A Grey Wagtail flying over the island was the only bird of interest during another hot day. No particularly notable moths were seen either until dusk, when three Small Elephant Hawkmoths were watched feeding on the honeysuckle flowers in the observatory garden.

A big surprise came in the unusual form of a juvenile Common Treecreeper in Nant Withy, which was soon caught and ringed. Few other birds worth mentioning were seen: just 14 Eurasian Curlews, three Common swifts and two Black-headed Gulls. A visit to the Razorbill colonies proved a little too late as almost all of the chicks had already made their departure out to sea, but it did provide opportunity for some olfactory exploration of potential European Storm Petrel colonies. The birds’ aromatic presence was detected in several areas of boulders near Seal Cave.

It was another good moth night, and a number of noteworthy species were caught in the Cristin trap including the first Peach Blossom ever recorded on the island and only the second Narrow-winged Pug.

Treecreeper (c) Richard Brown

Peach Blossom (c) Richard Else

Narrow-winged Pug (c) Richard Else

Birds were very thin on the ground again – 15 Common Swifts were seen as well as the lingering Redpoll, Willow Warbler and two Black-headed Gulls. The moth trap provided a bit more interest, with a long list of common species including the year’s first Crescent Dart and an impressive haul of 79 Garden Tigers. Only eight Diamond-back Moths were counted in the aftermath of the previous day’s invasion.

On another beautiful summer day, three Common Swifts and four Black-headed Gulls – the trifling ornithological highlights of the day – were easily overshadowed by a stunning selection of Lepidoptera. The first ever Grey Pine Carpet for the island was in the moth trap at Cristin amid a host of commoner species that included two Confuseds, two Map-winged Swifts, ten Garden Tigers and the first Riband Wave of the year. As the sun rose above the ridge of the mountain, the day warmed considerably and a large numbers of day-flying species emerged; the heat rekindling life in their membranaceous appendages. At least a dozen Thrift Clearwings were on the wing, as well as a remarkable count of 40 Six-spot Burnets in the meadows. The most staggering event though, was a completely unprecedented mass influx of around 150 Diamond-back Moths amongst the thrift on the South End. Prior to the current year this small migrant species had only been recorded on Bardsey twice.

Day Flying Moths

Thrift Clearwings (c) Steve Stansfield

Rich B catching Clearwings

(c) Steve Stansfield

Rich B showing Connor and Emma Thrift Clearwing
(c) Steve Stansfield

Diamond-backed Moth (c) Steve Stansfield

Six Spot Burnet Moths (c) Steven Stansfield

Moths from the Trap

Ribband Wave (c) Steve Stansfield

Buff Ermine (c) Steve Stansfield

Lackey (c) Steve Stansfield

Similar to the previous day in terms of birds, the Northern Lapwing, Whimbrel, and Redpoll all remained while 29 Eurasian Curlews, ten Black-headed Gulls, 24 Common Swifts, and a single Sandwich Tern were also counted. A Dunlin and three Sand Martins were new arrivals.
Undoubtedly the best find of the day was at least eight Thrift Clearwing moths on the South End – the first sighting of this fairly scarce species for over a decade.

Thrift Clearwing (c) Richard Brown

A few odds and ends of minor interest to appear in the morning included a Northern Lapwing, a Whimbrel, two Collared Doves, a Sand Martin and two Eurasian Siskins. The Blackcap and Willow Warbler remained from the previous day.

Another jaunt into the seabird colonies on the east side of the island revealed a total of 39 Puffins on the sea and a European Storm Pertrel Sitting on an egg.

Storm Petrel (c) Richard Brown

Puffins (c) Steve Stansfield

Razorbills (1- adult, 2- adult with fish, 3- Newly hatched chick, 4- large chick almost ready to fledge (c) Steve Stansfield

Guillemot chick (c) Steven Stansfield

The Marsh Warbler from earlier in the week made an unexpected reappearance at Nant, again singing the same mixture of mimicked song elements – and again demonstrating a shrewd ability to avoid flying into mist nets. 18 Common Swifts were counted chasing insects high above the island, a Blackcap was in song at Cristin and a Willow Warbler was also seen. A Grey Heron flew south along the coast where four Eurasian Curlews were present on the rocks.

Even at this time of year, when spring migration has petered out and long before south-bound returning migrants are expected to pass through, odd individual birds do still seem to appear occasionally: today’s offering being a single Spotted Flycatcher on the Narrows. A Common Swift flew north, and three Common Redshanks arrived on Solfach to signal the recommencement of wader passage.

An excellent night for moth-trapping produced the largest insect haul of the year. 42 different species were caught including a Ruby Tiger, a couple of Scarce Footmen and the first record of Bramble Shoot Moth for the island.

