Today started off very windy from the west creating a very rough sea! Luckily for the guests after a brief band of rain it calmed dramatically and so boats ran.

It was a hard days birding, with little passing at sea after mid-day and the westerly wind continued to keep migration to a minimum. A Grey Wagtail over the observatory during the introductory talk to our new guest was a good bird this year, but else where passerines were scarce with eight Willow Warblers, five Robins, 179 Linnets and 37 Meadow Pipits. With limited time spent watching the sea some counts included singles of Great Skua and Arctic Skua, 430 Kittiwakes.

Wader numbers were similar to previous days, Turnstone numbered 50, with seven Dunlin, two Sanderling, a single Common Sandpiper
and nine Redshank. 

Sunset from the observatory 

Today was one of the windiest days we have had in a while, the wind still from the southwest however made things are going with little moving on the sea and little to no chance of seeing passerines.

The main highlight from the day came from the narrows, and mostly solfach. A Knot was a nice migrant found on the beach with another one later seen coming in off the sea at the north end. Turnstones hit a new year high count with an amazing 96 seen around the narrows with five Redshanks, six Dunlin, a single Sanderling, three Whimbrel and two Purple Sandpipers. Other numbers in the mix included 22 Rock Pipits, six Chough and 25 Mallards.

A football match was also organised, a game any referee would have cancelled due to the wind but here on Bardsey that doesn't stop play. Competitive is not the word. After a tight 40 minute game one team came out victorious and was happy to rub it in the oppositions face, with many siblings being on rival teams. A nice way to end another week of guests, for some anyway.

Juvenile Knot 

Choughs, the south end pair this year

Today was a bright, yet breezy day with winds from the South-West. However, in more sheltered areas, it felt quite warm at times.

A windy start to the day gave good conditions for a sea-watch, although the wind was not in the ideal direction. The sea-watch yielded 802 Manx Shearwaters, 181 Kittiwakes, 162 Gannets, 25 Fulmar and 1 Arctic Skua. 5 Risso's Dolphins were also seen later in the day from the North End.

Numbers of waders on the island are starting to grow, too with 88 Turnstones, 30 Curlew, 35 Oystercatcher, 26 Whimbrel, 3 Sanderling and 2 Dunlin. Choughs are starting to feed down on Solfach with the waders and 15 were counted today.

Rock pipit (left) and Meadow Pipit (right) caught on Solfach.

Most migrants on the island have managed to move on, though 5 Willow warblers and 2 Whitethroat were still present today.

Small Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar outside of the Obs.

Today some rain came in during the morning, but by mid day it had long gone and the sun was out giving hot conditions with a cool breeze from the south.

It was a fairly slow day in terms of migration on the island. The guided walk was well attended with the highlight being the number of Autumn Lady's-tresses that are now appearing in all areas of short grass around the island. These Orchids don't look like the stereotypical orchids of the Dactylorhiza family, they have small flowers formed in a spiral around the stem with a tangle of small leaves protecting each flower. The scientific name Spiranthes spiralis comes from the Greek, 'speira' meaning spiral and 'anthos' meaning flower.

On the bird front not much was new, the withys held nine Willow Warblers along with a couple more at the observatory. Four Robins were of note also as well as some waders that included a single Common Sandpiper, Sanderling and Ringed Plover, 29 Turnstones and six Redshank. A short Seawatch at mid-day did produce the highlight when a brute of a Pomarine Skua powered south through the south westerly wind. 

Autumn Lady's-tresses

Today was a beautiful day with calm winds and sunshine all day. The light wind was however from the south west proving to be a bit of a blocker in terms of migrants.

In the early hours of the day, a few of the team headed over to Nant Valley to try and catch Storm Petrels again for the last time this year. They were successful, with two birds being caught, one of which being a control (a bird ringed elsewhere).

Passage was less pronounced than in previous days, however it was still evident with 90 Swallows, 4 House Martins and 38 Meadow Pipits passing through the island during the day. Grounded migrants consisted only of 12 Wheatear, 14 Willow warbler and 1 Spotted Flycatcher, the latter of which was at the obs. 

