Sunday 7 July 2013

7th July

Another stunning day on the island saw a decent selection of avian wildlife passing through the island. First up was a Greenshank which flew South over Henllwyn calling in the early hours, the first of the year. Next up was a rather odd record: a singing male Firecrest in the Plantation, which was feeding in exactly the same place as the overwintering bird.
At least two Willow Warblers were present in the Withies, a Song Thrush was seen at Nant, and over 20 Swifts and four Sand Martins flew over, and a Redshank headed North over Nant. A large total of 61 Common Scoters were recorded, made up mostly of a flock of 59 in the Sound, and a Common Tern also passed by.

 This cracking male Firecrest burst into song in the Plantation in the morning. It brought about a certain feeling of De Ja Vu as the bird occupied the exact same few trees as the overwintering bird spent 3 months in! This is the first July record of Firecrest since 2001, when a female took up residence in Cristin garden until late September!
 The juvenile Peregrines are just 'finding their wings' at the moment, tormenting the Choughs on the mountainside and producing some superb aerodynamic skills as they play with one and other
The fifth Small Elephant Hawkmoth of the year was trapped near Carreg Reed Bed

2 comments:

  1. I really like those peregrine images, stunning bird. The firecrest singing away is priceless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks again Doug- great fun watching the young Peregrines, but very hard to capture!

    ReplyDelete