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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.
Nice chattering of 8 choughs at West cliff, Pennard this afternoon. Also a female stonechat.
Oxwich: pied flycatcher, 2 garden warbler. 400+ swallows and c. 10 sand martins at evening roost
Correction: it was not the Bishopston Stream; it was Ilston. The kingfishers knew where they were.
On the recommendation of Derek Thomas, I was on Bishopston Stream near the church this afternoon – but failing to get photographs. Odonata including ♂ banded demoiselle. Buzzard and woodpigeon heard. Great tit and blue tit coming to bathe. Family of goldfinches likewise. At 3.33 a kingfisher flew upstream from the direction of the pedestrian bridge that leads to the church. Less than two minutes later two (presumably including the first) flew downstream. Much noise and/or disturbance from gardeners with machines, aircraft and dog walkers.
Three Little Egrets flew in and landed in front of Oyster Wharf in Mumbles this morning at 07.10.
Oxwich Marsh: yellow wagtail in flight (calling), grasshopper warbler.
At the main Gnoll pond this afternoon 50+mallard in eclipse plumage 80+ black h gulls coots,moorhens adults and juvs 15 house sparrows 2 buzzards 2 mute swan and 4 lesser b b gulls
Two common terms (one adult, one juv) at Port Eynon near the salt house.
A juv peregrine at Dalton’s Point this afternoon chasing and missing gulls and waders. Hunting skills need improvement.
3 Sandwich Terns feeding in Pwll Du bay this afternoon
Literally came eye to eye with a stunning Peregrine…darting low between heavy gorse/bush’s high above Langland (17/08/22)
Oxwich Marsh: 3 grasshopper warblers, influx of sedge warblers also noted. House martins foraging very low in close conditions
Port Talbot Dock (per Darryl Spittle): 104 Med Gulls, 22 Curlew, 66 Oystercatcher, 3 Whimbrel, 10 Ringed Plover, 6 Dunlin, 2 Common Sandpiper and 1 Redshank.
Open ground to south of wet docks: Whinchat plus a few Sedge and Willow Warblers.
Mouth of Afan: 3 Kingfisher, 7 Redshank and a Common Sand on the river.
Also peregrine, goshawk
Coed Frank cementry this morning 10am to 11am 35 goldfinch lots of juvs among them ,30+house sparrows,12 mistle thrush,14 starlings,15 wood pigeons,female bullfinch,66 Canada geese over flying East ,swallows,raven carrion crow,robin,a good hours birding.At neath salt marsh 130 starlings on the wires.
The Canal,Trebannws.Moorhen still breeding. Two “active” nests.Last evening one hen was sitting tight on one nest by this morning there were two chicks. Another hen was sitting tight this morning until disturbed by a spaniel
Oxwich Marsh am: nightjar (young bird). Tree pipit at 0720 likely to be the first of many over
Giants grave this morning 50+swallows heading South starting the long journey safe passage
Blackpill (with Renaud Flamant)
Peak count of 277 Mediterranean gulls. Included a Serbian, 11 Belgium / Netherlands, 3 French and 4 German colour-ringed birds.
Also one German and 2 Norwegian-ringed black-headed gulls.
At Llanelli a Dutch-ringed Mediterranean gull (with Gary Harper)
13/08 at Oxwich.
Garden warbler, 3 grasshopper warbler, c. 20 tree pipit over during the morning, sparrowhawk with buzzards over Penrice Estate, kingfisher
Incredible and beautiful high tide at Penclawdd Marsh this evening.
Highlights:
2 Pied Avocet flew past at 7:15pm. Dreadful pictures attached.
150 Redshank, 50 Curlew, 5 Whimbrel, 1 Green Sandpiper. 700 BHGU, 2 GBBG, 30 LBBG, 20 HEGU, 1 Med Gull.
Additionally 1 Great White Egret and 1 Sandwich Tern.
Penclawdd Marsh this morning:
Greylag, Canada, and Barnacle Goose (see previous post). Also a Greylag x Canada Goose hybrid. Distant, bad photos attached of the hybrid and the Barnacle Geese.
1 Kingfisher fishing in the main gutter.
Oxwich Marsh: 2 snipe, tree pipit over and a kingfisher. Very few warblers this morning, with blackcap the most conspicuous
2 Barnacle Goose associating with 82 Canada Goose and 7 Greylag Goose on the Penclawdd Marsh right now
Oxwich yesterday: grasshopper warbler (juv) first thing, garden warbler. Evening roost of c. 2000 swallows with very small numbers of sand martin. c. 200 starling also present.
Great to find a small cluster of migrants in the Neath valley yday near Resolven which held 2 Spot Flycatcher, a Pied Flycatcher – something I cannot recall seeing away from the breeders in the far north of the valley in Powys, 2 luminous yellow Juvenile Willow Warblers and 4 Chiffchaff. All Associating together using some wires to fly-catch. Nice group of 30 House Martin and 20 Swallow too.
Oxwich Marsh: young grasshopper warbler, and a vocal greenshank over first thing.