Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Late August is normally pretty good on Bardsey, and after a very slow start to the autumn it's finally starting to deliver. Today was kicked off with three Sabine's Gull scattered along with west coast this morning with two summer plumaged adults and a 1st winter bird being picked out amongst the Kittiwakes. The sea was, in fact, very busy, with stacks of Kittiwakes (2758 counted), plus healthy counts of 1090 Manx Shearwaters and 119 Gannets. There was also a fine variety of species logged out to sea, headlined by the strongest tern passage of the year; 93 Arctic Terns, 37 Common Terns, 70 "Commic" Terns and three Sandwich Terns. Also logged out to sea were ten Common Scoters, 11 Whimbrel, two Bar-tailed Godwit, three Fulmars, six Black-headed Gulls, two Common Gulls, one Mediterranean Gull, seven Razorbills and singles of Puffin, Red-throated Diver and Arctic Skua. 77 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also on the move today, in small parties moving south through the island.

Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) - Elliot's Birding Diaries
Next up, in wader news one Greenshank was picked up on call at 05:50am over the obs whilst on net rounds, meanwhile one Lapwing was flushed from the north end at 02:36am. Meanwhile an excellent 90 Curlews were logged, alongside 22 Oystercatchers, five Ringed Plovers, 18 Dunlins, 35 Turnstones, 16 Whimbrels (11 already mentioned as seen on seawatches) and 11 Redshanks.

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) - Elliot's Birding Diaries
And on land, it was another decent day of passage, highlighted by a Wryneck and a Great Spotted Woodpecker, both around the Nant area. Overhead there were 230 Swallows, 34 House Martins, two Sparrowhawks and a single Flava Wagtail, with 20 White Wagtails on the Narrows. 11 Wheatears and nine Robins were seen, while it was a modest day for Warblers, with Willow Warblers numbering just 16, plus four Goldcrests and singles of Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler and Reed Warbler. 108 Linnets were also logged today.

Wryneck (Jynx torquilla)- Elliot's Birding Diaries
Another two Convulvulous Hawk-moths were found today, one in a moth trap at Ty Pellaf and one in the Obs Heligoland Trap. Five Painted Ladies and eight Red Admirals were on the move, with a single Speckled Wood around the Nant area. The blooming Bell Heather on the Mountain is proving irresistible to Bees, with a huge count of 182 Common Carder-Bees on our monthly transect today. The only mammal-related sighting of note today was three Common Dolphins off the West Coast.

No comments:

Post a Comment