WelshFalcon
Well-known member
Blackpill
Leave Swansea southwards on the A4067 towards Mumbles. You will soon reach a pitch and putt golf course on the left-hand side of the road, and at the end of it you will see a pub on the right hand side. If you park considerately in the pub’s car park you may be OK but I have heard that they now threaten to clamp and charge £20 any vehicle that is not a pub customers. Cross back over the main road and walk past the paddling pool to the cycle track along the shore. This cycle track extends all the way from Swansea to Mumbles, and gives great access to the whole shoreline. This area of beach and mudflats at Blackpill is famous as the place where the UK’s first Ring-billed Gull was found, and in fact this species continued to be seen here for a good few years before it was located elsewhere. This is a gull-watchers dream in winter, with a large gull roost including all the regular species - Common, Black-headed, Herring, Lesser and Greater Black-backs. Given this, and the regular attention the site receives, rarer gulls are discovered regularly, and as well as Ring-billed Gulls other frequent visitors include Little, Glaucous, Iceland and Mediterranean Gulls. But there’s much more than gulls - it is also an excellent spot for waders, especially in winter where excellent views can be had at high tide of a number of species including Oystercatchers, Grey and Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, Sanderling, Redshank, Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Knot and Greenshank. Make sure you get the tide tables right though - here’s an awful lot of mud to scrutinise at low tide!
Originally posted by Steve..I’ve taken the liberty of splitting his site reports into the correct counties for ease of reference for people visiting the forum
Leave Swansea southwards on the A4067 towards Mumbles. You will soon reach a pitch and putt golf course on the left-hand side of the road, and at the end of it you will see a pub on the right hand side. If you park considerately in the pub’s car park you may be OK but I have heard that they now threaten to clamp and charge £20 any vehicle that is not a pub customers. Cross back over the main road and walk past the paddling pool to the cycle track along the shore. This cycle track extends all the way from Swansea to Mumbles, and gives great access to the whole shoreline. This area of beach and mudflats at Blackpill is famous as the place where the UK’s first Ring-billed Gull was found, and in fact this species continued to be seen here for a good few years before it was located elsewhere. This is a gull-watchers dream in winter, with a large gull roost including all the regular species - Common, Black-headed, Herring, Lesser and Greater Black-backs. Given this, and the regular attention the site receives, rarer gulls are discovered regularly, and as well as Ring-billed Gulls other frequent visitors include Little, Glaucous, Iceland and Mediterranean Gulls. But there’s much more than gulls - it is also an excellent spot for waders, especially in winter where excellent views can be had at high tide of a number of species including Oystercatchers, Grey and Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, Sanderling, Redshank, Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Knot and Greenshank. Make sure you get the tide tables right though - here’s an awful lot of mud to scrutinise at low tide!
Originally posted by Steve..I’ve taken the liberty of splitting his site reports into the correct counties for ease of reference for people visiting the forum
