With the arrival of our next set of guests today, things were busy at the Observatory, but a little bit of history had time to be made when during the sweeping of the dining room, the remains of a male Clouded Buff were found on the floor. A very attractive day-flying moth, this species can be found on heathland, moorland and limestone grassland across the UK, however, this is the first record for Bardsey.
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Even when departed from the mortal coil, a Clouded Buff is very distinctive (C) Greg Lee |
The weather decided to commit to a complete turnaround with the drought-like conditions and endless northerly winds broken by the arrival of a strong south-westerly gale bringing cloud, rain and conditions we haven't experienced for some weeks. A pair of Ringed Plovers on the South End were new arrivals in and some Whimbrels were still lingering around. A Reed Bunting in the Withies was only our second of the year. As one of our guests is here to collect DNA for the Darwin Tree of Life project, we wasted no time getting data from the more specialised inhabitants of Bardsey, with our first Chough brood ringed of the year and a Manx Shearwater delegated to represent its entire species. In the evening, despite the horrid weather, a Ringed Plover and a male Wheatear were also ringed.
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Chough chicks (C) Greg Lee |
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Ringed Plover (C) Greg Lee |
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