In most respects today was a fairly quiet day, with a few nice oddities thrown into the mix. However, the standout highlight in terms of migration spectacles was some excellent visible migration of hirundines. Chief amongst these were 896 Swallows, with 89 House Martins and five Sand Martins thrown in for good measure. 16 Grey Wagtails, 20 "alba" Wagtails, three Skylarks and a Merlin also passed over, while it was a good day too for Finches, the 95 Goldfinches, 21 Chaffinches, five Siskins and four Lesser Redpolls were a mixture of birds lingering on the island and passing through. It was a similar story with Meadow Pipits, of which 218 were logged today, many of those heading out to sea or passing over Pen Cristin, but others lingering around the island. A bit of Carrion Crow movement was also logged; six headed south over the South End in the morning, doubling back just a few minutes later. Five that headed north from the North End towards the Llyn Peninsula at dusk were making a more concerted attempt to leave the island!

On the land, both the Wryneck and the Barn Owl remained for their fourth and third day respectively, the highlights of a modest selection of new arrivals was a Pied Flycatcher trapped and ringed at Nant and a juvenile Yellow Wagtail that pitched in near the South End hide in the morning. Otherwise most totals were a bit lower than yesterday, with 111 Goldcrests, 34 Robins, 19 Stonechats and 12 Chiffchaffs the commonest migrants. Seven Blackcaps, two Whitethroats and singles of Willow Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher were all else that could be mustered up. Around the coast, increases were noted in the number of Rock Pipits and White Wagtails, with 35 and 22 seen respectively.

Wryneck- Ephraim Perfect; Ephraim's Bird Blog

Out to sea there were two main highlights, both off the South End. Early in the morning, a nice Black-throated Diver headed West, just the second record of the year. More unexpected, given the flat calm conditions, was a juvenile Long-tailed Skua passing close inshore at around mid-day, most unusual! Two Pomarine Skuas were also seen, including one adult with spoons. A little bit of early morning duck passage was again noted, with seven Wigeons and 23 Common Scoters, and three Grey Herons heading west past the South End Hide were a bit odd. Otherwise, most of the interesting sightings were amongst the Kittiwake flock, with the total for this species numbering 3132 today. Scanning through them picked out most of the 13 Arctic Skuas, three Great Skuas, 24 Black-headed and nine Common Gulls and seven Sandwich, six Arctic, three Common and three "Commic" Terns.

The most interesting wader sightings were singles of Knot and Purple Sandpiper roosting on the Narrows at high tide. Otherwise there seemed to have been a bit of a clearout, with lower totals of 43 Curlews, 28 Turnstones and ten Redshanks. Five Dunlins, four Whimbrels and a Snipe were the best of the rest.