A slight twist of the dial to a south-westerly breeze was enough to bring in some quality on the sea with a Sooty Shearwater racing down the West Coast, two Black Terns and a juvenile Long-tailed Skua past the South End, commoner fare including 34 Arctic Terns, 18 Sandwich Terns, 19 Fulmars, 182 Razorbills, 66 Gannets, one Arctic Skua and 165 Manx Shearwaters. A Ruff flying high south over the Wetlands was also a surprise, having been reported earlier in the morning from another coastal watchpoint. 

The highlight of the day came courtesy of the land, when a collection of Linnets was counted around the Gorse on the South End. One flock had landed on a Gorse bush, which the observer began totalling, whilst being fully aware there was something else sharing the bush. Once counting had finished, they finally paid attention to the "other" bird and was greeted by the distinctive cryptic patterning of a Wryneck, our first for the season of this classic autumn drift migrant and bang on cue for their mid-September peak arrival.  Fortunately, and quite unlike many of the Wrynecks that turn up on Bardsey, this bird was quite tolerant of human presence and decided to avoid the usual routine of diving into deep cover. Instead, it fed up on the areas of short turf, using the incredible long tongue to grab ants before eventually slinking off into the grass. Although this species is always an expected/anticipated scarcity on Bardsey, they have been rather thin on the ground in recent years with one record in 2023 and blank years in 2022 and 2024. Prior to this however, there have been some excellent years with a slew of records notably in 2016, 2020 and 2021, the former with 20+ bird-days. Here's hoping some more of these characterful birds appear over the next month.

Plenty of ants for the visting Wryneck! (C) Greg Lee

Spot the Wryneck- a testament to the camouflage (C) Greg Lee

Otherwise, there were a few tidbits on the birding front, with a Little Egret on Pwll Ty Pellaf, two Willow Warblers, two Chiffchaffs, six Goldcrests, two Pied Flycatchers, a Firecrest at Nant, a Tree Pipit over the South End and a collection of Oystercatchers on the Narrows being joined by seven Turnstones. A small bit of hirundine passage was noted over the South End with two House Martins and 24 Swallows moving south before the wind began to pick up. 29 Curlews were also around the island with 27 feeding in the fields by Traeth Ffynnon. 

Insects were more obvious today after the wet weather from the previous day with two Small Coppers battling out on the South End, seven Red Admirals at the Observatory enjoying a provided feast of grapes and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth performing nicely on the Narrows. A Small White was still in the Wetlands along with a handful of Green-veined Whites. Meanwhile, three new Grey Seal pups were found on the seal census!

Hummingbird Hawk-moth (C) Greg Lee