Well, first of all a very Happy Christmas from Bardsey Island! After what has felt like weeks of gloomy, overcast skies and stormy weather, the sun has finally made a break through in the last two days and allowed for some good photographic opportunities. I spent some of yesterday on Solfach, photographic the usual Choughs, Carrion Crows, Magpies, Rock Pipits and Hooded Crow feeding on the rotting seaweed. There were a lot of Guillemots moving out to sea (over 3000 yesterday), but unfortunately the seas had calmed down quite significantly, and so there were no interesting seascapes to photograph. Today has been very pleasant, and I managed to get some pleasing images of a juvenile Shag in Henllwyn.
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| Juvenile Shag in Henllwyn. Unfortunately these youngsters can take a significant battering in the winter months. You can usually expect to find at least five wash up dead over the course of the winter, and I have already seen one carcass on the beach. This individual was very tame, which may not be too good a sign |
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| Choughs continue to feed on insects in the rotting seaweed pile on Solfach |
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| Redshank |
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| This Hooded Crow has been present since the late autumn, and is the second consecutive winter on Bardsey that this species has decided to take up residence here |
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| Carrion Crows |
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| Magpie |
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| Turnstone |
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| Common Gull |
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| Over 40 Rock Pipits have been present on Solfach, and at least 35 were there yesterday. Unfortunately it has been too windy to get the Heligoland Trap out and continue the island's colour-ringing project on this species |
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