Saturday 22 October 2016

A sunny but chilly day with the winds swinging back to the east brought in a few new migrants but minimal in comparison to the previous day. There was no sign of the Barred Warbler from yesterday but a Black Redstart at Carreg in the Lowlands and a mobile Stock Dove were two of the more "stand out" sightings of the day.

Overhead passage consisted of ten late Swallows heading low through the lowlands and 31 Skylarks at a higher altitude whilst on land thrushes were the most dominant species today as new birds continually pass through the island each day, a Ring Ouzel was present on the South End, 17 Fieldfares passed overhead along with 25 Redwings whilst through the gardens, mountainside and lowlands 42 Blackbirds, nine Song Thrushes and two Mistle Thrushes darted about.

Waves of Goldcrests are still hitting the island with plenty of new birds being ringed each time ringing sessions take place, today 50 were recorded bringing with them a Firecrest. Finch passage had dwindled slightly although small amounts were logged, 32 Chaffinches, three Bramblings, two Goldfinches and a Linnet were the final tallies. Two Blue Tits were present, one of them being unringed suggesting another new bird in. Meanwhile two Blackcaps, three Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler bulked up warbler numbers whilst three Water Rails, a Collard Dove 28 Robins, six Stonechats, a Wheatear, 104 Starlings and a Reed Bunting were other notables.

A Jack Snipe was trapped and ringed in the Wetlands, continuing a great run of captures for this species over the past year, hopefully returning birds may be recaptured as has happen with a particular individual in prior seasons! A few Common Snipes were also flushed from the Wetlands as other waders were thin on the ground, 22 Oystercatchers, a Whimbrel, 39 Curlews, eight Redshanks and five Turnstones representing other numbers.

A Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell  were the first records for a few weeks of these two species and six Red Admirals were also seen.

1 comment:

  1. Good stuff. I had a Lapwing on Henllwyn on the way down to the boat Saturday morning. Just in case it missed the log!

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