The last visitors of the season departed during a short window of relatively calm weather, leaving just observatory staff and the few other residents on the island. Not many birds were around, although the Richard’s Pipit was still in the arable fields and four Black Redstarts remained. An Eider alighted on the sea by Carreg yr Honwy and a Golden Plover was seen flying over the Narrows. Three Snipes were found in the lowlands, the finch flock at Nant contained around 210 Chaffinches and 90 Greenfinches, and thrush numbers had fallen to 16 Blackbirds, eight Redwings and four Song Thrushes. Other birds lingering from earlier in the week included a Reed Bunting, three Great Tits, a Blue Tit and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

The third Black Redstart to be ringed this year (c) Richard Brown

A quiet day in comparison with the preceding one still saw a few notable birds arrive. A Richard’s Pipit in the North West Fields was initially presumed to be the same one as the previous day, but close scrutiny of photographs revealed some small differences in plumage that proved it to be another new bird. 35 Fieldfares flew south early in the day, and a sizable northwards movement of Woodpigeons, involving some 182 individuals, took place throughout the morning. Very few finches were noted heading south overhead, but 379 Chaffinches, 82 Greenfinches, 15 Goldfinches, four Siskins and a Brambling were around the sunflower field at the chapel. A Ringed Plover and a Lapwing flew over the South End, a Woodcock was hiding in the arable fields and three Little Gulls were feeding off Maen Du. 45 Blackbirds, 50 Redwings and 17 Song Thrushes were found around the island, while a count of 510 Starlings seemed slightly paltry by recent standards. A Manx Shearwater flew past the north hide, three Reed Buntings were seen and a Great Spotted Woodpecker and three Great Tits remained.

Richard's Pipit. This is a first year bird which has replaced six median coverts along with three greater coverts. (c) Richard Brown

A mild and quite pleasant morning saw some big numbers of birds moving through the island. A flock of 3500 Starlings whirled around above the South End before heading north out to sea, and the same flock – or another of similar size – appeared near Nant later on. Parties of advancing Chaffinches surged southwards relentlessly throughout the morning and by mid day 1593 birds had been counted. Smaller numbers of other finches were also on the move, with 123 Greenfinches, 41 Siskins, 15 Bramblings and ten Goldfinches logged. A Richard’s Pipit flew off the South End heading strongly east, and later in the day another, probably a different one, was found in the arable fields. A juvenile Sandwich Tern circled Henllwyn – the latest ever record of this species on Bardsey – and a pair of Shelducks (the first for a long time) were also around the Narrows. Six Lapwings were on the South End and a Red-throated Diver, two Grey Herons, a Manx Shearwater, a Mediterranean Gull and a Little Gull flew by at sea. A small lighthouse attraction during the night had brought more thrushes to the island: in total 58 Blackbirds, 30 Redwings, 20 Song Thrushes, two Fieldfares and a Mistle Thrush were counted. A Woodcock was in the withies, five Black Redstarts were around the buildings and eight Blackcaps were found around the gardens. Seven Reed Buntings and the two lingering Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen, as well as three Great Tits and two Blue Tits, while three Merlins, two Sparrowhawks, a Buzzard, a Kestrel and the resident Peregrines provided a good display of raptors.

At least seven Risso’s Dolphins spent a while very close to the shore, giving good opportunities to watch and photograph them.

Risso's Dolphins (c) Steven Stansfield

Redwing above (c) Richard Brown, below (c) Steven Stansfield

Fieldfares (c) Steven Stansfield

At least eight Black Redstarts were still present in the morning, but there were not many new arrivals. Four Swallows flew south, as did 12 Skylarks, and around 900 Starlings were around the Narrows. The sunflower field near the chapel was, as usual, popular with the finches, with 135 Chaffinches, 51 Greenfinches, 11 Goldfinches, six Siskins and a Redpoll showing interest in the crop of seeds. A Bullfinch was in Nant Withy and 14 Reed Buntings were counted around the lowlands. Most of the previous day’s thrushes had moved on, leaving just 38 Redwings, 30 Blackbirds, 12 Song Thrushes and two Fieldfares on the island. Three Water Rails were heard squealing, two Lapwings flew south, a Ringed Plover was on the beach and a Little Gull was seen feeding off the South End. The two Great Spotted Woodpeckers were still present, and lingering passerines included four Great Tits, three Blackcaps, eight Chiffchaffs and the Firecrest.

