Eyebrook Reservoir

My first ever visit to Eyebrook Reservoir was on 27th October 1984, to see a Pomarine Skua (an adult with tail spoons, no less!) that had been there for several days. Nearly 30 years later, my Eyebrook list has grown to 201, the latest addition being the site's first Cetti's Warbler which I found in February this year.

 But despite many visits over the years I'd never thought of it as my 'patch' until recently. For a start it's not that close to home, being about 15 miles away, but perhaps more importantly the attractions of nearby Rutland Water are too great to ignore. If Rutland Water has a fault, though, it's that it's a bit too big to be considered as a patch. It's certainly much too big for the 3km² limit of Patchwork Challenge! Eyebrook, on the other hand, is exactly the right size to fit into that area, with just enough left over to include some of the surrounding fields.

 Once I realised that, it became obvious that it is in fact a near perfect inland patch. It has a good variety of habitats, including open water, grassland, muddy edges which become a decent expanse of mud at the inflow when the water goes down, and mixed woodland in the form of 'the Plantation', all surrounded by mostly arable farmland, with more hedges and woods. The entire reservoir can be watched for free from the perimeter road, and, largely because of the aforementioned Rutland Water, it's surprisingly underwatched these days. Of course, plenty of birders do go to Eyebrook, but I'm convinced it hasn't had the coverage it deserves in the last few years.

 But it still manages to turn up good birds. In the last few years alone Eyebrook has had Ring-necked Duck, Velvet Scoter, Gannet, Manx Shearwater, Kentish Plover, Whiskered Tern and Yellow-browed Warbler. Past glories include Squacco Heron, Killdeer (both sadly long before my time!), Black-winged Pratincole, American Golden Plover, 2 Baird's Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpiper, 3 Caspian Terns, a spring male Citrine Wagtail, and bizarrely a Puffin for three days in June 1995! So the potential is obvious.

 Even without the occasional rarity there is always plenty to look at. Wildfowl and waders are the main attractions, of course, along with terns on passage and passerines in the Plantation and around the reservoir margins. At one time there was an excellent gull roost as well, with Iceland and Glaucous virtually guaranteed annually, but this has unfortunately declined recently as, for unknown reasons, gulls from the Corby tips now bypass Eyebrook and roost at Rutland Water instead. But Med Gulls are still reasonably regular, and white-wingers, Yellow-legged and Caspians are all still possible as daytime 'loafers'.

As long as the water level drops in spring and autumn to attract some waders, and I can keep up the enthusiasm, I think 150 species might be possible in a year. At the time of writing in late February I'm already up to 89, with several unexpected species including Merlin and Cetti's Warbler, so I've made a good start.

Andy Mackay

Patch of the Day, Costessey House Private Estate, Joseph Nichols

Costessey House Private Estate, Joseph Nichols

When my mum moved down to Norwich in autumn 2011, I had not anticipated she’d live by an area of unspoilt meadows and deciduous woodland on the Wensum Valley. It was begging to be patched, and on my first walk up the lane I knew straight away that it was worthy of patch status.

Costessey House Private Estate is situated between the villages of Drayton and Old Costessey on the western outskirts of Norwich.  One of the most rewarding things about it from a patching perspective is that it’s more or less entirely private land, so I have its beauty, its tranquillity, and its birds to myself. As the only birder allowed on site, I’m left with the responsibility to record everything there, which is a challenge I embrace and one that Patchwork inspires me to take on even further this year and beyond.  

The patch itself is only accessible to residents of the cottages via ‘Mill Lane’, which runs all the way to the largest area of meadows (Drayton Meadows). The cottages, where the patch starts, are based around a barn and some paddocks which were lucky enough to hold up to 3 Little Owls last summer and were viewable from the comfort of the living room.  Owls are definitely one of the patch’s consistent strong points, with all 3 of the regular species available and seen on my first visit this year. A pair of Barn Owls are easy over Drayton Meadows and near to the cottage at Mill Meadow, which sometimes results in them passing over the front lawn; the perfect antidote to normally owl-less birding up in Aberdeenshire.

