A Eurasian Hobby was seen fleetingly over the narrows, but otherwise the day-list was very similar to other recent days. A Yellow Wagtail was again present, along with a Tree Pipit, a Common Grasshopper Warbler, three Common Whitethroats, seven Sedge Warblers, two Blackcaps and two Collared Doves. Another very large flock of Lesser Redpolls, numbering around 75 birds, chose not to linger for long and had moved on by mid-morning. Steady drizzle in the evening with little wind, much cloud and poor visibility, led to a long night being spent at the lighthouse, monitoring the circling throngs of Manx Shearwaters that were blindly drawn to the gyratory beams of light. An estimated 525 were attracted during the course of the night, including 167 that came to ground and were duly trapped for ringing. Other species at the light were vastly outnumbered by the manxies, but included a European Storm Petrel, two Arctic Terns, two ‘Commic Terns’, three Black-legged Kittiwakes, six Dunlins and two Spotted Flycatchers. 

A Scalloped Hazel, the fourth for the island, was caught in the moth trap at Nant and later seen laying a clutch of eggs. 14 May 2009 © Richard Else