Back from Dream Island

Time now for an update, having spent the last few days catching up on much needed sleep after a week on Skokholm, falling into bed after midnight and rising again at 6am.

Time for the first net-round

Most of the time the weather was unseasonably fine and sunny, with a steady breeze from the South-east, with one day when it switched around from the North and was more blustery with a few showers.

There was a steady flow of migrants, with the day after the northerly producing a large arrival of Chiffchaffs. As well as the mist nets and Heligoland traps, we used spring traps, potter traps and 2-shelf nets, these producing pipits and Wheatear - two of which were fine adult male Greenlands. We tried everything we could think of (including a dead mouse and other even less salubrious lures) to entice one of the calling Water Rails, but predictably perhaps this was to no avail.

Star bird of the week was a Firecrest, with a supporting cast of Redstarts and Spotted Flycatchers. A Teal was caught in a hand-net on North Pond after midnight, after one of many evenings ringing Manx Shearwater juveniles along the track from the Cottage to the Lighthouse.

Our total of new birds ringed was 508, including 187 Manxies and 141 Chiffchaffs, with 130 retraps.

Hwyl fawr, a diolch.