The best siting of the day, perhaps, was saved until later, when a Pod of 23 Risso's Dolphins were seen from the obs feeding close in offshore. They were watched for around half an hour, before they headed off North out of view.

One of two Storm Petrels caught                                     George Dunbar

Dunlin caught on Solfach                                           George Dunbar

The wind changed again today, it was calm still but a slight switch to the south west and clear skies meant a lot of birds had cleared out.

First thing six Grey Herons flew south down the island and a few migrants could be found including singles of Pied Flycatcher, Whinchat, Blackcap and Garden Warbler, eight Goldcrests, 37 Willow Warblers,  and three Spotted Flycatchers. 31 Wheatears were of note around the coast, six Robins was still a good count, White Wagtails were down to just 27 but our first Grey Wagtail of the year went south. Hirundines moved through till with Swallows making up the bulk today, 208 birds were counted heading south throughout the day along with 20 House Martins and six Sand Martins. A Skylark was seen and heard in the lowlands, the first of the autumn, and offshore two Great Skuas, an Arctic Skua and 32 Black-headed Gulls were seen heading south.
Waders were still feeding away on the piles of seaweed in solfach as well as a few small flocks seen heading south today, numbers included three each of Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper and Sanderling, six Dunlin, four Whimbrel, five Redshank, and 40 Turnstones. Also in the bay there were 14 Mallard and a single Teal still.

The real highlight of the day came in the evening as two of our volunteers stumbled upon a Wryneck which flew from the track and perched in some bramble for a brief moment before heading further up into the gorse. Our first of the autumn that was half expected due to a small arrival of this species across the UK in the past two days.

Today the wind was light and from the east with bands of low cloud moving through creating perfect conditions to drop things in.

Today was one of, if not the best days birding all year. Although nothing spectacular was found there were good numbers of common things and a huge variety of birds around, found by the team who were all out for the vast majority of the day!
The day started with some ringing and from this it was clear there were birds around with Pied Flycatchers at the observatory and nant as well as Spotted Flycatchers and plenty of Willow Warblers. Then at the south end Willow Warblers, Sedge Warblers and the first Whinchat of the day filled the gorse and birds started to pour south in between the waves of low cloud. House Martins were the most abundant with 141 birds heading south in groups in a two hour period along with 70 Swallows and 37 Sand Martins. Alba Wagtails were also on the move with Meadow Pipits with 61 and 97 each flying south. Then more Whinchats started to be found with a day count of seven, a Black Tern and Little Egret went south down the west coast, a strange record of a juvenile Great-crested Grebe was found in nant valley and Tree Pipits were regular, a record day count this year of 30 were seen/heard.

Day totals included a single Teal, a single Collared Dove, six Swift, 44 Sand Martins, 118 Swallows, 196 Meadow Pipits, 145 White Wagtails, 29 Wheatear, 11 Robins, six Sedge Warblers, 17 Whitethroats, a single Blackcap, six Chiffchaff, 169 Willow Warblers, 24 Goldcrests, 11 Spotted Flycatchers and seven Pied Flycatchers.

Pied Flycatcher

One of at least 12 Risso's off the south end

Today was a calm and clear day with gentle a breeze from the East, making perfect conditions for the beginning of our young birders' journeys home after a fantastic week.

The early hours of Saturday saw the team head down to Nant Valley to attempt to catch and ring Storm Petrels in favourable conditions - and the late night paid off with ten birds being caught. Two of these were already ringed, including one bird that was at least 16 years old!

However the late night didn't deter some of the young birders from being up in the morning to open mist nets at the obs which was rewarded by catching one of two Pied Flycatchers that were around the garden. Other birds seen around the island included three Spotted Flycatchers, four Tree Pipit, four Robins, an increase to 30 Pied Wagtails and two Teal. A Clouded Yellow butterfly was also seen at the North End.

one of two Pied Flycatchers at the observatory

We say goodbye to our young birders until next year

Today was the nicest day of the week, winds were down and evening swinging round to the east, and the sun was out.