Another winning factor for me about Costessey House Private Estate is what Alastair Forsyth perfectly describes in his POTD post as relative rarity. As the sole birder on a private patch, I have independently established what is locally common or rare on site and discovered its breeding birds, its every nook and cranny, and by doing so have shaped and given it its birding ‘identity’. Frankly I’ve found this process more gratifying than any other previous birding I’ve done and something which has let me form a unique bond with the area and its birds.  As the patch is basically lacks of pools and water – minus the diverse River Wensum – the vast majority of ducks and geese are uncommon, as well as all waders. Ironically I have had more wader species than either of the other two families, with 4 Greenshank over Mill Field and 2 Green Sandpipers over Fishermen’s Field last year the highlights of  5 species and amongst the better birds I’ve had on site. Geese are confined to the wintering pair of Egyptians, a couple of records of Greylags and a single skein of Pinkfeets last October, whilst ridiculously enough I only scored my second duck species this month, with 30 Teal being a relieving patch first at Drayton Meadows.  Being able to relish deeply in those first patch Teal or Pinkfeets is something that makes the birding here lastingly special for me, and equally the thought of when that Wigeon or that Redshank will finally reveal itself. That lack of expectation for some of the broadly common species you’d simply take for granted at a stereotypically decent coastal or inland site, have become a novelty thanks to the patch.

Habitat wise the patch is surprisingly diverse, mostly owing to the River Wensum. The most productive areas on site have proven to be Drayton Meadows, Fishermen’s Trail and Mill Field (opposite the cottages), each which have the Wensum running through it. Drayton Meadows is the largest area of habitat on site, consisting of low lying meadows and boggy ground and a relatively large area of reedbeds and woodland at the back.  This is home to most of the patch residents, as well as a few pairs of Reed Buntings and Sedge Warblers in the summer, whilst flooded conditions regularly produce Snipe and Hobby was noted last August. Fishermen’s Trail can be equally productive; a small path running alongside the Wensum opposite a small area of reedbeds which held Cetti’s Warbler last spring and is reliable for Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail. Mill Field is far more conditions dependent, but is susceptible to flooding and can produce good numbers of Larus when this happens, including a patch highlight in the form of an adult Yellow-legged Gull last July, as well as the odd wader species. Dense cover elsewhere on site can potentially hold 7+ species of warbler in the spring and summer months, with Lesser Whitethroat and Reed Warbler following close behind Cetti’s as highlights.

To be honest the patch has easily exceeded my expectations, as the surprising number of waders and highlights such as Yellow-legged Gull and a total of nearly 90 species have proved. During my two week stay this month, it really did kick above its weight...

6 Cranes; patch gold! Picked up over Drayton Meadows on my first day (2^nd Feb) they flew languidly NW over Marriot’s Way, their silhouettes set against the sombre sky as they continually gained height. Filled with an adrenaline unknown to me, I hared it down the meadows to try and keep on them. Luckily, they wheeled around over Old Costessey village, allowing for some distant photos such as the above, before heading roughly over the cottage in the direction of Taverham at 12:15pm. By 1:30 they had made it to Lynford; surprisingly slow!

I couldn’t ask much more of the patch after that, but the quality kept on going that week. Flushing a Bittern on 5th February (again from Drayton Meadows) was quite frankly a patch dream come true. It landed pretty quickly into the reeds at the far edge so the joy was short lived, and it seemed to have gone the next day. This was well off the radar, considering there are only two areas of reedbeds on site, but it proves that the meadows are capable of holding any number of marshland species and is testimony to the diverse array of species that the Costessey House Private Estate can hold. Other highlights during my stay were a first patch Little Grebe at Fishermen’s Trail, a Little Owl on the paddocks and more regular occurrences of uncommon patch species such as Little Egret due to flooding.

All that, an untouched, productive little nook, accessible simply through walking out the front door. Unfortunately I can only work Costessey House Private Estate occasionally as I live up in Aberdeenshire (I could’ve chosen Girdle Ness, but Mark is the stalwart there so deserve it far more than me!). Sporadic patching may well put me at a disadvantage in the mammoth inland East Anglia mini league, but I’ll work hard to make up for lost time on site when I can, especially after my Advanced Higher exams when I should be able to give it a bit of extra welly. In some ways the limited periods that I have to work the patch will provide the extra motivation needed to make up for lost time on site, thanks to this challenge. I am glad for now though with the 60 species I had this time round.  For more information/accounts from Costessey House Private Estate, see here.

