Today was warm and calm, but the island remained shrouded in mist again until early evening, these days have a strange feel to them, so it was nice to be able to see further than one hundred metres by the evening!

This morning was calm, so George headed up to Nant to ring, on leaving the Obs, a Bullfinch was calling in the garden, an unusual bird on here, especially in August. Ringing at Nant was quiet, but a few nice things were caught with Spotted Flycatcher and a few Lesser Redpolls being the highlights; there was also a Great Spotted Woodpecker present.

juvenile Lesser Redpoll

Sam headed out on a walk to the Narrows and the South End, a Teal on Solfach was the highlight, being the first since the spring. 18 Turnstones, 12 Curlews, three Dunlin and six Redshanks were around, these numbers are similar to what there have been of late.

The afternoon was spent progressing with the solar panel work, the frames have not started to be cemented in and before long, the solar panels should be in place! It's an exiting prospect to be able to have electricity in the Obs throughout the day, and will make a real difference in late autumn on the island when it starts to get dark early in the afternoon, as we'll be able to have lights on all afternoon and evening without worrying about the amount of diesel being burnt - bliss - well, for us anyway!

Other birds around today were: two Grey Herons, one Ringed Plover, one Kestrel, one Blackcap, one Goldcrest, three Spotted Flycatchers, four Great Tits and five Redpolls.'

Ringing totals were: 5 Wrens, 2 Lesser Redpolls, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Goldcrest. Total 9 birds of 4 species.