3 yellow wagtail,singles of tree pipit,spotted fly, whitethroat.6 wheatear and like elsewhere coastal constant stream of meadow pipit mainly w\nw to east,swallow movement was pretty constant from 8am on.also 3 teal off the causeway was unusual.the worm was pretty quiet save a chiffchaff and usual robin,dunnock,rock pipit,linnet,wren

mewslade valley seemed to have a few migrants about…

hello thanks for the invite 🙂

out my garden i have noticed 1 solitary male black billed blackbird eating away at my blackberries, looks like the migrants are starting to come 🙂

(images coming soon…)

No sign of Wryneck 9.30-2.00pm. 1 Wheatear; 2 Peregrines hunting together before alighting on the second pylon north; good passage of swallows and pipits, some goldfinch, a few linnet and wagtails.4 Curlew. 4 Clouded yellow; 2 Common blue (m+f); Meadow brown. Yesterday 2 Ruddy Shelduck.

Large passage of Meadow Pipits – flock of 40 – 50 in field below Traveller’s Rest.

Brambling

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

No sign of the wryneck between 17:00 & 18:00. A peregrine with a kill flew over and there were 15 Pintails on the sea. The highlight however was a great skua on the tideline by the long line of rocks that go out into the sea.

A report of a Wryneck this am at the WTW/motor-park. The bird was not relocated despite searching by observers – MCP pers comm.

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.

Black Swan!

light trickle of Swallows moving south east 7.30 am-8.00 am (a mere 100), and a few more over Canton til 9am. A few Meadow Pipits and occasional Skylark, Pied Wagtail over. Six chiffchaffs.- in scrub.

Lots of migration this morning. Thousands and thousands of swallows heading out over the channel in a steady stream, hundreds by each minute. Also smaller numbers of house martins. Large numbers of meadow pipit overhead or alighting in fields before heading off, also a few skylark, pied wags, flocks of linnet and Siskin. Plenty of chiffchaff in the hedgerows and roadside bushes. Also kestrel, sparrowhawk and buzzard.

0745-1015. Plenty of visible migration today: Spot Fly (1); Stonechat (1); Meadow Pipit (70); Swallow (1000+); Sand Martin (40+);  Chiffchaff (20+); Blackcap (10); Siskin (6). (DJJ/GJJ)

Watermill: wigeon 6

Portobello: common sandpiper 1, wigeon 4, little egret 1, wheatear 1, and according to one of the anglers 2 red kite flew over before I arrived.