Good luck to everyone involved,

Joseph Nichols 

Patch of the Day - Kev Rylands, Dawlish Warren

Since moving to Devon some 20+ years ago I have been fortunate enough to have Dawlish Warren as my local patch visiting the Warren regularly since 1991. Over this time I have managed to accumulate a decent patch list (92% self found), comparing favourably to many inland county lists and a far cry from the woodland and old gravel pit sites I used watch back in North Hampshire.

Following a couple of years of listing, first UK and then Devon, I had decided 2013 would be more low key and patch based so the Patchwork Challenge seemed ideal to keep the enthusiasm going. One PC rule I won’t be following however is to include birds seen from the patch - this is only acceptable for house/garden lists. I didn’t go through 15 years of Nuthatch induced torture just to be able to record it on an almost daily basis!

Dawlish Warren is a double sandpit some 1.5miles long and roughly 0.5miles wide at the mouth of the Exe Estuary in south Devon. The recording area (and my patch) covers c215 ha extending from Langstone Rock in the south to Cockwood Harbour in the north with the railway line creating the western boundary, however only about 40% of this area is above the high tide line and much of this is a golf course to which there is no public access.

Langstone Rock at the SW corner of the site is a 15m high red sandstone megalith, very distinct from the spit which extends NE from it. The base of the spit has largely suffered from tourism development and sea defence schemes but the remainder of the spit is semi-natural. The sandy, gravely beach and intertidal banks, which stretch over a mile out to sea, are in a constant state of flux with rapid rates of creation and erosion.

The majority of the Outer Warren is semi-fixed dune grassland and bramble with a heavily eroded seaward dune ridge, these two habitats are linked at the eastern end on Warren Point.  

The depressed central zone of the Warren (Greenland Lake)is an old tidal creek and becomes flooded in winter, it supports maturing willow-birch-alder scrub with ponds, small areas of dune slack and marshy grassland.

The Inner Warren is fixed-dune grassland, with stands of gorse and dune heath on the golf course; there is also a small Turkey oak copse. The estuarine side of the spit supports an area of saltmarsh and thereafter are large expanses of estuarine mudflats.

The recording area list is hovering around 300 species, with two still in BBRC limbo, Elegant Tern and Western Sandpiper. In terms of quality of rarity Dawlish Warren has always punched well above its weight, ever since the Great Black-headed Gull of 1859! As a consequence it is known to most UK birders, with many having visited and trudged along the sand dunes at some time or other, either calling in on the way to Scilly or twitching Semipalmated Plover and/or Long-billed Murrelet. Some may even remember Lesser Crested Tern, Greater Sandplover or Great-spotted Cuckoo.  The latter was my first visit to the site - twitching it from the south east, a great decision as it turned out as I dipped the site’s second record in Feb 2001 and the 1990 bird is still on permanent display!

As to be expected with an estuary site waders are the main focus with American Golden Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semi-palmated, Baird’s, White-rumped and Broad-billed Sandpipers all recorded in the last 15 years with Kentish Plover expected annually. Amongst the flocks of terns midsummer Caspian and Gull-billed Tern have been unearthed.

However rarities can be found anywhere on site not just the estuary with other gems including Dusky, Raddes, Savi’s and Great Reed Warblers, Penduline Tit, Lesser Grey Shrike and even Red-eyed Vireo. But despite this track record in terms of migrants, the site can be hard work – there have only ever been c40 records of Pied Flycatcher with species such as Redstart, Whinchat, Lesser Whitethroat and Cuckoo rarely exceeding 10 records a year, a poor return for a well watched coastal site.

