Tuesday 29 August 2017

Another day here on Bardsey with more signs of winter on its way with birds continuing to pass through. Out at sea today we were graced with the sight of one Red-throated Diver,  22 Fulmars, one Large Shearwater sp (most likely Great!), seven Razorbill, 74 Gannets, three Arctic Terns, three Sandwich Terns, two Commic Terns, one Great Skua, two Pomarine Skuas, 11 Arctic Skua, 687 Kittiwakes, 21 Common Scoters, and 21 Black-headed Gulls.

Gannet - Harry King

 Waders have seemed to of died down in recent days with today's counts coming in at a pretty low score: 35 Oystercatchers, two Dunlin, one Redshank, six Whimbrel, 34 Curlews and six Turnstones.

Convolvulus Hawkmoth - Elliot's Birding Diaries
One thing which was noticed today was raptor passage, with the star bird going to a Red Kite north over the plantation this morning representing the islands 23rd record; with other raptors including five Sparrowhawks, including one group of three heading north over Ty Pellaf, one Buzzard and three Peregrines.

Red Kite - Elliot's Birding Diaries

Grounded migrants included a high count for the year of 110 White Wagtails, plus 100 Linnets, 42 Willow Warblers and 24 Goldcrests as the most abundant species. 11 Spotted Flycatchers was a good count, while also recorded were 20 Robins, 16 Chiffchaffs, five Whitethroats, three Blackcaps, two Sedge Warblers and, to add a bit of quality, two Redstarts and a Firecrest at the Plantation, both first records for the autumn. Overhead passage was light, but totalled three Sand Martins, 84 Swallows, 34 House Martins, two Tree Pipits and three Grey Wagtails.

In non-avian news, not one but two Convolvulus Hawkmoths where discovered today, one on the obs trap and another at Pen Cristin. These two bring the years total to nine, time will tell if we can beat last years record total!

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