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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 Blackpill yesterday evening there was 16 Med gulls, 2 Little egrets and 4 Curlew. I could see no colour rings on the Meds or large gulls present
Still 21 Swifts feeding over Glynneath today….will not be long before they are off south
Before a walk to map the extent of ‘new’ saltmarsh that has established off Loughor Foreshore in the last few years (which turned out to be ~10ha), I did a quick count of all I was about to disturb! In decreasing levels of abundance there were; 743 Black-headed Gulls (not a single Med!), 69 Lesser Black-backed Gulls , 34 Oystercatchers, 29 Herring Gulls, 7 Dunlins, 6 Little Egrets, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, 2 Little Ringed Plovers (a nice surprise as it’s a species I’ve not recorded here previously) 1 Mallard and 1 Yellow-legged Gull. I never counted the corvids! In… Read more »
Barry,
Interesting that you had LRPs. I could find none on my recent visit at the regular site further up the estuary despite finding good numbers there earlier during my spring visit. I wonder if they’ve moved from there or are just migrants stopping off. Im hoping the new vegetation will attract other fresh water migrant waders in the future although in my experience these areas can disappear as soon as they come.
Bird activity at RSPCA Llys Nini has increased significantly in the last couple of weeks; the Swallows in the horse shed have hatched their second brood, not long after the first brood successfully fledged, and there are juveniles of most of the residents including Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Green Woodpecker and Bullfinch. After the cold spring it’s been pleasing to see some juvenile Blue Tits too, though we’ve not seen a juvenile Great Tit at the site so far this year. Goldfinches are particularly evident with a flock of c50 taking a liking to those thistles and knapweeds that have… Read more »
Female Tufted Duck with five youngsters on Singleton Park Boating Lake in Swansea this evening. A Tuftie with a single young was on Brynmill Park Lake a few days ago.
A very successful and well-attended field trip today: 20 GOS members gathered at the Salt House, Port Eynon for a bit of sea watching and a gentle stroll up the hill and down into Overton. 30 Species seen, including Med Gull, Sandwich Tern, Whimbrel and Ringed Plover all close on shore. Gannet out to sea and Cormorant and Shag in the Bay. In the gorse we found Chiff Chaff and Willow Warbler as well as Linnet, Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler. A grey Heron on the sea-facing rocks preening well and my nomination for bird of the day: a juvenile Cuckoo.… Read more »
An enjoyable morning, thanks
Thanks for a great walk on Sunday and thanks to Ed for his advice and tips.
The photos aren’t great but at least you can make out what they are!
And a couple more
Read the latest news from Gower Ringing Group here: https://www.gowerbirds.org.uk/oxwich-marsh-late-july-2021-a-foreign-control-and-a-poisonous-visitor/
Oxwich Marsh: 63 reed warblers and the first garden warbler of the autumn captured by Gower Ringing Group this morning. Also the first day this year with a number of juvenile Cetti’s warblers. Adder.
Two young Green Woodpeckers in our garden at Manselfield foraging for ants. Both flew off before I could get a photo!
A late post about a community walk in the Crynant Forest on 20th July. We were looking for nightjars and heard 4 churring males and saw 5 birds flying around. At least 2 of these were juveniles. On 26th some of us from Gower Ringing Group caught and ringed a juvenile in the same area.
Saw a black-headed gull at Swansea bay with ring AY-EE. Picture attached
Could be Mediterranean gull
You’re right: it’s a Med Gull. White wing tips, not black. The bill is bigger and blunter than the B Headed. The black on the head spreads further down the neck.
Great, thanks
I will send the details to the ringing scheme and post the history of the bird here tomorrow / when we get it.
The bird was ringed in the nest in Leipzig, Germany in June 2017. It has since been recorded on passage / in winter in Berkshire (Moor Green Lakes), Penarth, Bridgend and Bracelet Bay, and on various occasions in Germany, where it appears to continue to breed.
Thanks as always to Renaud Flamant and Camille Duponcheel for rapid provision of information
Thank you 😀
That is really interesting, thanks for your effort
Caswell to Rothers Tor.
6 chough between Rotherslade and Limeslade and heading east.
4 Med gulls including a juvenile at Langland. Two recently-fledged parties of stonechat (one by Whiteshell Point and one on Rothers Tor).
Also plenty of grayling in the barer rocky areas, gatekeeper in local shelter, a small blue at Caswell and a holly blue on ivy at Langland.