The Warren’s position in the middle of Lyme Bay means it is not ideally suited for seawatching but it can do fairly well in, and especially, after the right conditions with species such as Sooty Shearwater, Little Auk and Long-tailed Skua just about annual.  The same goes for visible migration and despite the added hindrance of being at sea level this can also be exciting, especially in cold weather.  Recent notable flyovers include Crane, Glossy Ibis, Red-rumped Swallow, Red-throated, Tawny and Richard’s Pipit - just don’t mention the Short-toed Eagle!

It’s far from just rarities and migrants though, the Warren is part of the Exe Estuary SPA and is designated for nationally important numbers of wintering wildfowl and wintering and passage waders whilst offshore Balearic Shearwater, Slavonian Grebe and Roseate Tern are also notable.

Away from birds Dawlish Warren is famous for the Sand (or Warren) Crocus and is internationally designated for its dune flora. Over 2000 species of invertebrates, including 650 species of moth, 630 species of plants and250 species of fungi and have been recorded with discoveries on-going, a new weevil for the UK was even found last year!

Patch of the Day, Millise, David McCormick

I went to my patch today 11th January 2013, which is a long coastal site in Millise, Co Down, Northern Ireland. I started at a place called Drumfad Bay, an area of coastal plants (mostly sea mayweed, scurvygrass and sea radish and some other wildplants), sand beach and rocky areas. I have been here before so had an idea of what to expect. I arrived at 1:15pm and it was cloudy and a cool 6C. When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was a pied wagtail wandering around a lot of seaweed (which there are masses of here right along the coast). 

The tide was out so walked down the beach near the sea and the first thing I saw here was a Cormorant and a male Eider offshore. Next started walking up the beach north to Millisle Beach which is not that far further up the coast. As I started walking I saw 3 other Cormorant offshore flying past and 35 Oystercatcher which were the most numerous bird other than gulls, I saw a total of around 100 during the walk from Drumfad Bay to the end of Millisle Beach. I then saw 3 curlew flying over, a favorite coastal bird of mine.

As I walked along, notice my feet were starting to feel wet as tide was beginning to come in, so had to move on. Before I got to the end of Drumfad bay I saw a total of:

35 Oystercatcher

3 Curlew

3 Cormorant

8 Herring Gull

1 Eider (Male)

5 Redshank

2 Pied Wagtail

12 Black-Headed Gull

6 Rooks (4 flying south from woodland across the road and 2 feeding in among seaweed).

By this time it was 2:10pm and moved toward Millisle Beach, a long beach full of sand and seaweed and a long carpark beside it with a church and houses near the end of it. People walk their dogs here but that didn't stop me seeing any birds. At the north end of this beach is a small area of loads of seaweed piled up (small enclosed beach between a paved path and a stone wall) and it usually has pipits, starlings, redshank and the odd gull here). It was trying to rain at this time when I left Drumfad Bay, but I did manage to see a lot here with a total of:

65 Oystercatcher

53 Herring Gull

16 Rooks (mostly feeding around seaweed piles)

4 Pied Wagtail

11 Starling (most feeding on large seaweed piles at the north end of the beach)

1 Rock Pipit (usually see a few here, this was feeding on large seaweed piles at the north end of the beach)

1 Meadow Pipit (usually find quite a number here and like rock pipit, was feeding on large seaweed piles at the north end of the beach)

10 Common Gulls

10 Black-Headed Gull

And at the sea edge and at a grassy area near a community garden with swings and slides etc... for kids, there was 41 Pale-Bellied Brent which was less than I have seen here before in December. Back in December I was recording numbers around 80+, so there seems to be a drop in numbers.

I didn't expect to see anything unusual and after all the times I have been here in the past, have yet to see an unusual, scare or rare bird here, but I am not ruling the possibility of finding any in future so for now my score seems pretty low. I have a video I took of the area in November, which you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmsYiQqV3DE

Patch of the day - Foreness point, Barry Hunt

I moved to Cliftonville almost exactly three years ago after spending 25 years of local patch birding at Reculver/Minnis Bay just 20 miles further along the coast. The patch is indeed local to my home and I can be birding in the area within ten minutes of leaving home on foot.