It was the last full day for the young birders and so, as it is customary, the bird race was today. Three teams set out to see as many species as possible and try to beat the other teams scores. It turned out to be a good day to do it and lots of new birds were found. Migrants such as Pomarine Skua, Common Gull, Sand Martin and Reed Bunting were seen, birds that haven't been seen much or at all this autumn. At the end of the day the scores were added up and like the quiz it was close! The three teams scored 58, 60 and 60, despite all teams seeing birds that the other teams did not, and so it was a tie!
Hightlights from the day came from all over. The seawatching in the morning was farily producive with Skuas passing at sea and seen flying over the land with seven Arctic and five Great. Terns were moving in the early morning with 30 Sandwhich Terns and 44 Arctic Terns along with four Common Scoter and a single Puffin. Nant and the observatory were far busier than they have been with four Spotted Flycatchers, nine Goldcrests, 30 Willow Warblers, eight Chiffchaffs, a single Garden Warbler, three Robins, a Sand Martin over and a Song Thrush providing some entertainment. Elsewhere there were 144 Linnets, a single Goldfinch, and waders numbered 4 Turnstone, a single Common Sandpiper, five Dunlin, nine Sanderling, eight Knot and four Ringed Plovers.

Two of the three Arctic Skuas seen over the island

Great Skua (Bonxie) at the north end

The BBQ for the young birders last day

Today was much the same as the week has been, a reasonably strong wind from the west but generally it stayed dry.

The young birders were kept busy again with some ringing on the beach with the portable heligoland trap and some spring traps catching Rock Pipits. In the afternoon some Manx Shearwaters chicks were ringed at the north end with all the young birders searching every burrow they could to find a chick within reach. An activity that is very exclusive to a few places in the UK and so it is a special opportunity for these select few young birders.   

Birds were fairly thin on the ground. Counts from today including varying amount of seawatching and census work included 1173 Manx Shearwaters, 84 Gannets, three Common Scoter, singles of Buzzard and Peregrine, three Ringed Plovers, five Sanderling, four Dunlin, 13 Whimbrel, 65 Curlew, two Arctic Skua, three Great Skua, 139 Kittiwake, six Arctic Terns, a single Robin and Spotted Flycatcher, 12 Wheatear, four each of Willow Warbler and Goldcrest, 27 Magpies and 185 Linnets.

The evening finished with a quiz captained by our three members of staff. Although all the questions were bird related it included different subjects, for example geography, history, general knowledge, latin, as well as the usual identification pictures. Things got very competitive quickly and at the end of 66 answers the scores could not have been closer with the three teams scoring 49, 49 and 50!   

Quiz night!

The wind was howling from the south-west again today giving a real chill to the air at times. The rain held off again for the most part with only a few scattered showers.

Seawatching was much quieter today and although it was given a good go, highlights included 14 Arctic Terns, 807 Kittiwakes a single Great Skua, two Arctic Skuas, six Common Scoter and a Bar-tailed Godwit.

After mid-day the team heading down to Solfach to set up the portable Heligoland trap on the beach, mainly to catch Rock Pipits. This was fairly successful with three birds being caught in the Heligoland. Another two were caught in the spring traps that were intended for the Turnstones, but all five left sporting brand new white darvic rings that will hopefully provide information on the moult of these birds.

There were plenty of waders on the beach too with the first juvenile Knot in amongst 31 Turnstones, two Ringed Plovers and five each of Sanderling and Dunlin.

Other birds of note included a single Spotted Flycatcher still, 21 Pied Wagtails, two Tree Pipits, eight Wheatear, 14 Stonechats, and a single Snipe.

Rock Pipit AAC - keep an eye out

Today was a much calmer day with the wind still in the west with a touch of north at times. It rained on and off but the showers were light and passed over quickly. A good first day for the young birders was to come.....

