Yet another beautifully sunny day allowed us to get out and ring several broods of Wheatear chicks. It was the perfect way to welcome back Josie, a BBFO regular who is joining the team for the next couple of weeks to help with our seabird monitoring and ringing schemes. A female Whinchat and Reed Warbler in the Lighthouse gorse hinted at some new arrivals, but once again it was the invertebrates that stole the show, with the first Thrift Clearwings of the year noted simultaneously from the colonies at Pen Cristin and on the West Coast.

Elsewhere, six Fulmars, 225 Manx Shearwaters, 18 Gannets, a Sparrowhawk, a Buzzard, two Peregrines, a Whimbrel, a Curlew, two Collared Doves, a Little Owl, four Swifts, 17 Swallows, six House Martins, a Stonechat, 16 Wheatears, two Blackcaps, six Chiffchaffs, two Willow Warblers, a Spotted Flycatcher, three Chaffinches, two Goldfinches, 18 Linnets and three Lesser Redpolls were logged.

Nothing to see here, just an Oystercatcher pair that appear to be incubating three eggs and a rock. Stay tuned to find out if the rock hatches.

The day ended with some bad news when the incubating female Sparrowhawk was found freshly dead at Ty Nesaf. Her neck was badly broken but apart from that she was in perfect condition, suggesting a head on collision with something at force. Unfortunately, with the nest still in the early chick stage it is unlikely that the male will be able to sustain the brood by himself.

Celypha cespitana is now on the wing along the steep grassy slopes below Pen Cristin.