Saturday, 28 July 2018

Anyone out looking for the 'blood moon' last night would have been disappointed but the sight of humongous imposing storm clouds, slowly rolling in from the south and backlit by a bright moon, provided some nice compensation. The storm bought with it a brief deluge of rain (although the majority of precipitation is forecast for tonight) and gusts severe enough to cancel the Saturday changeover boat and completely shear the stem off one of the chilli plants growing in front of the observatory. Luckily, the sunflowers and pumpkins fared better, and fingers crossed tomorrow holds the weather window we need to welcome our next group of guests. In terms of avian interest, the juvenile Cuckoo was at the Plantation, a Skylark was on the Narrows and a good selection of waders are starting to appear on Solfach.

Other totals today included 33 Fulmars, 2051 Manx Shearwaters off the west side of the island, 35 Gannets, four Grey Herons, a Knot, a Dunlin, , 37 Bar-tailed Godwits, the first of the autumn, 12 Whimbrels, 23 Curlews, eight Redshanks, a Common Sandpiper, 12 Turnstones, four Black-headed Gulls, 15 Kittiwakes, eight Puffins, a Cuckoo, a Skylark, 18 Swallows, seven House Martins, eight Wheatears, a Chiffchaff, two Willow Warblers, three Chaffinches and 33 Linnets.  

Vicious winds led to the first casualty of the storm - one of the observatory's two chilli plants failed to make it through the night. With more strong winds set to batter the island, it could be a long night for the island's vegetables. 

 Manx Shearwaters appear to almost enjoy it when the sea gets rough. Hundreds could be seen this evening in the Sound gliding effortlessly over the waves.

A lonesome Sneezewort flower was in flower on the West Coast.

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