Black Redstart above (c) Steve Stansfield, below (c) Richard Brown

Following the night of pernoctation at the lighthouse, the first task was to ring and release the birds that had been caught there. These included a selection of thrushes, two Blackcaps, a Skylark and a Woodcock; the last of which attracted an admiring crowd. Then it was time to see what else was around, as lots of birds can be expected in the aftermath of an attraction. Predictably, thrushes were present in plenitude, with 120 Blackbirds, 43 Song Thrushes and 11 Fieldfares counted, along with lots of Redwings (although, surprisingly, most of the latter seemed already to have departed early in the morning). Big numbers of finches arrived at Nant, including 354 Greenfinches, 350 Chaffinches, 52 Siskins, 12 Bramblings and eight Goldfinches. A Richard’s Pipit flew over the plantation, two Lapland Buntings and three Reed Buntings were around the cereal fields, 17 Skylarks flew south and eight Black Redstarts suddenly appeared late in the morning. A late Tree Pipit was near Ty Bach, a Ring Ouzel was on the mountainside, a Grey Wagtail flew over, and 11 Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler were seen. A female Eider flew past the north hide, a Great Skua was seen off the South End, and five Mediterranean Gulls and two Little Gulls were with the flock of feeding Black-headed Gulls and Kittiwakes. 780 Starlings spent the day feeding along the west coast, and the two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, six Great Tits, Blue Tit, Firecrest, four Goldcrests and five Chiffchaffs remained.

Reed Bunting (c) Steve Stansfield

Black Redstart (c) Steve Stansfield

Woodcock above and middle (c) Richard Brown, bottom (c) Steve Stansfield

One of the better days of the autumn produced an array of noteworthy species and some good counts of commoner migrants. The spectacular star bird was undoubtedly a Black Kite that was seen briefly as it flew across Henllwyn and disappeared, hounded by corvids, around Pen Cristin. Despite much searching, this new species for Bardsey was unfortunately not seen again, but the attempts to relocate it did turn up a few other nice birds. A Richard’s Pipit flew south over Nant, and was seen again a few minutes later as it headed over the mountain ridge where two Snow Buntings were feeding in the heather. At least three Lapland Buntings were in the arable fields with a small flock of Skylarks, and a Bullfinch was in the Withies. In the afternoon, a surprising Nuthatch (only the sixth island record) arrived from the sea at the north end of the mountain and continued flying south along the top of the ridge. Around ten Reed Buntings were scattered around the lowlands, a Wheatear was on the coast and a flock of 850 Starlings wheeled around over the South End before flying off south. Counts of other landbirds included 176 Skylarks (mostly heading south overhead), 71 Redwings, 24 Blackbirds, five Song Thrushes, one Fieldfare, 126 Chaffinches, 39 Greenfinches, 30 Goldfinches, 14 Siskins, eight Lesser Redpolls and four Bramblings. Three Little Gulls and two Mediterranean Gulls were amongst around 500 Black-headed Gulls and 3500 Kittiwakes offshore.

As the night drew in, thick cloud and occasional drizzle arrived and, before long, the lighthouse beams were filled with the twinkling shapes of thrushes attracted to the light. The attraction was attended until after 3am, by which time 2000 Redwings, 36 Song Thrushes, 25 Blackbirds, three Starlings, three Lapwings, two Woodcocks, two Blackcaps, a Fieldfare, a Skylark, a Reed Bunting, a Water Rail, a Golden Plover and a Curlew had been counted circling around the beacon. The powerful gantry lights were used to illuminate a patch of grass outside the lighthouse compound, and several hundred birds were successfully drawn away from the tower and into the safety of the ground.

