Wind was less of a feature of today than it has been recently, and it had warmed up a bit too, with some sunny spells in the morning, followed by heavier cloud later on.

The sea was rough early morning, with cool North westerlies whipping across the island, a short Seawatch from the Obvs saw 500 Manxies, 34 Gannets and 14 Common Scoters moving South down the West Coast, there were also a small number of Kittiwakes and auks being pushed down the coast, too.

Late morning saw a couple of the more sheltered nets being opened at the Observatory, it was very quiet, with two birds being caught, one being a retrap Dunnock, and the other one was of the juvenile Willow Warblers which had bred nearby, the first we've managed to catch so far.

juvenile Willow Warbler

After the nets were closed, the Pied Wagtails were ready to ring which had been nesting under the roof slates on the Ringing Hut. Two chicks were ringed, the other two had died, sadly, though with recent weather being quite windy and rainy, the adults had been struggling to fly-catch in the garden, and it seems two had perished consequently. The other two look quite strong, however, so hopefully those will fledge without a problem.

nestling Pied Wagtail

At 3pm, the boat arrived with the first people since March!! The Trust Wardens' families had come on as they hadn't managed to see them since Christmas, and they are going to be helping the wardens to get all of the Trust houses ready on the island in hot anticipation of guests in the near future! Sam has also just started his holiday and has headed down to Lloft Carreg for the next two weeks for a much-needed break and recharge.

The Storm Petrel net was taken down from just outside of the Obs compound, and it has been moved to the Southern-side of Nant Valley to see how much of a difference it makes to be somewhere away from the Obs and closer to the coast - I shall report back tomorrow with how successful it was! While at the North End, a quick look at the Gull Colony saw a good number of juvenile Herring Gulls at around fledging-size, and plenty of adults being pestered for food, out looks as though they have had a reasonable year. There were also four Curlews and two Whimbrels just round the corner on the West Coast, with one of the Curlews giving a short burst of song, not something that you hear very often here..

the new sighting for the Storm Petrel net, with a backdrop of the North End and Nant Valley

Other sightings included: 55 Kittiwakes, 26 Swallows, eight House Martins, five Willow Warblers, five Great Tits and five Goldfinches.

Ringing Totals: 1 Willow Warbler and 2 Pied Wagtails - Total 3 birds of 2 species.