The area is situated at the extreme north east tip of Kent and is on a true headland, which lies where the North Sea and English Channel merge and it is serviced by the North Foreland Lighthouse, the presence of a Lighthouse always reminds me of a good birding area and I’m rather fond of them too. A lot of the areas here are on the private grounds of the North Foreland Golf Course which is rather annoying really as there is lots of decent habitat that you just cannot get into to cover. The coastal chalk cliffs are not that high and they stretch right around the coast in the area covered, although there are several small beautiful sandy bays that are very popular in the summer months with tourists.  Taking things away from the coast we head inland to Northdown Park, a large park with many mature trees and famous for a large population of Ring-necked Parakeets, it has attracted some good migrants over the years and thankfully it fits nicely into the patch challenge parameters. The rest of the area is taken up with a very large housing development and is virtually a non birding zone. There is no fresh water here and no marshy habitat so some species are very scarce Moorhen and Coot spring to mind and the dabbling ducks are usually restricted to seawatches.

With nearly 40 years of records from the area it has the kudos of producing just over 300 species of bird and in drift migration conditions it can produce significant falls of Continental migrants which seem to avoid other Kent coastal areas. Some really good birds have been recorded here and they include Collared Flycatcher, Trumpeter Finch, Pied Wheatear, Desert Wheatear and Eastern Black Redstart, along with many sightings of the scarcer drift migrants such as Icterine Warbler, Richard’s Pipit and Wryneck. Epic tales abound and any area that can produce 3 Pallas’s Warblers in the same tree and an arrival of 5 Red-breasted Flycatchers must surely be worth scrutiny.

To sum the area up it is still capable of throwing up some real quality birding but the habitat loss and the ever growing pressure of the general public and their activities has made the whole birding experience here a little stale at times.

Good luck to all in the 2013 Patch Challenge,

Barry Hunt.

Patch of the Day, Lee Valley, Graham Howie

First Patching Entry

June the 4th 2012 was the first time I started recording my visits to my patch, Walthamstow Marsh, Leyton Marsh, Waterworks Nature Reserve, Middlesex Filterbeds, Old River Lee and Wick Community Woodland. I have already made my last patch visit of 2012, so it's time to choose my top 5 patch birds of the year. I've chosen them based on the enjoyable experiences I had when I was observing them.

#5  Swifts

A Scream of Swifts.

As my favourite bird, I'm pretty sure they'll feature amongst my favourite patch experiences every year. This year, I spent many times at the patch, marveling at the squadrons of swifts, acrobatically zooming and screaming in the skies. 

#4 Stonechat

Stonechat

I saw this little guy and his lady on two visits, in the Bomb Crater Pond, dashing and bobbing like nobodies business among the reeds. The nature of a Stonechat is that it's always on the move and it took me quite a while to id it, which was the fun of the experience. He's a smart looking chap too!

#3 Green Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

I chose this bird purely for the randomness of finding it and then for the prolonged and good views it gave. I flushed it out by accident when I was quietly approaching the front left paddock of the Lee Valley Riding Centre. He just flew up out of from the grass as I unwittingly got near him and landed in the tree in front of me. Staying there for ages, pecking at insects on the tree. It later flew down onto the paddock and spent a good time pecking at insects on the pasture floor. Quite a skulky, secretive bird and a lot bigger than I expected.

#2 Kestrel

Kestrel

There's always a Kestrel knocking about around Walthamstow Marsh and often you can catch two or three hover hunting over the marsh at the same time. On the 22nd of September I spent half an hour watching five Kestrels switching between roosting and hover hunting over Bomb Crater Pond. It was a lovely sunny day with clear skies. I had pitched my fold up chair by the scrubby boundary in the north marsh and just watched them hunt. They often swooped down onto the marsh floor a few meters from where I was sat. And now and then, they curiously checked me out too.

#1 Sand Martins

Juvenile Sand Martins

What was that noise?

The drain pipe nest.

