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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.
A short visit to Penclawdd yesterday in the morning on my way to visit a friend resulted in my first Greenshanks of the autumn with 3 flying and calling as the tide was coming in. There were c18 Swallows, 15 Goldfinches and a few Linnets as well as large numbers of House sparrows and Starlings, no counts of these nor of the numerous gulls.
A count of 92(possibly more) House Sparrow is the highest count(since starting recording in 1989) for the garden at Clydach.An immature male Sparrowhawk has been on the attack but he keeps getting tangled in the pyracantha bush.
At a point on the hill above Cheriton (SS443930) a large whirling flock of 50 plus Swifts, probably a pre-migration gathering. A few House Martins and Swallows mixed in with them, but predominantly Swifts. I hope not the last I shall see this summer.
Pennard valley.. a.m.
Pair of sparrowhawks.. one adult and a juvenile
Lots of swallows hawking insects from the golf greens..
Single buzzard heard..
3 juvenile Jays in my garden in Crynant on 8th and increasing numbers of House sparrows, up to 17 in the last couple of days. 6 Collared doves on the 9th are the most I have had at any one time on the feeders. Still several House martins about in the area. River Neath estuary today only 2 Curlew, 8 Mallard, 4 Oystercatchers and numerous Black headed and Herring Gulls with a few Lesser black backs. Nice pair of Linnets on the path.
Cadaxton saltmarsh 48 mallards in the river viewed from the watch point and a female mallard with 4 Young under the watch point about 20 + house sparrows in the area
Bracelet Bay,
Quick sea watch this afternoon..
9 common scoter flying west..
1 tern sp
4 fulmar
4 gbb gulls
12 med gulls
10 bh gulls
2 herring gulls
uncountable kittiwakes..
1 grey seal
At Blackpill this afternoon on the tide there was 57 Oystercatchers, 4 Shelduck, 2 Great Crested grebes and 7 Med gulls. also a flyover Greenfinch.
Here is a nice comparison shot of a Juvenile Med Gull and Juvenile Black headed Gull taken on the Port Eynon field trip on the 1st August
Swansea Marina Barrage
2 med gulls, 12 BH gulls of various ages, 2 herring, 2 lbb’s & 1 juvenile common gull…
6 shag..
Marsh tit in my garden in Dunvant – visiting since 2 August and still here.
Caswell to Langland this morning. A Grey Heron on the rocks at Whiteshell, Gannet and Fulmar seen.