Saturday 3 August 2024

Strong south-westerly winds wasn't ideal for passerine migration. A build up of gulls during the morning high tide produced a rather smart juvenile Caspian Gull on the South End, this represent the first record for the Island and only the second for Gwynedd after a 1st Summer in Bangor during early June. The bird was colour ringed and confirmed to be ringed in the Netherlands on 9/5/24 some 420 miles to the East. Alongside this was a German ringed juvenile Mediterranean Gull on Solfach, ringed some 730 miles away, the bird was last seen in Germany on 2/7/24 and was seen in Suffolk on 26/7/24! 

Caspian Gull © Ed Betteridge

Caspian Gull © Ed Betteridge


Mediterranean Gull © Ed Betteridge
Elsewhere, a juvenile Marsh Harrier circled the Island mid-afternoon with wader's totalling three Purple Sandpipers, 48 Turnstones, 32 Curlews, six Redshanks, five Whimbrels, a Dunlin and a Ringed Plover with nine Common Scoters along the West Coast. The day ended with another look through the Gull flocks during the evening high tide didn't produce the Caspian Gull however, the first Arctic Tern of the year was on Henllywn. 

Arctic Tern © Ed Betteridge

Purple Sandpiper © Ed Betteridge

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