Scarce Footman (c) Richard Else

Ruby Tiger (c) Richard Else

Bramble Shoot Moth (c) Richard Else

With Britain’s fifth Royal Tern lingering in North Wales for several days, the warden and his family managed to get off the island under the suspicious pretext of a medical appointment, leaving the other staff members with nothing more than a Eurasian Collared Dove and two Eurasian Curlews by way of avian excitement.

A surprise interruption to the Saturday morning pre-changeover cleaning and tidying routine was the appearance – in sound if not in vision – of a singing Marsh Warbler in the damson bushes right outside the back door. Whilst all the time managing to remain concealed in the foliage, the bird reeled off an eclectic mix of bird-call mimicry all day, including convincing renditions of Common Quail, Grey Heron, Black-billed Magpie, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Barn Swallow, Blackbird, House Martin and Willow Warbler in its extensive repertoire of impersonations. Despite being besieged by mist nets in the garden until at least late afternoon it somehow contrived to evade capture

Two Eurasian Siskins, a Redpoll and a Willow Warbler were the only other passerines of note, and waders included a Common Redshank and six Eurasian Curlews.

A surprising find early in the morning was a Common Grasshopper Warbler in song near Plas Withy – perhaps a failed breeder already making its early return journey south. The same explanation could equally account for a Willow Warbler which was also lurking in the withies.

A male Red-veined Darter was seen briefly on the south End.

No migrants worth mentioning were seen during a very dull morning census, although a smart male Eurasian Sparrowhawk caught in a mist net at Cristin was thought not to be the locally-breeding bird.

Observatory staff took advantage of the fine weather, ahead of an incoming deluge, to make an afternoon peregrination around the east side of the island for a ringing session. Once rings had been put on two Peregrine Falcon chicks in a successful visit to the raptors’ nest, proceeding down to the rocks to ring Razorbills was torda of the day. Over 100 were ringed, including both pulli and adults, as well as some Common Guillemots that were atypically domiciled alongside their crotchety, hatchet-faced cousins deep inside a boulder colony.

Guillemot Chick

Young Razorbill

Peregrine chick

All pictures (c) Richard Else

The arrival of a Whimbrel to join the two lingering Eurasian Curlews, and fleeting visits by a Sand Martin and two Common Swifts were the only notable avian sightings of the day.

An intriguing report was received of a Leatherback Turtle just offshore, seen last week from the boat. With good numbers of jellyfish around the island lately it seems a good idea to keep an eye open for a reoccurrence.

Late in the night, the first attempt of the year to catch European Storm Petrels was successful, with six birds being ringed during the brief period of darkness available.

A single Spotted Flycatcher was the only new bird on a warm and calm day. A Ruby Tiger moth was found during the day, along with a number of ‘micro moths’ which have yet to be identified with certainty, but several of them are undoubtedly new species for the island. The first Common Darter dragonfly of the year was found on the mountain.

Another trip round to the seabird colonies was made and led to the successful ringing of some more auks and a Northern Fulmar, as well as the locating of the second Peregrine Falcon nest which was found to contain three medium-sized chicks.

Razorbill with supply of sand eels

(c) Steven Stansfield

Fulmar

(c) Steven Stansfield

Fulmar after ringing

(c) Steven Stansfield

Barring odd late individuals of common species, spring bird migration appears to have come to an end. A solitary Common Swift went by in the morning, a soggy newly-arrived Eurasian Collared Dove was at the lighthouse and the Grey Heron and two Eurasian Curlews remained on the island.

This was another very quiet day with little in the way of bird movement. Five Eurasian Collared Doves were the most interesting morning sighting, although the Grey Heron was seen again and the resident Eurasian Curlew was joined by a second bird.

After the excitement of the previous day, very little of interest was noted during the morning census. A Grey Heron flying over the South End was the only unusual bird seen, and Common Whitethroat and a Blackcap remained.

A pleasant day provided an opportunity for a ringing expedition to the seabird colonies, and the afternoon was spent ringing Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks, Razorbills and one or two Common Guillemots and Black-legged Kittiwakes.

Razorbill chick

(c) Steve Stansfield

Summary....

After a very quiet but pleasant cloudy morning in which few notable birds were found, showers began to arrive and a miserable afternoon appeared to be on the horizon. The precipitating clouds however, were not without silver linings: small migrant birds, amongst them a couple of gems, moving ahead of the rain were forced to descend upon the island to take shelter. The best of these arrived first, in the form of a female Hawfinch that landed in the observatory garden and furtively proceeded to feed in the top of the sycamore. In the hope of catching the bird, mist nets were erected, but it promptly flew off towards Nant. Just minutes later though, an Icterine Warbler (the third of the spring) was discovered (by the same serendipitous observer as the previous two), and had soon caught itself in the nets that had been set for the finch. Between showers, the nets were kept open in case the hawfinch or any other new bird was still lurking around the garden. As luck would have it, the finch suddenly reappeared flying across the lawn – and dropped straight into a mist net. It was ringed and an admiring assembly of visitors were treated to in-hand views of the magnificent bird as it repeatedly attempted to clamp the observatory warden’s fingers between its colossal mandibles. The bird had a very pronounced brood patch and was presumably a wandering failed-breeder.