Before I started this blog and recording the birds I saw at my patch, I had the most exciting birding experience I've had this year. Around May, while walking along the footpath in between the river and Leyton Marsh, I saw for the first time, Sand Martins. They were zipping up and down the river, catching insects for breakfast. Incredibly acrobatic and graceful birds. Great fun to watch. But it got better. I became aware that they were visiting a drain pipe and I could just make out two grey things at the entrance of the pipe. I guessed these were chicks. I was right. I made my way over the bridge, walked along the bank to where the pipe entrance was and peered over the edge. There they were; two tiny grey heads, screaming for food. The parents obviously had seen me and started to swoop near me to try and warn me off. They made louder noises, probably to signal to their chicks to retreat into the pipe. Which they did. So, I got on my belly and with camera in hand, reached down to the pipe entrance and took a few snaps. I got a great picture (above) of the wee guys. It seems as though there were three of them. The drain pipes along the river bank are perfect replicas of a Sand Martins natural sand bank nest tunnels. I look forward to seeing them again next Spring.

Sand Martin

That was my most memorable and enjoyable patching experience of 2012.

The North Walthamstow Marsh

Here is my patch list for my first year on the patch, 2012

1       Chaffinch

2       Common Tern

3       Lesser Whitethroat

4       Grey Heron

5       Blackcap

6       Long-Tailed Tit

7       Greenfinch

8       Mistle Thrush

9       Blackbird

10     Cormorant

11     Wren

12     Whitethroat

13     Swift

14     Magpie

15     Dunnock

16     Mallard

17     Woodpigeon

18     Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon

19     Robin

20     Reed Bunting

21     Goldfinch

22     Herring Gull

23     Great Black-backed Gull

24     Lesser Black-backed Gull

25     Blue Tit

26     Great Tit

27     Sedge Warbler

28     Tree Sparrow

29     Pied Wagtail

30     Ring-necked Parakeet

31     Starling

32     Sand Martin

33     Carrion Crow

34     Moorhen

35     Coot

36     Garden Warbler

37     Canada Goose

38     Kestrel

39     Egyptian Goose

40     Corn Bunting

41     Willow Warbler

42     Jay

43     Teal

44     Black-headed Gull

45     Stonechat

46     Green Woodpecker

47     Great Spotted Woodpecker

48     Redwing

49     Goldcrest

50     Pheasant

51     Fieldfare

52     Mute Swan

53     Tufted Duck

54     Shoveler

55     House Sparrow

56     Little Grebe

57     Wood Duck

The Patch 2012

Our first 'Patches of the day'...Jonny Rankin explains all

 Hi everyone, 

I have two patches. I am a dual patcher. A bi-patchual.

I know there are others out there – but I wanted to be the first to post on here – to show you its ok. You are not alone. Its not greedy and its not wrong.  

Both my patches are in Suffolk, the first; Livermere is near my Bury St Edmunds home and the second is around my town of work; Needham Market. 

Livermere you may have heard of. Its hallowed ground and has an impressive track record. You can read all about it on my blog ( http://necrosadisticapathynullification.blogspot.co.uk/p/livermere-or-die.html).

Needham Market doesn’t have the same track record! But over the last few years myself and other birders have amassed some good birds; with Ferruginous Duck, Honey Buzzard, White Stork, Woodchat Shrike and others all discovered through constant coverage. 

As I type I have done my first visits of the year to each patch, Livermere stands on 41 species whilst Needham Market 39 species. Livermere will score highest through the year and definitely gives the best chance of some scarce or rare/mega bonus points. 

Last year Livermere had an insanely good run with Long-billed Dowitcher, Marsh Warbler, Grey Phalarope, breeding plumaged Black-necked Grebe along with the more expected tern passage. 

I don’t have annual totals for Livermere is just somewhere I go with the dog, on my bike or on foot near to home – so this year marks my first Livermere year list! I have kept year lists on my Needham Market patch for the last three years with; 109 species in 2010, a record 116 species in 2011 and 110 species in 2012. 

I’d be happy with 110 species on the Needham patch this year and anything is possible at Livermere – but I’d be happy with anything over 130? 140? Who knows.

So, happy patching (or dual-patching) and I hope we collectively unearth some demented megas! I haven't found anything to shout about yet...

Patch of the Day - Bardsey Island - Steve Stansfield and Ben Porter

Bardsey Island is a small island (about two by one km) off the Lleyn Peninisula in North Wales. It is an excellent patch, turning up many scarcities and rarities, as well as large numbers of common migrants. The island's list stands on 326, after the recent addition of Citrine Wagtail in October. 

