The wind picked up today, throughout the morning constant 26mph south-easterlies were blowing across the island. Despite this, the clear sky meant that it was still a nice, warm day. This morning George went north and Sam went south, it soon became clear that some Spotted Flycatchers had arrived, as one was fly-catching from Gareth's poly-tunnel, a good sign of things to come..?

As Sam was walking onto the Narrows, two Ringed Plovers flew low over the grass from Henllwyn to Solfach. Eager to have a closer look, he went over to Solfach where there were 22 Dunlins feeding, the year's high count. The Ringed Plovers were also busy pecking away at the sandhoppers and other invertebrates lurking in the washed-up kelp. It's hard to gauge the size of waders a lot of the time, but to give some perspective of how small these Ringed Plovers are, look at their size when compared to the White Wagtail that's standing just in the foreground.

Two Ringed Plovers and a White Wagtail amongst the copious amounts of kelp on Solfach

Dunlins probing for food in the wet sand

As mentioned in previous posts, we can't expect huge flocks of small waders here on Bardsey, as there simply isn't the habitat for them to feed in. So a flock of 22 Dunlins is a very pleasing sight!

George was having a good morning at Nant, securing the year's first Whinchat on one of the newly rotavated fields near Ty Capel. Almost certainly making the most of the freshly upturned soil! As well as this, he had ten Spotted Flycatchers, 25 Willow Warblers and 22 Blackcaps, for the latter two species, this is the highest count for a week or so. 

Whinchat from this morning

A Willow Warbler in pursuit of the small insect just up and left of it in this photo. As you can imagine, amazing accuracy is required for any fly-catching bird.

Spotted Flycatcher at Nant, with any luck there will be plenty more of these characteristic birds arriving soon...

Spotted Flycatchers come through a bit later than a lot of our migrant species. They are often easy to pick out from quite a distance when in flight due to their large wings. They also have a habit of hunting insects in quick bursts before returning to a perch such as a fence post or twig, they then repeat this action over and over again. 

Later in the day, Sam strimmed the Withy and Nant net rides because the grass was almost touching the bottom of the open nets. The wind had died down by this point in the day, meaning that this was rather hot work!

Once the wind calmed down, the weather was gorgeous and summery

So, while Sam was busy getting heatstroke at Nant, George decided to put his lungs to the ultimate test and carried on removing lime mortar from the stone wall in the common room. Using an attachment on the end of the drill, he was able to take away the remaining mortar from most of the stones that it's not feasible to remove with a chisel. Only a few to go... For now, a shower is in order for George.

The wall is really starting to come along now!

Sightings today include: 14 Spotted Flycatchers, six Shelducks, 76 Oystercatchers, seven Whimbrels, 30 Swallows, five House Martins, six Stonechats, nine Wheatears, 12 Blackbirds, eight Sedge Warblers, six Whitethroats, two Chiffchaffs, 28 Willow Warblers, two Goldcrests, four Great Tits, one Raven, three Chaffinches and eight Linnets.

The weather was too windy to do any ringing today.