Other, less spectacular birds brought down by the rain included a Pied Flycatcher, a Common Redstart, a Common Whitethroat and a Blackcap. A Sand Martin also passed through during the day.

A couple of migrant Diamond-back Moths were found amongst a good number of commoner day-flying species.

1430 update.............. The Hawfinch found a net!

11am update.............

Surprise bird of the day to start with came in the robust form of a smart Hawfinch in the back garden at Cristin. The bird sat in the Sycamore and then moved south through the garden. Whilst looking for the bird, 'Icy/manxy Steve' radioed to say thet there was another Icterine type warbler in the bush above our back door! As we were opening the nets to trap the Hawfinch this became a very nice 'bycatch'....the third Icterine Warbler of the spring, all trapped and all found in the field by the same lucky observer! A Pied Flycatcher and Common Redstart were the only other birds of note (if we needed any!) . Invert news - a Diamond-backed Moth was seen on the narrows (photos to follow...).

Icterine Warbler at Cristin

10 June 2009 (c) Steven Stansfield

Diamond-backed Moth

10 June 2009 (c) Richard Else

Mid-morning update (10:15)

The Golden Oriole from Yesterday was present again this morning, though is very mobile and rather elusive. It is only realy seen in flight, though it was heard singing briefly in the garden at Cristin at about 0700hrs. It was later seen in the withies before making its way onto the mountain side.

Novelty bird of the day so far comes in the form of a Brent Goose that was seen in Henllwyn first thing this morning. Is this a feral bird, and escaped pet, or a genuine wild bird just making its way north rather late in the season?

The only other migrant of note so far is a Common Redstart in Cristin Garden.

The Poplar Hawkmoth (first trapped on Sunday night) was re-trapped in the front Garden over night and the same Small-clouded Brindle was also re-trapped!

The continuing easterly breeze again brought in a few avian odds and ends, with a new Sky Lark, a Common Whitethroat, a Spotted Flycatcher, four Blackcaps, six Sedge Warblers, a Willow Warbler and three Common Chiffchaffs seen in the morning. Two Sanderlings were on the beach and three Eurasian Siskins, two redpolls and two European Goldfinches were flying around the island. Early in the afternoon an immature male Eurasian Golden Oriole was discovered at Nant, and just like the one the previous week, it managed to cannily evade the best attempts to catch it.

A Poplar Hawkmoth, the first one of the year, was in the moth trap at Cristin.

Golden Oriole at Nant

8 June 2009 (c) Steven Stansfield

Poplar Hawkmoth

8 June 2009 (c) Steve Stansfield

A scattering of migrants had arrived in the morning, although the weather remained quite blustery with sporadic drizzle throughout the day. A yellow Hippolais warbler was found skulking in Cristin withy, and was identified – after a number of frustratingly fleeting glimpses through obscuring foliage – as an Icterine Warbler. It was later trapped, allowing this identification to be confirmed in the hand. Other birds to arrive included a Common Cuckoo, two Spotted Flycatchers, two Blackcaps, a Common Whitethroat, four Willow Warblers and two each of Eurasian Siskin and Redpoll.

A grand total of three moths were in the Cristin trap in the morning, but one of them was a Small Clouded Brindle – probably the first ever seen on the island.

Early Afternoon update

A very skulky hippolais warbler - probably an Icterine was seen in Cristin withy early this morning. After all the resedent birders had seen it fairly well and seen many of the supporting features (blueish greay legs, silvery wing panel and apparent large size), the ID was still not 100% certain as the clinching feature - primary extention to tertial length had not been seen well with the bird in profile. After a while the bird was eventualy trapped and the primary extension was equal to the tertial length and the bird was large (wing length 77.5mm).

Icterine Warbler Cristin Withy

7 June 2009 (c) Steve Stansfield

Scarcely better than the previous day for birds – if not for weather (strong wind and heavy rain made for a miserable day of indoor activities) – a Common Cuckoo managed to rouse a modicum of interest in the absence of any scarcer migrants; it spent most of the day sitting on the furled mist nets viewable from the Warden's kitchen window!. Two Harbour Porpoise were the highlight of a fairly dismal seawatch.

Cuckoo on a mist net through the window!

6 June 2009 (c) Steve Stansfield