It was pretty windy today, with gusts up to 40mph coming from the south west. It was also slightly on the wet side in the morning too, but once that had cleared it was time to start checking Manx Shearwater burrows to so how many pairs had succeeded in hatching an egg and raising a chick.

so far, the productivity of the Bardsey Manx Shearwaters is just over 70%, there is only one egg left which may or may not hatch. All the others at this stage are either failed at the egg/early chick stage, or are still raising chicks.

Whitethroats have bred successfully on the island this year, this morning one juvenile bird flew into the ringing hut whilst a staff member was int there and was ringed, slightly unexpected but good nonetheless.

Juvenile Whitethroat

Birds around include: 1006 Manx Shearwaters in an hour seawatch, 50 Gannets, five Puffins (and a distinct total lack of other auk species), three Shelducks, one Peregrine, one Ringed Plover, one Dunlin, one Redshank, six Curlews, one Whimbrel, one Common Sandpiper, one Mediterranean Gull and two Swifts.