A bumper count of 29 Turnstones were seen around the Narrows at high tide, along with two Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin, three Whimbrels, five Redshanks, and three Common Sandpipers. A Whitethroat was skulking in the bracken at Ty Pellaf, a Chiffchaff was seen at Nant and a total of 13 Willow Warblers were recorded.
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| Turnstones roosting at high tide © Kate Fox |
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| Jeanne helping with Manx Shearwater chick growth rate monitoring © Kate Fox |
Overall it was a very wet day with bands of thick misty rain being blown through by force six southerly winds.
A trip between showers along the West Coast and Narrows produced five Curlews, four Redshanks, a Common Sandpiper, and ten Turnstones. A Grey Wagtail was heard calling over the Wetlands, and the male Black Redstart was seen again at Nant. A total of 11 Willow Warblers were recorded, including three which were ringed at Cristin.
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| A bit damp! © Kate Fox |
A northerly wind corresponded with a good arrival of Willow Warblers, with a total of 25 recorded across the island. Other migrants included a Grey Wagtail in the courtyard at Cristin and two Sand Martins, as well as a Curlew and three Redshanks. In the evening, nine Willow Warblers were ringed at Cristin in just half an hour.
The first Grayling of the year was recorded on Pen Cristin, along with the first Painted Lady for some weeks.
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| Grayling camouflaged against the Wild Thyme © Kate Fox |
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| Painted Lady on Pen Cristin © Kate Fox |
Migrant wader numbers came to two Whimbrels, five Redshanks, eight Common Sandpipers, and a Turnstone around the Narrows, and 44 Curlews were seen among the high tide gull roost on the South End. There were also 11 Black-headed Gulls over the Narrows, a Whitethroat at Ty Pellaf and a total of four Willow Warblers recorded.
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| Jeanne re-meshing the portable Heligoland trap ready for autumn Rock Pipit ringing © Kate Fox |
Enlli was bathed in warm sunshine with a moderate south-westerly wind.
Wader numbers totalled at four Whimbrels, 17 Curlews, seven Redshanks, four Common Sandpipers and 15 Turnstones. There were also two Grey Herons on the Narrows, including a juvenile from this year.
There were also a few migrant passerines, with a total of eight Willow Warblers recorded, as well as a young Sedge Warbler around the Lighthouse, a Chiffchaff at Cristin and a Whitethroat at Nant. The day's highlight was a smart male Black Redstart was hanging around the abbey ruins at Nant, an unusual record for July.
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| Juvenile Sedge Warbler in the Lighthouse Compound © Kate Fox |
The day started off very wet, meaning that the week's new guests arrived in heavy rain! This cleared up for a short while in the evening, before the island was smothered in thick fog.
A check of the Narrows at high tide proved successful, with two Whimbrels, six Redshanks, five Common Sandpipers and seven Turnstones. There was also only a single un-ringed adult Ringed Plover on the Narrows, suggesting that the breeding pair were unfortunately unsuccessful in their second brood attempt. Other birds included a Grey Heron on the Narrows, and total of three Chiffchaffs recorded.
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| Grey Heron on the Narrows © Kate Fox |
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| A Six-spot Burnet Moth in the garden at Cristin brightened up the day! © Kate Fox |
The warm weather continues and it feels like summer is finally here! The birds, however, have other ideas, with continuing signs of autumn migration each day.
A flock of 32 Common Scoters flew south along the West Coast, and a Swift powered south over the Wetlands. Three Curlews joined the gull roost on Carreg yr Honwy, and two Redshanks and two Common Sandpipers were recorded on the Narrows. On the migrant passerine front, three Willow Warblers, three Chiffchaffs, and two Goldfinches were also seen.
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| Willow Warbler amongst the bracken © Kate Fox |
It was another warm, sunny day with a light southerly breeze.
The day saw the first small arrival of Willow Warblers, with a total of seven recorded around the island heralding that autumn migration is well underway! Other highlights were two Curlews along the West Coast and a Kestrel hunting over the Mountain.
The first Willow Warbler of the autumn was ringed at Cristin, trapped in the heligoland trap along with a juvenile Stonechat. A pair of Swallows have been busily flying in and out of the Observatory tool shed to feed their young, and their brood of five chicks were also ringed.
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| Kicking off autumn migration ringing with the first 'autumn' Willow Warbler of 2024! © Kate Fox |
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| Swallow chick © Kate Fox |
It was a lovely sunny day with moderate north-westerly wind, a stark contrast to the day before.
The days highlights came in the form of a single Swift over the Mountain and a flock of 41 juvenile Starlings on the South End. There were also a total of five Dunlins, four Curlews, a Redshank and three Common Sandpipers.
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| Part of the Starling flock around the Lighthouse © Kate Fox |
Light easterly winds and heavy rain was the theme of the day, with some torrential rain showers inundating the tracks with huge puddles.
