Today's weather was mixed again, but with quite a lot of rain in the first half of the day which is, quite frankly, very needed. It was one of the windiest days for a while with winds gusting up to 35mph first thing.

George and Sam were out first thing, with Sam heading Southwards and George heading North. On days as windy as today, it becomes quite difficult to record all of the small passerines present on the island; they stay in the centre of the bushes where they are more sheltered from the weather and it is surprising to see how much counts of species such as Wrens can fluctuate as on windy days they are much less visible and far fewer are in song.

Trwyn Llanclau covered in sea foam from today's rough weather

After checking the plantation at Nant, George carried onto the seawatching hide in the hope that the on-shore breeze would produce some seabirds.The first birds seen from the hide were two Arctic Terns battling South into the wind, these are a new species for the year list! The next two were two Sandwich Terns, this is only the second record so far this spring of these large terns, they are seen much more frequently in Autumn, though. Manxies were passing at a reasonable rate, and by the end of an hour's session in the hide, a total of 467 had passed, all of which were heading South into the wind. The other highlight of the hour spent here was a Black-headed Gull, this is only the third one so far this year, with them being particularly scarce here in Spring.

Sam had been around the South End, two Chiffchaffs were present in the gorse at the Northern End and the female Lapland Bunting was still around, feeding on the track and allowing very good views to be had. Over on the narrows, 13 Whimbrels were in a high-tide roost along with 95 Oystercatchers,  one Curlew and two Ringed Plovers.

female Lapland Bunting on the South End, today was her ninth day on the island.

Back at the Obs, a Collared Dove was feeding on the lawn, slightly unusual as there hasn't been one around for the best part of a week now. There were also a few warblers in the garden, unsurprisingly perhaps as it is one of the most sheltered areas on the island. Two Blackcaps, three Chiffchaffs and eight Willow Warblers were feeding around the net lanes, the calmer pockets of air giving them somewhere to fly-catch. A female Pied Flycatcher was also in the garden, feeding outside Steve's window, and a Black Redstart was still present in the courtyard, too.

the sun setting on a rough day on the island

Other birds of interest today were: 44 Gannets, 48 Kittiwakes, six Swallows, nine Rock Pipits, five Pied Wagtails, one Robin, seven Stonechats, 19 Wheatears, four Sedge Warblers, five Blackcaps, 13 Chiffchaffs, 15 Willow Warblers, three Goldcrests, two Great Tits and 21 Linnets.