The day started out like any other, seawatching was a priority, the nest were opened and 5 new Willow Warblers were caught. With a steady flow of the usual suspects out to sea as well as a few skuas, things were going well. Next thing, a medium sized seabird comes in from the north which immediately caught then attention of people. Watching it intently all other passing birds were ignored for the time being. It was slightly larger than a Manx Shearwater, it had a slate grey coloured mantle, slighty darker upper wings, and the underside showed a gleaming white belly contrasting with dark underwings.... "FEA'S PETREL, THERE'S A FEA'S PETREL HEADING SOUTH!" Suddenly the adrenaline started pumping, but the next task was to get as many people on it as possible. Luckily it was picked up quite far north and so in the end the bird was on view for nine minutes between 08:25-09:34. Most of the people present, including all staff and most of the young birders managed to see it! The bird slowly made its way south as it was overtaken by Gannets, Kittiwakes and Manx Shearwaters. It was gliding effortlessly, banking up on the occasion, not flapping once. What a surreal sight as this rare petrel species that breeds in small colonies around Madeira and Cape Verdes headed south off the west coast of Bardsey, only the second record for the island.
Day totals for sea watching from 06:30-10:45 included three Common Scoter, 319 Manx Shearwater, one Fea's type petrel, 278 Gannets, 16 Fulmar, three Arctic Skua, eight Great Skua, 123 Kittiwake, 147 Arctic Tern, nine Sandwich Tern, and singles of Whimbrel and Sanderling.

The rest of the day was filled with a walk around the narrows and south end at high tide giving some good wader number such as 60 Turnstones, two juvenile Sanderling, four Dunlins, eight Redshank, four Whimbrel, 57 Curlew and singles of Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, and Purple Sandpiper.

Ringed Plover                                 Lewis Hooper 

Juvenile Sanderling                                   Lewis Hooper

Today we finally got a boat and said goodbye to the 'golden oldies' and the young birders week finally was about to start, even if it is a little late.

Once again the day was filled with seawatching and wader counting, with passerine still being few and far between.

Seawatching produced the highlights of the day with our first Great Shearwater of the year seen feeding in a group of Manx Shearwaters in the early morning. Also, yet another first for the year headed south later the same morning, a Roseate Tern, a juvenile showing its contrasting mantle well as it slowly headed south. Other good counts included a single Sooty Shearwater, 4945 Manx Shearwaters,  378 Gannets, 22 Fulmars, a single Arctic Skua, six Great Skuas, 620 Kittiwakes, 86 Arctic Terns, 100 Sandwich Terns, and some waders too, a single Whimbrel, two Bar-tailed Godwits, six Dunlin and seven Redshank.

Waders put in a reasonable show as the tide came in too. Turnstones were again numerous with 57 constantly going through the seaweed. The curlew flock was counted at 56 birds today, Redshank numbered eight, there were four each of Dunlin and Purple Sandpiper, and single of Ringed Plover, Sanderling, and Bar-tailed Godwit.

More noteworthy counts included 13 Pied Wagtails and two White Wagtails,

One of the juvenile Turnstones pushing around the seaweed to get to the invertebrates underneath 

Juvenile Bar-tailed Godmit

Today was another nice day especially in the sheltered areas. The sun was out but yet again a stiff breeze from the west kept things cool and kept the sea passage going.

The highlight of the day was a walk around the narrows at high tide, with plenty of waders around the shoreline both roosting on the rocks and feeding in amongst the seaweed that has been thrown onto the beach in the last week. Turnstones were again the most numerous with a count of 60 including lots of juveniles! In with them, four Purple Sandpipers were camouflaged against the dark rocks, two each of Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Sanderling were in the seaweed, seven Redshank were loafing and a mobile Common Sandpiper could be heard regularly. The Curlew flock was still around with 54 birds counted today, Whimbrels were down to 3 and other than waders there was 16 Rock Pipits, two Wheatears, five Black-headed Gulls, ten Sandwich Terns moved through, and 15 Pied Wagtails were catching flies in-between the waders.

The seawatching was a little slower than it has been but numbers from a mornings watch included 485 Manx Shearwaters, 156 Gannets, 14 Fulmars, four Common Scoter, singles of Great Skua, Mediterranean Gull, and Common Gull, 457 Kittiwakes, seven Sandwich Terns, 11 Arctic Terns and two Ringed Plovers.

