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Gower Birds
Also see: Birds of the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust
The small Gower Peninsula offers a wide range of habitats for both native and winter/summer visiting birds, mountain, deciduous woodland, pine forest, marsh and coast. Towards the end of summer/early autumn you should be able to see Manx Sherwaters Kittiwakes, and terns. The rather neglected area just behind Oxwich Bay has a coastal reed bed, and breeding birds here include the Green Woodpecker and the Common Kingfisher. The scrub area should have migrants including the Stonechat and the Linnet.
The central ridge of Cefn Bryn offers a slightly barren and bracken covered habitat, grazed by sheep and mountain ponies. Here as you walk or ride along the tracks, you may well startle a skylark from the ground. as well as hearing them singing high in the sky above. If there are nests, the skylark may pretend to be injured to lead you away from her young (believe me, this can scare your horse).
Along the coast are sand dunes, where I have seen birds of prey such as sparrow hawks and marsh harriers, feeding well off the thousand of rabbits that breed here. The dunes are littered with mussel and sea shells from the many seabirds feeding here. The dunes have the famous Gower Llanrhidian Salt Marsh to one side, and there are long sandy/ rocky, beaches all around the Peninsula, offering ideal habitat for a multitude of birds - and for seals as well, which can be seen at Rhossili, on Worms Head. Crossing the Causeway takes you to the tip of the "Worm", where many seabirds breed safely, with no predators, but be aware that the tide here is fast and dangerous, and check the times before you cross.
At Cwm Ivy there are pine forests leading down to a bird hide, Burges island. with still water pools as well as the fast flowing waters of the Loughor estuary mouth. On the walk down you will pass Great Tor, where a family of ravens have lived for many years, - in the breeding season you will see one or two much smaller crows attacking the buzzards and warning them to keep away, and you should hear the croaking ravens high above.
In the woodlands leading to the dunes behind the Britannia Pub there are woodpeckers and buzzards as well as the usual thrushes and songbirds, and as you approach the Marsh a little further on you will see many types of wildfowl, - the shelduck are particularly stunning and bright against the marsh landscape. A fairly new visitor to our area is the Little Egret, snowy white and very elegant. Herons thrive here, teaching their young how to fish on the streams and pills that criss cross the marshland.
Foraging is great on Gower, adding interest to a walk for young children! - By the steel lighthouse on Llangennith beach are excellent mussels (also at Oxwich Bay). At various times of year, blueberries, blackberries, cockles, hazelnuts, wild mushrooms, even crabs (Oxwich Point, Slade bay) and lobster (if you are clever) at Rhossili can be gathered.
Quoting from the experts on the subject, Neil Donaghyy of Celtic Bird Tours describes December bird watching......
"There is a hide that offers a panoramic view over the vast salt marsh of the Burry Inlet and here we can expect close views of a large number of birds. Approximately one thousand Dark-bellied Brent Geese are normally present and there are good counts of Slavonian Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser and Common Eider most years.
"Thousands of shorebirds are present including Dunlin, Sanderling, Red Knot, Eurasian Curlew and Oystercatchers, and large flocks of Common Shelduck and Eurasian Wigeon are also present. There is always the chance of an unusual grebe and Snow Buntings could be on the shingle ridge. Common Crossbill, Coal Tits and Goldcrest are often noted and it would not be unexpected to find Green Woodpecker, Common Raven and Bullfinch.
"Small numbers of Firecrest normally spend the winter in the area and common woodland species should be present on the walk out. We check a small copse for Woodcock, and if time permits, we will drive back along the coast to Penclawdd to view the salt marsh.
"Water Pipit is a regular, if uncommon migrant and there is the possibility of finding a wintering Common Sandpiper or Greenshank and one or two Spotted Redshank are also found most years. Eurasian Spoonbill has also been recorded during winter.
"In the late afternoon, visit Llanrhidian Marsh, where we hope to encounter a Hen Harrier or two as they fly into roost, Little Egrets on the salt marsh and Short-eared & Barn Owls, Jack Snipe and Green Sandpiper are also possible."
Source: The Dove Tail Directory