As we approach 2013 it is time to reflect on a fantastic year on Bardsey. I apologise here for the gratuitous amount of picture in this post, but i feel another look at them will keep us all going in the cold nights as we get towards the longest day! Thanks to Ben for keeping the picture of the very best quality coming in.
Lets start way back in in January then - with Purps and Turnstones
Storms and Kittiwakes
And not forgetting the ever present Choughs
And overwintering Whimbrels
Cold weather brings waders to the beach like Sanderling and Knot
The first rare of the year, Bardsey's 9th Iceland Gull
Snow flakes in February!
And the year's first spring arrivals in early March
and Lap Bunts moving North
Seabirds begin to return -Shag
and Redwings heading back to Iceland like this T.i.coburni
Black Redstart

Yellowhammer

Glaucous Gull
Lapland Bunting
Treecreeper

Ring Ouzel
Tufted Duck - 25th Island Record!
Mealy Redpolls

Wooodlark

Glaucous Gull
Cuckoo
Whimbrel
Pied Flycatcher

Snow Bunting
+of+Copy+(1)+of+IMG_5106_filtered.jpg)
Redstart

Short-eared Owl

Blackcap - record numbers were seen and ringed

Pied Flycatcher

North-western type Redpoll
Yellow Wagtail

Red-rumped Swallow - 3rd for the island and the start of our run of good birds

Whinchat

Grasshopper Warbler

Lesser Whitethroat
Common Redpoll - we think

Whinchat - a stunner!
Snow Bunting - Ditto!
Greenland Wheatear - normal and leucistic
Whitethroat - after a late and slow start numbers were good.
Pied Flycatcher - another belter

Yellow Wag - Ditto
Crossbill

Turtle Dove
Subalpine Warbler - a very skuly bird indeed
Phyllosc sp - Chiff, willow, hybrid or Iberian!
RED Knots
Black Kite
Firecrest

Common Rosefinch - three were seen
Bar-tailed Godwit
Little Owl
Another Rosefinch
Red Kite

Bee-eater (Rich B)
Melodious Warbler
Woodchat Shrike
Red-breasted Flycatcher
Greenish Warbler
'Dombrowskii's' type Wagtail
Pomarine Skua (Rich B)
Greenish Warbler - second of the year! (Rich B)
Autumn Begins
First Med Gulls of the autumn in July
And Common Terns
Crossbills arrive in early autumn
Baby Owls

First Skuas of the autumn
and godwits

Young Swallows still being fed
First Willow Warblers of the autumn
Stunning Knots
Fantastic Butterflies
and Baby Cuckoos
Still Summer really - Wagtails in August

Returning waders
The first 'Real' bird of autumn a Bardsey Specialty - this Melodious was the first of the autumn for the UK
More Willow Warblers arrive in August with up to 400 some days!
Pied Flys - up to 15
Two Baby Dotterels
More waders

Sprawks

ANOTHER Melodious Warbler
That stayed for ages!
Spotty Flys up to 40!
Hummers!
White Wags
Late September - Autumn Begins, with a a Barred Warbler
and a Little Bunting
and Yellow Broweds

More Snow
Whinchats

Merlins

And more stripes!
Baby Seals
And then this - a new species for the island
Citrine Wagtail


More Asian warblers - this Yellow Browed

And this RADDE'S
Ring Ouzels
And Raptors

Small and Firey
With Long-tails
Hundreds of Jackdaw appear from nowhere!
With Bramblings starting to arrive
More from the east.....
Chiffchaffs

Yellow-Broweds continues - Six in a day!

And Blythii Lesser Whitethroat
Its a Hoot......
A real Tristis
and a normal one
White Fronts
I'd a...!!
and more Brambos

Not so Long eared!

Very late Common Tern
Scandi Chiffs
Last bits of autumn

Coming back to winter
And a bit of late fire to keep us all warm


When the weather goes bad!!
superb!
ReplyDeletewonderful photos!
ReplyDeletestunning photo set - thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteGreat! Ta Steve and Ben and Rich
ReplyDeleteThe magical Isle :-) thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteFantastic selection of images - congratulations to all the patient photographers :-D
Delete