We had to appreciate our resident breeding birds once again today. The wind was a fairly brisk 14 mph northerly. Not nearly as strong as it has been in the last week, but unfortunately strong enough to put a halt to any early morning ringing plans.

The Schoolhouse in the morning light, with the sun still yet to rise from behind the mountain

The Cristin Swallows were one of the first things to be heard when leaving the Obs early in the morning to conduct the bird census, they are once again looking to nest in the tractor shed here. The reed bed at Ty Pellaf was alive with the sound of four Sedge Warblers, it seems to be their favourite habitat on the island, although three were singing from the Withies today, too.

Down at Solfach early on, the tide was out and there were no waders whatsoever! However, a visit later in the day produced the rather lovely brick-red Knot that has been present for three days, as well as four Turnstones, eight Ringed Plovers, 46 Oysertcatchers and four Dunlins. A couple of the Turnstones are in breeding plumage which is lovely to see, as a lot of the time here in UK we are used to the drab non-breeding plumage of this species.

Some of the Oystercatchers on Solfach today

Two Shelducks flying over the Narrows today, the male is the lower bird (the bump on its bill is the best giveaway)

The South End was quite quiet, there were a couple House Martins flying around the lighthouse as expected. One nice surprise was a Peregrine Falcon that was flushed off of the most southern cliffs calling as it flew northwards. This bird must be hunting around here as it has been seen at the South End for several days in a row now, always at the southern tip. Perhaps targeting weary migrants, or possibly just the resident Oystercatchers?

The South End and Wetlands

The afternoon was spent getting the Heligoland trap in the garden ready for a very needed repair job. For readers that aren't aware, a Heligoland trap is essentially a large stationary, funnel-shaped trap. Usually, there are trees planted inside the wide entrance, and often a pool of water, too, in order to attract birds. Once there are birds at the entrance, a couple of people walk towards them to 'push' them further into the narrower end of the trap where there is a catching box and the birds can be extracted. Before the days of mist-nets, these traps were really the most efficient way to catch birds.

Most of the rusty wire mesh has been taken off, and the tree inside the trap that was starting to escape has had some branches cut.

The catching end of the trap with the mesh removed

This is what most of the (remaining) mesh looked like, incredibly weak and full of large holes.

Bird sightings today include: four Cormorants, two Shags, eight Shelducks, 89 Oystercatcher, one Little Owl, 20 Swallows, one White Wagtail, 14 Wheatears, seven Sedge Warblers, two Whitethroats, five Blackcaps and one Spotted Flycatcher.

Ringing Totals: George opened a couple of nets for an hour or so while the trap work was going on and caught a single Willow Warbler.