Thursday 26 March 2020

Today was the calmest day yet, there was a slight wind coming in from the east but it was barely noticeable, and in the early morning there was a mist coming in off the sea. With this in mind, the assistant wardens woke up at 04:00 and trudged down into the Wetlands in order to open up the Snipe nets that had been put up the yesterday. Unfortunately, today we had no luck, but a Merlin frustratingly, narrowly missed one of the nets! 10 Common Snipes were seen along with one Jack Snipe, however.

After the disappointment caused by the lack of Snipes, the nets were opened at Cristin at 06:00 and it turned out to be a good day for it, to kick off the action was a Black Redstart and a Redwing in the first net rounds! Admittedly, we have been quietly hoping we'd catch a Black Redstart since the first one was seen at Cristin two days ago.

Throughout the day at least six were seen including three at Nant, one at Carreg and two around Cristin

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 Three Black Redstarts were at Nant, with two at Cristin 

Chiffchaffs were also in good numbers today, they could be heard calling in every wooded area around the island. There weren't many Willow Warblers with them today though, just 10 were recorded today down from 15 yesterday, one was caught at Cristin. 

 Up to 88 Chiffchaffs were seen during the day

Goldcrests saw their highest day total of the year by far today, 42 were recorded yesterday which was the highest day count until today when 195 were recorded. At Cristin, 37 were caught and more were present, but a count at Nant yielded 110 individuals, we hope to be ringing there tomorrow morning.

 There were a good number of Goldcrests at Nant with a total of 195 seen across the island

 Jackdaw at Nant, five were recorded in total today

 A good number of thrushes were seen today, with at least 28 Redwings logged
along with ten Fieldfares

The Stock Dove is still present at Nant

All in all, a pretty nice day on Bardsey. Besides the Black Redstarts, another nice scarcity was Hooded Crow, of which two were seen on the Narrows, and another couple of nice birds came in the form of a Great Tit (these are about annual here) and a Firecrest on the Mountain.

Other sightings today include: one Sparrowhawk, one Buzzard, one Peregrine, two Curlews, one Little Owl, 124 Meadow Pipits, one White Wagtail, one Robin, five Wheatears, one Mistle Thrush, three Siskins and 70 Linnets.

Ringing totals today (re-traps in brackets): Goldcrest 35 (2), Chiffchaff 6, Willow Warbler 1, Wren 1 (1), one Black Redstart, Goldfinch 2, Siskin 3, Chaffinch 1, Blackbird (1) Total: 54 birds of 9 species.

Moths today: 11 Common Quaker, two Red Chestnuts, one Angle Shades,  two Dark Swordgrass, one Herald and three Hebrew Characters.

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