Wednesday 26 March 2014

It was a beautiful sunny day, allowing a steady trickle of passerine migrants to pass through and over the island. The number of warblers around remained rather meagre, with just 16 Chiffchaffs and seven Goldcrests present, some of the former of which were happily singing away in Cristin garden. A total of two Wheatears were seen around the island's coast, along with 143 Meadow Pipits and one White Wagtail, whilst the Black Redstart continued to evade the potter traps near Nant. Later in the afternoon, a small movement of hirundines saw three Sand Martins flying north over the middle of the island. In terms of non-passerines, three Canada Geese flew north over Pwll Cain in the early hours, and singles of Merlin, Hooded Crow were recorded.

Other news:
Portland Bird Observatory have just launched their new website, so please take a look at it here to keep up to date with all of their latest news.
Don't forget to pay Flamborough Bird Observatory's new website a visit, which was also launched very recently: you can find it here
Other bird observatory links can be found on the right hand side of this blog, below the 'About Bardsey Wildlife' section.


Three Chiffchaffs were trapped and ringed during the day. This bird, like a handful of other birds in recent weeks, possessed a hint of a grey flush to the ear coverts and nape. This might suggest a more eastern origin. This bird also had 'pollen hornes', like many other Chiffchaffs at the moment. (c) Steve Stansfield

A few Chaffinches have been trapped in recent days, such as this adult bird, caught yesterday. The much broader tail feathers are the main indication; a juveniles (age code 5) at the moment have much narrower and more pointy tail feathers (c) Steve Stansfield
Male Pied Wagtail (top), and a freshly-arrived White Wagtail (lower)

In other news, the new Solfach hide arrived on the island in the morning, which has been very kindly built by Todd Chater over the last month or so. We will hopefully be able to install the hide in its rightful place on Solfach, after the last hide was washed away over winter
 
Images (c) Emma Stansfield

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