morning: reeling grasshopper warbler, 22 reed warblers including lots of juveniles, young Cetti’s warbler, bullfinch, great spotted woodpecker and wren. Read the ringing report here: https://www.gowerbirds.org.uk/oxwich-marsh-3-july-2022-juvenile-behaviour/
Langland this afternoon: dark green fritillary and humming bird hawkmoth
Aberdulais basin 3.30 grey and pied wagtail family parties feeding on the swarms of flies over the water also swits,swallows,house and sand margins and dipper joining in the fun 2 buzzards over the golf range
Turtle Dove in my garden in Penllergaer, yesterday and today. Poor phone photo attacched
The GOS field trip to Pant y Sais Fen took place on Friday 1st July, with Bob Tallack and Rob Jones leading. A dozen of us turned out to walk along the Tennant Canal to sharpen our bird song recognition skills. Among the 24 species recorded were Cettis, Reed and Sedge Warblers, Goldcrest, GS Woodpecker and Nuthatch. As we left we were rewarded with the sight of a flock of Ravens gathering to roost, more than fifteen birds and a final flourish as a Kingfisher streaked along the canal. A very rewarding evening in good company and we shall do it all again… Read more »
Red Kite over Sketty Park Drive at 13.40 today.
I was walking along there this afternoon, Sunday, and was almost sure I saw a Red Kite ahead of me. It drifted off towards Sketty Cross before I could get my camera onto it to be sure.
Clyne common this evening, saw 3 house martins, 3 swifts, 1 male and 1 female stonechats, 1 male Reed bunting and 2 carrion crows
West of Uni Engineering Campus 2 Little Ringed Plover
Bracelet this morning; adult Carrion Crow feeding two juvs and a flock of six Choughs.
Very blustery morning on the coastal path between Langland and Caswell today. One cormorant, three carrion crows (no chough) and one adult gannet managing very well in the wind.
This one Carol?
Nice siskin, Bishopston, 20th June.
Mumbles Hill, Limeslade to Rotherslade this morning. Male Blackcap, Chiff Chaffs, Whitethroats, Dartford Warbler, Green and Gold Finches and a party of three Bullfinches.
A new blog post, written by Wayne Morris and Colin Baker and concerning ongoing local work on dippers is now on the ringing page. See:
https://www.gowerbirds.org.uk/dipper-breeding-season-2022/
Apologies to all who were due to attend, but we have had to push our Pant y Sais Fen field trip back to 1 July as the weather is too poor tonight to make it worthwhile. We hope you can make the rearranged date.