Flock of 70+ common scoter in the outer bay (could have been twice that many as impossible to accurately count due to swell and distance).
31 teal in the marsh, with smaller numbers of gadwall and mallard.

A male brambling with goldfinches this morning (found and photographed by Paul Tyrell).
Also a chiffchaff, a few goldcrests, two sparrowhawk, a kestrel and an early morning movement of c. 425 woodpigeon west.

Black redstart 1st w / female at SS5029 8727. On fence line by double gate at 07:30
On pool: 7 gadwall, 4 little grebe, 2 moorhen
On sea: 1 Med gull (ad w/pl), with 30+ common gull, great crested grebe and guillemot
Peregrine over Penmaen

A male black redstart on the rear roof of the Salt Bar and behind Cinderella’s. Area best viewed from above (by the railings on the cliff top)

Great northern diver c. 300m off Mumbles Pier. Adult with some traces of summer plumage still visible.
3 red-breasted merganser across Swansea Bay past lighthouse.
Mumbles Hill. Some large mixed flocks of tits (including a lot of long-tailed) with 2-3 chiffchaff and a few goldcrests amongst them.
Almost all the Med gulls were at Limeslade this evening.

A brambling over the Mumbles Cricket Ground this morning.
6+ chiffchaff between the sycamores at the top of Plunch Lane and the top of Mumbles Hill.
3+ blackcap. An apparent increase in blackbird and song thrush on the top
Redpoll over (west)

Ring ouzel on Mumbles Hill this morning. Bird seen in flight – probably flushed by dog walker. Bird did two circuits of the top, last seen flying toward the mast. No indication it left the area, but I couldn’t refind it. Looked like a 1st winter.
Also 3 blackcap (2m, 1f) and a few chiffs. A few flocks of crests about. Difficult to pin down in the holm oaks. All birds I have got on in the last week have been goldcrest.
A few swallows over the hill, and some very light vis mig of swallow and house martin at Snaple Point, Langland. All birds east.

Yellow-browed warbler at Longhole Cliff. Bird at top of valley at OS Grid Ref SS45440 85234.
Hobby briefly at Overton.
Otherwise chiffchaff relatively common in all sheltered areas, and the odd blackcap.
Oxwich early am, 4 chiffchaff, 1(f) blackcap, goldcrest (6), snipe and water rail in the marsh, and redwing (5-7), siskin (10+) and redpoll (1) west.

My highest ever count of Med gulls at Bracelet – 87 on the low water rocks this evening, with a few common and herring gulls. I assume that all the birds from Blackpill to Caswell have collected in the bay to hide from the north-easterlies. Nothing on the lighthouse island this evening, and very little on Mumbles Hill this morning.

A merlin was hunting pipits around the lighthouse this evening.
Two common scoter off the pier, and 140 kittiwakes using the ledges.
Mumbles Hill pretty dead for the past few days, but a few chiffchaff (including 2 singing this am) and a blackcap this evening.

Between 07:05 and 08:05: 1058 swallows, 96 house martins, 286 meadow pipit, a reed bunting, 7 starlings, 24 pied / white wagtails, 2 grey wagtails, 38 linnet, 42 chaffinch, 119 goldfinch and 11 greenfinch flew east across Swansea Bay.

As the south easterly wind dropped off, the front on which birds were moving became far broader, and it was not possible to get accurate counts that could be compared with the first hour. However, hirundine movements probably increased after this, judging by the numbers of house martins and swallows over Mumbles Hill.

Mumbles Hill: blackcap, a few siskin and skylark (not recorded during the early morning watch) over

Worked all the coastal valleys and sheltered ground between the Mewslade Valley and Common Cliff.
Mewslade: 3 spotted flycatcher, numerous chiffchaff, several blackcap. Didn’t linger, and BS and NE later revised to 5-6 spotted fly and also recorded a garden warbler.
Ram Grove: spotted flycatcher, 2 male blackcap, 2 chiffchaff (1 singing)
The Knave: spotted flycatcher, whitethroat, chiffchaff, blackcap.
Foxhole Slade: whinchat (nice 1st winter).
Chough at Ram Grove (2) and The Knave (2). Peregrine at Common Cliff. Chiffchaff common in all sheltered scrub. 11 wheatear along the stretch (at least 5 at Mewslade).
Huge movement of swallow this morning, and almost as many meadow pipit (all east). Wagtails also moving (inc grey). A couple of wagtails that had landed at Butterslade were albas.
Nothing offshore (stopped for lots of scans) other than gannets, shags and gulls
Common sandpiper at Limeslade first thing.

A migration watch between 07:15 and 08:15 recorded (east unless noted): 153 meadow pipits ; 2 reed bunting; 58 swallows; 57 goldfinch (not all movement directional, max flock 26); 49 greenfinch (mainly west); 4 pied wagtail; 26 linnet; 8 chaffinch (unclear whether just local movement for all but 3), 10 starling; 5 house martin and 2 skylark.

Also 18 common scoter seen flying into Swansea Bay close in to the Tutt.

Birds at Oxwich this morning included a grasshopper warbler, 15+ chiffchaff, 5+ reed warbler, 4+ blackcap and three whitethroat. Teal calling from the marsh early morning. Substantial movements of swallows and house martin, and more limited passage of meadow pipits during the morning. A few siskin over.

Whiteford – 27 Sandwich tern loafing on beach at low water, 20 eider, 1 red-breasted merganser, 23 great crested grebe, 1 shag, 6 snipe flew over and up the Burry Inlet and a kingfisher was seen on Cwm Ivy Marsh.

26 Sandwich terns roosting towards Burry Holms this morning.
Waders on the beach were ringed plover (3), sanderling (3), dunlin (1), knot (1) and c. 50 oystercatcher.
Also 2 Sandwich terns off the lighthouse island (Mumbles) this pm.

2 Arctic terns briefly with foraging kitts off Bracelet Bay.
A great crested grebe sat on the sea was unusual. Otherwise 10-15 gannets and a guillemot.
17 Med gulls sat on the sea at Bracelet, with a few more around Limeslade.

Quiet seawatch.
8 common scoter west (5m 3f/imm)
5 gannet
1 guillemot
Lots of juvenile kittiwakes offshore, with some of the more distant ones causing a few flutters!

Seawatch 07:25-08:25.
A dark morph Arctic skua was chasing kittiwakes off the Tutt from around 08:15-08:22 when it headed west.
Otherwise: 11 common scoter west (1,4,6), 2 immature shag foraging off the head and one adult west, a guillemot on the sea and good numbers of gannet. Gannets not possible to accurately count, as movements not directional, but a minimum of 20 and possibly double that number.

Did another hour of seawatching (17:10-18:10) after the rain had moved through.
The only highlight was an intermediate morph adult Arctic skua just after 18:00 which lingered off the head to kick the kittiwakes around.
Other than that, more gannets than this morning (c.15), a razorbill and a very distant shearwater species that was probably a Manxie.

Seawatch between 08:10 and 10:45
Highlight was a s/pl red-throated diver that flew west at 09:02.
Otherwise: 6 common scoter, 7 gannet, 3 shag, 2 Manx shearwater, 1 fulmar, 1 auk spp and 8 oystercatcher. All except oycs and 1 gannet west.