No one had any trouble getting out of bed this morning after yesterday's shenanigans. Early morning radio messages from the South End suggested another good movement of migrant birds, with 16 Whitethroats, two Common Redstarts and a Short-eared Owl all noted in the gorse around the Lighthouse compound. It was a similar situation further up the island, but what was quickly becoming apparent was the sheer numbers of Spotted Flycatchers that were moving through the island. We often say it when describing decent movements of Willow Warblers but not when to comes to Spotted Flycatchers - there seemed to be a bird in ever patch of scrub today. It's always hard to accurately judge the number of birds present during an influx, but estimates suggested 35 in the Plantation, 28 in the observatory garden and 19 in the Withies alone. The final total at log was a fantastic 115 birds. There's certainly no doubting today's star bird!

Other birds logged on another busy day included two Fulmars, 85 Manx Shearwaters, seven Gannets, the first Little Egret of the year, two Sparrowhawks (the pair have a nest in the Plantation with four eggs), two Peregrines, four Sanderlings, ten Purple Sandpipers, 13 Dunlins, five Whimbrels, three Turnstones, two Black-headed Gulls, nine Sandwich Terns, three Arctic Terns (displaying to each other and even carrying fish!), two Collared Doves, nine Swifts, a Sand Martin, 50 Swallows, 75 House Martins, a flava Wagtail, a Black Redstart, three Redstarts, a Whinchat, five Stonechats (including four juveniles at Nant), nine Wheatears, 20 Sedge Warblers, 32 Whitethroats, five Blackcaps, 19 Chiffchaffs, 21 Willow Warblers, a Starling, four Chaffinches, 18 Goldfinches and a Lesser Redpoll.

Bardsey often hosts impressive numbers of Spotted Flycatchers on migration up through the Irish Sea. Whereabouts these birds are heading to is a bit of a mystery. Do they simply dissipate out across the mainland or are some of them destined for Scandinavia? 

It's been a couple of weeks since we last saw a Common Redstart.

Orange tips are a surprisingly rare sight on Bardsey given the decent populations of Cuckooflower across the island. Today's very warm weather attracted a single male onto the wing around the bluebells behind the Plantation which looks to be the first record since 2012. The fact that they can go years without showing up would hint at the possibility of vagrancy from the mainland.

The bluebells are looking great this year, turning up in places they haven't previously flowered. Just ask the Orange-tip!