GRC Blog


Welcome to the GRC Recorders pages. This blog provides details on all the relevant news of Glamorgan’s scarcer birds, plus all BBRC & WRP decisions that affect us locally. It will also be used to document the status and occurrence of these scarcer species and we welcome contributions from anyone with photographs, artwork or documentation of rarities past, present and future. The GRC also welcomes all seawatching news from around Glamorgan and news of passage migrants in spring & autumn, uncommon birds in our area and unusual behaviour.


All visitors are welcome. You must first register by sending an email to GlamRC@gmail.com before you can contribute. An invite will be sent to your email address. Blog content will be strictly moderated. Access to pages and downloads are available to everyone. All photographs on this blog remain the property of the originator.
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The Glamorgan Rarities Committee, in conjunction with the Glamorgan Bird Club & Gower Wildlife , have agreed to co-operate with the Welsh Ornithological Society in the sharing of bird records & photographs in the interest of keeping accurate records and to promote birdwatching in North, Mid & South Wales.

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Puffins at Worms Head

It's been on my mind for a while to make the visit to Worms Head in search of Puffins, therefore following news of Dean Bolt's visit last Sunday reporting up to 4 Puffins present around the outer head was all the encouragement I needed to try and get this bird on my Glamorgan Bird List. I suppose unofficially it was already on the list because I saw one off Port Eynon about 10 years ago, but that sighting is more a memory than a record with no date available to record against. Not sure what the rules are, or even if there are rules, but it makes sense to me to have at least a location and date for a record to be properly documented/listed.
Anyway there were up to 3 Puffins present today including a fairly distant two and a closer single bird. The bird shown above was under the breeding ledges of the Auks and Kittiwakes and was a nice reward for Darren Coombs and me following a long wait without any sign of Puffins. In fact it took about 2hrs to find any Puffins and they only came to the sea under the ledges just before we needed to start our return journey to the mainland. The initial distant sightings were 2 birds on the sea south of the outer head.
I've not been to Worms Head for many years and even longer since I ventured to the outer head. Having now spent a few hours there today it seems to me that the optimal place to look for the Puffins is from Devil's Bridge, which gives a good view of the sea below the breeding ledges and also the sea south of Worms Head.
If not familiar with the going underfoot then I would describe the route out to the outer head as challenging in places and a bit of a scramble at times. The causeway open times are displayed on a board next to the path leading down from the lookout station. The period when it is safe to cross between the mainland and inner head is generally 5 hrs split over the low tide mark i.e. 2+1/2 hours either side of the low water time. Certainly this special location is well worth a visit and seeing our very own breeding Guillemots and Razorbills on the ledges is very entertaining and rewarding.

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