Thursday, 5 July 2018

This morning all the islanders had a fire safety briefing from island warden Siân to run through our procedures for dealing with the possibility of a wild fire, should one catch on the island's parched vegetation.

We're currently asking our oncoming guests to bring on their own drinking water, but at this rate we might have to start asking them to bring on ice cream as we edge closer to what looks like yet another week of hot and sunny weather. It's ideal conditions for watching butterflies, and today saw two island rarities in the form of a Gatekeeper and a Comma, both found at Nant.

Birdwise, a Fulmar, 62 Manx Shearwaters, a Grey Heron, a Sparrowhawk, a Kestrel, two Snipes, three Whimbrels, seven Curlews, three Redshanks, a Greenshank, three Common Sandpipers, a Black-headed Gull, three Kittiwakes, 25 Puffins, two Swifts, 25 Swallows, seven House Martins, six Wheatears, a Sedge Warbler, two Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, two Chaffinches, two Goldfinches, 17 Linnets and a Lesser Redpoll made up the bulk of today's sightings.

 Comma is a scarce visitor to Bardsey with fewer than 15 previous records.

 The first nationally scarce Double Line of the year was caught in Mark's trap at Ty Nessaf.

Pammene aurana is quite easy to find around the Plantation at the moment. It perches in plain sight on the flowers of its foodplant, Hogweed. 

Up to four moth traps have been running across the island in recent nights.

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