One of the Black-headed Gulls giving good views as it fed in an area of churned up water

Turnstones flying past with a Purple Sandpiper

With the wind still from the west and with some strength, the boat was not running and seawatching made up most of the day.

Seawatching was done in the morning and the evening totaling around eight hours and although the passage was slow it did come up with a couple of good birds, the highlight of which being our first Sooty Shearwater of the year. Arctic Terns put in a good show with 263 heading south throughout along with a single Common Tern and 25 Sandwich Terns. Other totals included 3183 Manx Shearwaters, 55 Fulmars, 883 Kittiwakes, three each of Great and Arctic Skua, five Common Scoter and 114 Gannets.

Waders put in a good show also as high tide hit it was easy to count them all, both bays and the rocks around the narrows and south en produced 37 Turnstones, six Redshanks, 64 Curlew, 14 Whimbrel, two each of Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Sanderling. More counts from today included 145 Linnets, a single Goldfinch, five Chaffinch, the Spotted Flycatcher at the observatory still, 17 Pied Wagtail, 30 Rock Pipits, 62 Meadow Pipits, five Black-headed Gulls, two Kestrels and a single male Sparrowhawk. 

A juvenile Arctic Tern stopping in solfach as it heads south                            Lewis Hooper

Aumtun Lady's-tresses - the first of the many spikes of this delicate Orchid are starting to appear now, the scientific name is Spiranthes spiralis the genus name is from the Greek 'speira' meaning spiral and 'anthos' meaning flower

Today was a bit of a wash out. The rain started around 5am and continued, on and off, until 4pm when it seemed to brighten up a little.

Some brave people went out and the weather resulting in some counts of waders, gulls and terns but very few numbers of the small birds. Terns were seen both heading down the west coast and resting in solfach in small numbers with a single Little Tern, two Arctic Terns and eight Sandwich Terns also with a Great Skua heading north along the coast too. Wader counts included an impressive 53 Turnstone, four Ringed Plover and Dunlins, our first juvenile Sanderling of the year, and two Grey Herons. 

We do have some interesting news back today on a colour ringed Kittiwake spotted in some photos of the flock that built up at the south end earlier this month. The colour ringed bird had 6 rings on and was found to be a bird born in Britany, France, in 2011. It has yet to breed successfully but has attempted and has been seen at its natal colony every yer since it was born. it was last seen at its natal colony on the 4th of August, and it was photographed on Bardsey on the 12th of August.

The Kittiwake photographed on Bardsey

The same Kittiwake photographed in Britany, France, in 2018

Today the wind picked up to almost 50mph in the morning from the west-north-west and so sea watching took priority. It was dry and fairly clear all day resulting in quite a warm evening in sheltered areas.

The seawatching started well but seemed to go quiet, as the wind let off a little suddenly things started pouring through and counts were made up of 2144 Manx Shearwaters, 1947 Kittiwakes, 217 Gannets, 177 Sandwich Terns, 13 Arctic Terns, 12 Fulmar, six Arctic Skua, four Great Skuas, three Whimbrel, five Common Scoter, and a single Little Tern.

Else where there were singles of Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Peregrine, as well as seven Swifts, a single Little Owl performing well for some guests, a Tree Pipits was hanging around nant, our first Lesser Whitethroat of the autumn was also at nant with 19 Willow Warblers.

Our first Migrant Hawkers of the year, there were five in total including this stunning male the hung up for us, identified by the 'gold tee' mark above the blue band at the top of the abdomen  

A bit of a record shot of the Tree Pipit at nant

Today brought rain throughout the night and well into the morning. Showers were on and off for the most part but cleared in the evening providing a nice calm night before the winds pick up again tomorrow morning.