It was very quiet on the bird front, with the highlights being 17 Curlews roosting on Carreg yr Honwy, a Redshank and a Common Sandpiper on the Narrows and a Chiffchaff in the garden at Cristin.
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| Lovely weather for ducks! © Kate Fox |
Wader passage continues with a Dunlin on Solfach along with two Redshanks, two Common Sandpipers and two Turnstones. There were also four Curlews along the West Coast and an adult Black-headed Gull in Solfach.
We also spotted 10 Risso's dolphins travelling along the west coast! The group was made up of six adults, one juvenile and three calves. As part of the Bardsey Marine Mammal Project, we are trying to collect as much data about the animals in our waters as possible. This includes doing timed scans and watching the sea for many, many hours. When we have a sighting, our remote pilot will send our drone (lovingly named Fenton) to the animals so we can collect videos and images for photo-identification and behavioural analysis. These images will add to a 20 year dataset of over 200 individual Risso's dolphins identified in the waters around Bardsey. We were really lucky to observe and collect imagery of a group with so many adorable babies!
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| Phoebe filming the dolphins with the drone © Kate Fox |
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| Drone in action © Kate Fox |
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| Two mothers with their calves viewed from the air! © Kate Fox |
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| The pod from above © Kate Fox |
It was a beautiful warm day with a light north-westerly wind.
The wader highlights were two Dunlins, a Redshank and seven Turnstones on Solfach, and a total of two Common Sandpipers and four Curlews. A Swift flew over the mountain calling, and a Whitethroat and Chiffchaff were seen in the garden at Cristin.
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| Turnstone © Kate Fox |
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| Jeanne (and Moss the dog) out doing census on the Narrows © Kate Fox |
The hatching of the second Ringed Plover brood added some excitement to the day, with two freshly hatched chicks seen guarded by their ever alert parents! The fledgling from their first brood was also close by.
Other waders included a Dunlin on Solfach, a Curlew along the West Coast, and a total of two Common Sandpipers. There were also two adult Black-headed Gulls over the Narrows, and a Kestrel hunting on the Mountain.
Another Manx Shearwater ringing session around the Narrows and South End last night produced 87 new birds and 73 retraps.
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| Juvenile Ringed Plover on the Narrows © Kate Fox |
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| Stunning sunset at the South End! © Kate Fox |
The weather was similar to the previous day, with persistent misty rain all morning clearing up in the mid afternoon, although a shift to a force six northerly wind kept it feeling fresh.
The days highlights were three Black-headed Gulls (a juvenile over the North end and two adults around the Narrows), a Sandwich Tern off the South End, and a Swift over the mountain. Also of note were four Sand Martins around Henllwyn - likely to be the birds on territory however their activity has been inconsistent lately.
Other birds included a Grey Heron hunting around the Narrows and two Feral Pigeons over the mountain.
Last night the team spent a few hours ringing Manx Shearwaters around the Narrows and the South End. In total 35 new birds were ringed, and 60 birds were re-trapped, including one individual which was originally ringed as an adult on 20th July 1988 making it at least 37 years old!
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| Ringing Manx Shearwaters © Kate Fox |
It was a wet and windy start to the day, with driving misty rain that felt like it would never stop owing to changing forecasts, but come the evening the weather cleared up into beautiful sunshine.
The highlights of the day were a Cuckoo bombing it south over the Wetlands, and five Black-headed Gulls, with a first-year bird looping above Solfach and four adults around the North End. Wader passage continues, with 22 Curlews, a Redshank, seven Turnstones and a bumper count of 11 Common Sandpipers were seen. The breeding Ringed Plovers remain on the Narrows, alert and showing signs of attempting a second brood while the colour-ringed juvenile from their first brood is still hanging around.
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| Juvenile Black-headed Gull over Solfach © Kate Fox |
It was a humid, overcast day on Enlli, with a slight southerly wind.
There was a small arrival of waders, with two Dunlins, two Redshank and six Common Sandpipers on Solfach, along with 20 Curlews and two Turnstones on Carreg y Honwy. A flock of 35 Common Scoters flew south along the West Coast. Other birds included a Sparrowhawk and Goldfinch at Ty Pellaf.
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| Many Stonechat pairs are keeping busy raising their second broods © Kate Fox |
Calm weather with warm sunny spells saw nine Swifts feeding over the Mountain with an unseasonal Whinchat between Cristin and Ty Pellaf and a Common Sandpiper at the North End. A trip around the East Side saw seven more pulli and six adult Kittiwakes ringed alongside three Shag chicks ringed and a few more larger chicks colour ringed.
