Welsh Find of the Year 2013

I remembered that I had a trophy stored away in box which I recently uncovered.  It was originally made for our YOC bird races back in the day of the Colwyn Bay YOC.  The YOC and its 24hr bird races got me into birding, then listing from a very early age followed by an urge for rarity finding.  I was thinking of a new use for it and with the help of WOS we propose to award it (along with a couple of other [better] goodies!) to the person responsible for what the panel consider to be the Welsh find of the Year.  There isn't enough made of seriously good finds but we hope this will be just a bit of fun nonetheless.  Even so there will have to be a few guidelines!  

For those wondering; yes, the shield will be updated and the species and finder's name will be added to a separate plate.  It will be awarded to what the panel consider the find of the year; potentially not the rarest bird recorded as the scenario and context behind some finds might be more deserving. The winner will be announced during the following January and awarded with a trophy, an annual subscription to WOS, plus other goodies.  

A list of the top 5 finds will be published at the time of the award announcement.

So the guidelines; particular reference was made to the Punkbirders' self-found rules with a bit of tweaking to suit.   

• The record must have been accepted by the BBRC or WRP.  (The award may be delayed pending a decision or another record may be considered if there is a longer delay).
• The bird must have been found prior to trapping.  Birds initially trapped are excluded.
• Rare breeders or returning wintering birds are excluded.
• For joint finds- the award will be given to whoever clinched the ID.  If this is unclear then another record might be considered.
• News ignorance- Finding something unbeknown to you that news was already on publicly open resources is excluded.
• Re-Identifications are included.  If a bird initially identified as X but you identify it as Y then that counts, unless the correct species is mentioned on publicly open resources prior to you getting there.
• Re-finds could be included if re-found in a different county/country from where it originated.
• Local significance- some weight will be given to more common species found in remarkable locations
• Belated news-Not a lot can be done about this other than consider the record in the year for when it came into public domain.
• Suppression and leakage- again it happens but unless its in the public domain then there's not a lot can be done to consider the record. 

If you think I've missed something off please get in touch, otherwise have a great birding, rarity-finding year! 

Rob