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.
If you would like to use photos, please arrange permission beforehand.


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.

Saturday 1 August 2015

Rosy Starling at Aberavon

The adult Rosy Starling performed well for a number of birders at Aberavon, today. It was seen at around 6pm, yesterday, by Bob Anderson et al along the Wales Coast Path next to the playing fields, between the mouth of the River Afan and first footbridge. This morning a check in that area returned only handfuls of Starlings moving from house to house, and dropping out of site into gardens. However, 500m away at Jersey Quay a decent flock of Common Starlings were gathered on the rooftops of the flats, congregating out of the wind on the sheltered sides of the roofs, occasionally dropping down to feed in the courtyard. This flock periodically fragmented and small flocks ranged fairly widely from here in many directions. After a wait of 20mins the Rosy Starling suddenly appeared, had a snooze for a couple of minutes among the sheltering flock, before perking up and becoming more active. The bird then showed fairly well on the rooftops between short periods when it dropped out of sight.
Power nap!
Reports coming back from the site mention that the bird was coming to bread on a few occasions (thank goodness it isn't a Blue-winged Teal!), so worth bearing that in mind if planning to visit. If visiting please be mindful to respect the privacy of the residents at Jersey Quay. The bird does range fairly widely, though this seems to be a reliable location that it returns regularly. If keen to search for it elsewhere, then it's worth noting the full length of the seafront heading North-west from Jersey Quay often holds decent sized flocks of Starling, most regularly on the grassy areas near the various food outlets.

Jersey Quay is at the South-eastern end of The Princess Margaret Way, Aberavon

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