Bardsey week 1 (27/08/16-02/09/16)

My volunteering stint on Bardsey began on Saturday the 27th of August. Although one of the first birds I saw on my arrival was a juv. Peregrine, the first week has been quiet. There has been a trickle of common migrants passing through, but primarily with westerly winds dominating the weather maps we are still mostly watching the left-overs from last week’s Willow Warbler fall. Which brings us to the highlight of the week, a long staying Melodious Warbler. It has been favouring the south side of the garden and showing most days reasonably regularly. On the 1st of September we were lucky enough to retrap the bird and enjoy close views of a Bardsey specialty.

Melodious Warbler

As I said before, the westerly winds have made migrants scarce on the ground, but we have enjoyed good numbers of Willow Warbler. Close to the beginning of the week we saw a small rise in chat numbers including both Stonechat and Robin, and I was lucky enough to bump into my first Whinchat of the autumn. Other than that Goldcrest numbers have been increasing with the occasional odd migrant, such as Spotted Flycatcher.

Spotted Flycatcher

Buzzard

Redshank

Other migrants have included some sylvias both Whitethroat and Blackcap, and it was a surprise to find out that Reed Warbler was an uncommon migrant on the island having found 2 at Nant in 3 days. Friday has brought the largest number of migrants in on my end with another 4 fly over Grey Wagtails, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, a Grasshopper Warbler and a Redstart.

 Swallow

Little Owl

On the ringing side of things, I was thrilled to be able to ring my first ever Rock Pipit and White Wagtail, using a portable Heligoland trap! We were able to trap around 15 Rock Pipits in one session, which was quite a success.

Comparison between Rock and Meadow Pipit

Mist netting was also relatively successful with numerous Goldcrests and a Garden Warbler being the highlight.

Goldcrest

Also of note was a Convolvulus Hawkmoth!