Black Kite (c) Steven Stansfield

Skylarks (c) Steven Stansfield (top) Richard Brown (bottom)

Lapland Bunting (c) Steven Stansfield

Greenfinch, Brambling and Chaffinch are also making use of the Sunflower fields

(c) Richard Brown

In stark contrast to the previous day, only small numbers of thrushes and finches were present on the island; a mass exodus having clearly taken place overnight. Just seven Song Thrushes and five Redwings were seen, while Chaffinches were down to 34. Greenfinches did arrive in number during the morning, with 108 counted. Small numbers of birds were observed moving offshore throughout the day, and the highlights were two Great Skuas, three Manx Shearwaters, five Mediterranean Gulls, eight Golden Plovers and a reasonable passage of 102 Gannets. Other birds seen included two Merlins, two Kestrels, a Brambling, a Lesser Redpoll, two Reed Buntings, five Great Tits, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, five Chiffchaffs and three Goldcrests.

Gannet (c) Richard Brown

During foul weather early in the morning a number of thrushes were noticed to be sheltering around the lighthouse and in the adjacent gorse. This, and a handful of Redwing corpses at the foot of the tower, indicated that there had been an attraction late in the night, presumably when the rain had started. When the downpours subsided it became evident that a large quantity of birds was on the island, although the persistent ferocity of the wind made counting them far from easy. Nevertheless, a good effort was made and numbers of thrushes were reckoned to total 570 Redwings, 74 Song Thrushes, 65 Blackbirds and 25 Fieldfares. While most of this fall of thrushes was concentrated around the South End and the Withies, a mass arrival of finches numbering roughly 600 Chaffinches and 600 Greenfinches had descended upon Nant and the Plantation in boisterous, noisy swarms. A Rosefinch was heard to call from amid the circling throngs, but it disappeared amongst the masses of Greenfinches and unfortunately could not be located. Eight Woodcocks were found to be lurking around the island, including four that had clearly been attracted to the lighthouse, as well as the first four Jacksnipes of the autumn and nine Common Snipes. Four Lapwings were on the Narrows, and two Fulmars, a Manx Shearwater and a Mediterranean Gull flew past at sea. The Firecrest at Nant was still present, along with five Goldcrests, five Chiffchaffs, three Blackcaps three Reed Buntings, four Great Tits and a Blue Tit.

A (comparatively) calm day brought reasonable numbers of common autumn migrants. Finches were again very obvious, with around 195 Chaffinches, 85 Greenfinches, nine Goldfinches, six Siskins, four Redpolls and three Bramblings logged. Thrushes included 24 Blackbirds, 22 Song Thrushes, five Redwings and a Ring Ouzel, while overhead visible migration involved 19 Swallows, 18 Skylarks, three Grey Wagtails and two Rooks. A Black Redstart and a Wheatear were still around, as were ten Chiffchaffs, five Blackcaps five Goldcrests and a Firecrest. 630 Starlings were on the Narrows, five Reed Buntings were dotted around the lowlands and a Coal Tit (the first of the autumn) arrived to join the seven Great Tits, one Blue Tit and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Two Great Northern Divers flew past at sea, and the gull flock contained two Little Gulls and a Mediterranean Gull.

Although the Grey Phalarope from last week gave excellent views in the field, having the bird in the hand provided an opportunity to see some of its less obvious adaptations. The bill is broad and flattened, unlike the other two species of phalarope, and the toes have peculiar fleshy lobes and webs like a coot. It is these lobes that give the birds their unusual name: Phalarope comes from the Greek for coot-foot. Photos (c) Richard Else

Some determined migrants had taken the opportunity of a slightly less windy day to resume their passage southwards, and some good counts of common species were made. Woodpigeons had been very few and far between for a week or so, but around two hundred individuals flew north over the island during the morning. In their company, a Stock Dove arrived at the Plantation: only the second one this year. 850 Starlings stopped to feed on the Narrows, while 22 Skylarks, two Swallows and two Grey Wagtails carried on South. Many flocks of finches passed over head or gathered at the Plantation. Counts by the end of the day totalled 175 Greenfinches, 110 Chaffinches, 45 Siskins, seven Bramblings, three Goldfinches and two Redpolls. Two Black Redstarts were present, as well as a Wheatear, five Reed Buntings, 16 Blackbirds, nine Redwings, two Song Thrushes, seven Chiffchaffs, three Blackcaps, three Goldcrests and a Jackdaw. A Golden Plover was on the South End, and 2600 Razorbills, nine Mediterranean Gulls and a Little Gull passed by at sea.

Wood Pigeons with Stock Dove top left (above) and bottom right (below) (c) Richard Brown

Brambling (c) Richard Else