Saturday 8 June 2013

Another beautiful day saw one or two notable species finding their way to the island, although there was no sign of the Paddyfield Warbler.
A Hobby blasted North up the island in the early hours, which is the first record of the year. A small arrival of warblers consisted of two Reed Warblers, two Garden Warblers, a Sedge Warbler and an interesting Lesser Whitethroat.
The Lesser Whitethroat was seen for about 10 minutes in Ty Capel, and sported a very pale nape encroaching onto the crown. Unfortunately the bird was not seen again after the morning, although a few poor record shots were managed:

Some poor record shots of the interesting Lesser Whitethroat at Nant. Comments welcome!
Compare to a 'normal' Lesser Whitethroat taken last year in April
 Garden Warbler
 Collared Dove
 Meadow Pipit
Hundreds of auks are present on the east side at the moment, including Razorbills and Puffins

Once again, it has been a decent few days for moth-trapping, with numbers gradually increasing
This Small Phoenix is only the second record for Bardsey, after the first in 1968
 A Clouded Bordered Brindle was trapped (above) along with a Small Elephant Hawkmoth

4 comments:

  1. What did the LW sound-like. Any rattle calls? Looks promising for an eastern bird

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  2. Called about three times: a single dry 'chack'. Nothing else

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  3. Eastern birds tack like western birds, but they frequently rattle, like a Spectacled Warbler or a bit like a Sedge Warbler.

    Looks small and sandy though - best its from the same kind of area as the Paddy! PIty it didn't rattle at you!

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    1. To me, it best fits halimodendri or margelanica. Although minula has been claimed in this country, now that it is found to be confined to China, it seems unlikely to be of that taxon. Blythi is very similar to curruca in structure, though colour tones can match this bird. Would have been interesting to see what it would have looked like in the hand, had it been trapped.

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