A walk in the early morning rain did produce some good counts of waders seen through soaking wet, steamed up binoculars. The star was a Greenshank in with a small flock of Redshanks, a bird that only puts in an appearance a couple of times a year. Turnstones were in high numbers and when the rain cleared they were seen to head south in small groups, the mornings total came to 61. More waders numbers were made up of four Whimbrel, 48 Curlew, 13 Redshank, Two each of Common Sandpiper and Purple Sandpiper and singles of both Dunlin and Sanderling.   

Else where on the island, birds of prey included a single Buzzard and two Kestrels and Peregrines, 18 Common Scoter headed south throughout the day, three Grey Herons were around the narrows with a single Black-headed Gull, pipits included 59 Meadow and 32 Rock, and Wheatears filled the south end with 43 individuals.

One of the few surviving broods of Mallards that will reach adulthood, still sticking close to their mother for now

Today held blue skies for the most part with a breezing coming in from the north west, but stayed hot especially in the middle of the day.

The morning again produced the birds today with highlights being two Arctic Skuas together off the west coast along with a small number of Common and Arctic Terns. The south end produced two Tree Pipits  in amongst the flock of Meadows Pipits and Linnets that numbered 31 and 129 respectively. This flock has only formed recently and they seem quite active, perhaps waiting for the right time to leave or even being made up of new birds joining everyday as others leave. 

Waders were in good numbers again too, Turnstones were the most abundant with 34 individuals and some juvenile appearing now too. In addition to these there were 12 Redshanks, seven Whimbrel, 43 Curlew.

Other birds of note included 260 Kittiwakes at the south end, 14 each of Pied Wagtail and Wheatear, and singles of Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Grey Heron and Dunlin.

This seal has found the perfect spot for a snooze on the beach today

Today was a reasonably calm day compared to what we have had recently and the sun was out with only a little drizzle of rain in the evening.

Today the highlights came from the morning, when an Osprey headed south along the mountain, nant held 24 Willow Warblers and the south end produced some good numbers with 242 Linnets, 124 Meadow Pipits, 316 Kittiwakes, and 51 Curlew. Birds of prey put in a good show today with the already mentioned Osprey, singles of Buzzard and Peregrine and two Sparrowhawks, a male and a female.

Other good numbers included two Grey Heron, 11 Redshank, 29 Turnstone, a single Mediterranean Gull, two Black-headed Gulls, 40 Rock Pipits, a single Robin, 24 Wheatears and six Chaffinch. 

Part of the Kittiwake flock building at the south end

Changeover took place today instead of the usual Saturday, due to the gusty weather. We gladly welcomed the Golden Oldies, amongst them are some quite unforgettable characters that are always great company.

An interesting record for the day was a juvenile Arctic Tern seen at South End by Lewis. It was calling as it sat on the ground, before taking off and doing a quick circle.

Arctic Tern

After the bad weather it seemed as though the butterflies were making the most of the sun today, with many Painted Ladies, Common Blues, Large Whites, Peacocks, Red Admirals, Meadow Browns and Graylings littering the island!

Painted Lady

Other birds around include: seven Dunlins, one Kestrel, one Buzzard, one Sparrowhawk, 54 Curlews, five Whimbrels, six Redshanks, one Common Sandpiper, four Sandwich Terns, two Robins and 200 Linnets.

Today we saw some weather on Bardsey. The wind was up to 60mph from some reports from the south west creating a really rough sea! With this in mind there was only one thing to do, seawatch.

From the observatory and from the north hide a total seawatch went from 07:00 until 13:00. The number of Manx Shearwaters passing was the most impressive spectacle as they streamed through heading south off the west coast passing at around 2000 an hour at times! The days total tallied 11,786 but there must have been more. Other good totals included three Balearics, two Black Terns, two Wood Sandpipers, two Arctic Skuas, one Great Skua, three Sandwich Terns, 12 Commic Terns, 177 Gannets, 29 Fulmar, 193 Kittiwakes and a single Swift.   

A walk around the south end and the narrows at close to high tide really made you feel like you were on a remote island. The waves out to sea seemed taller than the land you were standing on at points and as they rolled in toppling over themselves they crashed into the rocky shores, rushing into small in-coves, splashing up and drenching you with sea water. quite a spectacle. Waders were feeding amongst the mountains of seaweed that had been thrown up and flocks were made up of mostly Turnstone and Dunlins with 35 and six respectively along with seven Redshank and a single Sanderling.

