Saturday 15 December 2012

What a Year!!!

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

 

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
Embedded image permalink
More Asian warblers - this Yellow Browed


And this RADDE'S
Ring OuzelsAnd 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!!

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