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| Kittiwake adult © Kate Fox |
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| Kittiwake chick © Kate Fox |
Another attempt at catching adult gulls at night saw a further 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and six Herring Gulls caught included two Herring Gulls ringed as chicks in 2002 and another one from 2019 and 2018 respectively.
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| Head and bill being measured to help sex birds © Ed Betteridge |
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| Herring Gull © Kate Fox |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull © Kate Fox |
Waders continue to pass through with eight Common Sandpipers a good count for this time of year alongside three Curlews, three Redshanks and three Turnstones. A Sandwich Tern was in Henllwyn with two Grey Herons at Traeth Ffynnon and a Sparrowhawk hunting the Mountain.
During the evening the first attempt at Storm petrel ringing, in Nant Valley due to wind, produced eight new birds and a single retrap with a handful of Manx Shearwaters also ringed. Also seen was an Elephant Hawkmoth at Nant, only the third Island record of the colourful moth.
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| Storm Petrel © Ed Betteridge |
The day started with heavy showers and a moderate westerly wind, before clearing up into a bright afternoon.
It was quiet on the migrant front, with the highlights being 13 Curlews roosting on Carreg yr Honwy and a Common Sandpiper on the Narrows and a Kestrel hunting over Pen Cristin. The day was marked with the fledging of the fifth brood of Choughs on the island this year as two youngsters were seen tentatively taking to the sky with their parents.
The team said goodbye to Ewan, who has been working hard helping out around the Observatory for the past month. Not for long though, as he will be back with us for the autumn! Today also saw the arrival of Phoebe Moss, our new Marine Mammal Project Science Officer who will be spending the next couple of months monitoring marine mammals from the Island as part of an exciting new project, before continuing her work on the mainland.
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| Chough © Ed Betteridge |
During the night a trip out dazzling around the North End was rather more productive then could have been predicted. In total 27 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 15 Herring Gulls and two Great Black-backed Gulls were caught! This included two retrap Lesser Black-backed Gulls ringed in 2003 and 2019 with all now fitted with colour rings.
Elsewhere the first juvenile Willow Warbler of the year was in the garden at Cristin.
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| Great Black-backed Gull © Lauren Evans |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull © Lauren Evans |
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| Herring Gull © Lauren Evans |
With limited bird migration staff again took advantage of this and spent the night ringing Manx Shearwaters around Nant and the North End. In total 166 new birds and 178 retraps were caught alongside three juvenile Oystercatchers and a surprise adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.
Birds today included three Common Sandpiper and two Redshanks around the Narrows with two juvenile Goldfinches on Solfach.
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| Manx Shearwater © Ed Betteridge |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull © Ed Betteridge |
Waders are continuing to pass through with most thought to be failed breeders. This included 22 Curlews, a Whimbrel, three Redshanks and two Common Sandpipers around the Narrows. Other birds included a Grey Heron, a Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk and a juvenile Chiffchaff.
During the evening a productive night saw 180 new Manx Shearwaters and 80 retraps caught at Pen Cristin alongside an adult Oystercatcher and three Herring Gulls.
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| Herring Gull © Ed Betteridge |
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| 2nd Summer Herring Gull © Ed Betteridge |
July is notoriously quiet for migrating birds with two Common Sandpipers, 13 Curlews, two Redshanks and a Sparrowhawk the only birds of note. The afternoon was spent ringing a brood of Rock Pipits at Bae Felen around the East Side of the Mountain before ringing two more Shag broods and colour ringing a few more Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks.
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| Some late Lesser Black-backed Gulls are still hatching! © Ed Betteridge |
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| A strikingly dark Lesser Black-backed Gull chick © Ed Betteridge |
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| Manx Shearwater with chick in one of the caves © Ed Betteridge |
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| One of four baby Rock Pipits colour ringed © Ed Betteridge |
The month started with a windy day with some rain showers and little bird news apart from three Curlews at Pen Cristin and a Sparrowhawk in the Wetlands.
During the evening a trip out Manx Shearwater ringing produced 94 new birds and 60 retraps around the North End as well as three adult and seven juvenile Oystercatchers and a retrap Carrion Crow ringed along the West Coast a month ago.
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| Oystercatcher © Ed Betteridge |
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| Juvenile Oystercatcher © Ed Betteridge |
On what might be on of the last days ringing seabirds around the East Side saw three more Kittiwake chicks ringed with many low down nests seemingly empty presumably due to large tides. Also ringed included a few more Puffin and Pufflings, a couple more Guillemot chicks, three adult Fulmars, five more Shag broods and more gulls. Two Common Sandpipers were also seen around the East Side.
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| Puffling © Ed Betteridge |
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| Puffin © Ed Betteridge |
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| Shag chicks with colour rings © Ed Betteridge |
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| A rather cute Kittiwake chick, one of three in the nest with this one too small to ring © Ed Betteridge |