Manx Shearwaters over a rough sea

A few days ago some strong winds were forecast, and today was the first day of said strong winds. It was gusting at 50mph with heavy rain pouring down at irregular intervals, and so no boats made a crossing over to Bardsey. But tomorrow is forecast to be worse, which means that our 'Golden Oldies' have lost a day of their time here!

A morning seawatch was slightly less productive than hoped, but between the hours of 0800-0930, 67 Gannets, four Razorbills, 51 Kittiwakes, seven Sandwich Terns, three Common Terns and 863 Manx Shearwaters were seen, mainly flying south.

Good wader counts were had today though, particularly for Turnstones of which there were 46 (the year's high count!), also around were 28 Dunlins, one Sanderling, four Ringed Plover, three Whimbrels, 50 Curlews, seven Redshanks and three Common Sandpipers.

Because of the waders down on the beach and the strong winds, the assistant wardens attempted to catch a few after the sun went down. Unfortunately the tide was going out at the same time the sun disappeared. We hoped it wouldn't matter too much, but in the end we just about caught two Dunlins and narrowly missed a Common Sandpiper. Still, all good fun though... If a bit wet and windy!

Today was the calm before the storm, it was a flat calm day with blue skies and sunshine throughout with temperatures in the 20's.

There were signs of some migration today with two Pied Flycatchers and three Spotted Flycatchers seen across the island today. There were 12 Willow Warblers at nant and more throughout the withys and the first Garden Warbler of the autumn was caught and ringed at the observatory. Linnets were counted at 82 today and a single mobile Redpoll was heard from the observatory. More Wheatears were present along the west coast today, there were 16 around the island with a single 'Greenland' bird at the north end. The island also saw another day of flying ants seen at the north and the south end pulling in large numbers of gulls. Some Smaller gulls were seen feeding at the north end including seven Black-headed Gulls and two juvenile Mediterranean Gulls bring the days count up to four after two were seen pasting the west coast in the morning. Last but not least the first egret of the autumn was found by a couple of North American visitors, a Little Egret in cafn where the boat comes in.

Offshore a pod of 18 or so Common Dolphins kept the departing guests happy and a few Risso Dolphins were offshore too.

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull off the west coast                                   Lewis Hooper

Rock Samphire can be seen across much of the coast and has flowered amazingly this year

The wind today was gusting at 20mph from the south west. Manx Shearwater burrow checks were done today, the average weight of the ones checked today (which all seem to have hatched in the same couple of weeks is 550 grams, but the heaviest now weighs 629 grams. Still 100 or so to go before it's ready to face the outside world.

We're starting to Manx Shearwaters under these piles of fluff

A Little Owl was yapping in Nant valley once again today and providing good views. This year there has only been one definite successful breeding attempt on Bardsey.

Little Owl

Other birds around include: two Purple Sandpipers, four Dunlins, 13 Whimbrels, 61 Curlews, 14 Redshanks, 14 Common Sandpipers, three Razorbills and four Sedge Warblers.

Today the wind really picked up from the south west and it was the first time in a while that we didn't get a boat.

The first good seawatch of the autumn saw 1300 Manx Shearwaters, a single Balearic Shearwater, 67 Gannets, 27 Kittiwakes, three Mediterranean Gulls and seven Sandwich Terns in a 4 hour period on and off.

Elsewhere in land the majority of the sightings came from the south end and the narrows as most of the time during the day was spent clearing out the tractor shed and putting up the nets in the withys. Wader numbers included nine Redshank, two each of Sanderling and Dunlin, three Common Sandpipers, 45 Curlew, ten Whimbrel, and 13 Turnstone. Other good counts included 33 Linnets, 22 Rock Pipits, another four Sandwhich Terns and a small flock of Meadow Pipits at the tip of the south end perhaps waiting for the right conditions to head south.

Juvenile Herring Gull showing the typical pale patch in the inner primaries and the dark tail-band with a streaked rump. 

Sandwich Terns heading south

It was once again calm today, however the weather had turned the night/early morning before and absolutely drenched the volunteer and staff member who were out ringing Manx Shearwaters! The nets were opened the next morning too, but the ringing session was easily the least productive of the week, yielding just two re-trap Blackbirds and a re-trap Wren!

The withies were strimmed and lopped today ready to catch passing migrants, which are starting to trickle in already.

Oak Eggars

Manx Shearwater burrows were checked once again for their weekly measurements, many are starting to grow their juvenile plumage now and moulting out of their fluffy down.
Later in the afternoon there was a football match on the Narrows between almost everyone on the island, which was good fun although definitely left some of us hobbling our achey bones around around afterwards!

Birds around today include: two juvenile Peregrines, two Kestrels, one Sanderling, six Dunlins, 26 Curlews, two Whimbrels, 10 Redshanks, three Common Sandpipers, one Turnstone, four Black-headed Gulls, three Sandwich Terns and one White Wagtail

Today the weather started with some overdue heavy rain much wanted by us and the observaroty to re-fill our well a little but not ideal for the guests first full day. The weather soon cleared up and from mid-day it was dry and warm.

The biggest change seen today was in the number of waders, at high tide solfach and the narrows held 25 Dunlin, seven of which were  juveniles, four Common Sandpipers, 12 Redshank, 36 Turnstone, two each of Ringed Plover and Purple Sandpiper and a single Sanderling. Also a notable increase in Rock Pipits with a whopping 36 on the narrows alone.

A few things were seen moving past the west coast including three Black-headed Gulls, six Sandwich Tern, a bird that is becoming regularly seen offshore now, and over the mountain two Kestrels were hunting and a Sparrowhawk moved through.

Grass emerald

Our first Ruby Tiger of the year

Today was incredibly calm, leaving the sea almost as flat as it can get around Bardsey. Notable birds today were five Mediterranean Gulls and 13 Common Scoters that were seen in small a couple of small flocks and some single individuals, mostly males. There were two Ringed Plovers and 24 Dunlins today too. during an evening dazzling session one Dunlin was seen down on Solfach with a thermal imaging camera and was then caught along with four Wheatears.

Wader numbers remained reasonably high; 11 Whimbrels, 29 Curlews, 22 Redshanks, one Green Sandpiper, three Common Sandpipers and seven Turnstones.

Other birds around include: 89 Linnets, 8 Chaffinches, three Cormorants, 261 Herring Gulls, 118 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and six Sandwich Terns.

Today the weather was clear, warm and calm all day and temperature rocketed up into the mid 20's in the early afternoon.

A mornings walk produced the only birds of the day really with a Crossbill over the wetlands, a lone Golden Plover over the wetlands too, a brief Green Sandpiper the dropped into Gareth's pond, and a count of 15 Sedge Warblers throughout the wetlands.

Elsewhere Wheatear numbers were up to 17 with more juvenile appearing, two Robins were caught at the observatory and nant which is a noteworthy sighting, and 73 Swallows cruise over the pools generally heading south through the island. Waders again were in good numbers with a single Snipe, Whimbrel, Ringed Plover, and Common Sandpiper as well as 11 Redshank and four Dunlin.

Oystercatchers fighting over there places

A fresh looking Wheatear in the evening sun                                         Lewis Hooper

A calm and sunny morning gave Bardsey a passing view of a Cory's Shearwater! It was seen by Paul Massey flying north along the west coast at 8:45, giving just the one view. Definitely motivation to start more seawatching.

The first Manx Shearwater chicks were ringed today, starting with the sample burrows. So far just the South End plot has been ringed, but over the course of the next two weeks they will all get done.

More Willow Warblers on the move today, although we're still not reaching huge numbers, there were 28 recorded today, including eight that were trapped at Cristin. But, with 18 Sedge Warblers in the withies, and a Grasshopper Warbler caught at Cristin, there must have been movement through the island.

Grasshopper Warbler