I moved here five years ago with my parents and sister to farm the island, and developed a very keen interest in birding and photography. In 2013, I will be birding the island on my own up until March, when Steve Stansfield (the warden of Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory) returns with his family and assistant warden Mark Carter will also return. I still have A-level school to work away at, and so will not see all of the scarcities and rarities that turn up!

So, back to the species: Among Bardsey's rarer visitros are the first Summer Tanager and Yellow Warbler to have been seen in Britain and Ireland; other American visitors include American Bittern, Sora, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Grey-cheeked Thrush, Eyebrowed Thrush, American Robin, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blackpoll Warbler and White-throated Sparrows. From the other direction have come River Warbler, Red-flanked Bluetail, Isebaline Wheatear, Collared Flycatcher, Pine Bunting, Rock Bunting, Yellow-breasted Bunting, Black-headed Buntings and Paddyfield Warbler. 

Okay, a very nice list of rares, but not many are likely to turn up in 2013. This year's species list stands at 184, compared to 183 last year, representing the target for next year. This year saw a brilliant run of scarcities in the spring, including Red-rumped Swallow, Bee-eater, Black Kite, Red-breasted Flycatcher, two Greenish Warblers, Woodchat Shrike, Melodious Warbler and Subalpine Warbler, whilst the autumn saw Wryneck, Radde's Warbler, Citirine Wagtail and Little Bunting. Subalpine (both Western and Eastern), Melodious and Icterine Warblers are somewhat of an island speciality, and can almost be expected to turn up each year. 

The more common birds seen on the island include a good selection of wildfowl: two species of Swan,  White-fronted, Bean, Pink-footed, Brent and Barnacle Geese, Long-tailed Duck, Common and Velvet Scoters, Eider and Goldeneye, Pintail and Gadwall. There are three species of Diver and Little Grebe. 

Seabirds are good, with Great Shearwater, Sooty, Balearic and Manx, also Leach’s and Storm Petrel. Little Egret, Spoonbill and Bittern are the best of the herons. Raptors are well covered with Osprey, Hobby, Merlin, Goshawk, Honey, Common and Rough-legged Buzzard, both Black and Red Kites, Marsh and Hen Harriers flying overhead. 

Onto Skuas and Gulls…all four species of Skua have been seen from the 'seawatching deck' in front of the Obs, as have Sabine’s, Little and Med Gull, Glaucous and Iceland Gulls and Little, Black and Caspian Terns among the commoner fair of this genus.

Little, Barn, Long-eared, Short-eared and Snowy Owls have all been seen on the island, in fact all within the boundary of Cristin. 

The best of the rest near passerines include Wryneck and Greater spotted Woodpecker, Hoopoe and Turtle Dove. 

The island is excellent for passerines: some are seen just flying over, like pipits, larks and this year's Red-rumped Swallow. Some, thankfully  stay: both Richard’s and Blyth's Pipits have been seen within the bounds of the observatory and Red-throated on the wall just across the road! All the common wagtails are seen regularly.

There are only five records of Waxwings from the island, the latest being a flock of 16 that graced the northern end of the island a week ago.

The island has an impressive warbler list, including some crackers…like Paddyfield, Marsh, Booted, Icterine and Melodious, Barred and Subalpine Warblers (ten!), Wood, Greenish, Yellow-browed, Pallas’s, Radde’s and Bonelli’s!! Top this off with Firecrest and it’s some list.

Three species of flycatchers are seen regularly, and then with Treecreeper, Nuthatch, four species of Tit, Golden Oriole, Red-backed and Woodchat Shrikes, it’s getting good. We get lots of corvids and their allies, with six species of ‘crow’, two each of Starlings and sparrows.

A good feeding station will always drag in finches too, the best being Hawfinch, Rosefinch and Crossbill. 

So there you have the species of birds encountered on the island. The best sites of the island are Cristin (the observatory-a small site covered in damson bushes); Nant (the most vegetated area of the island to the North with a conifer plantation and three small withies); The Withies (three small withy beds located in the centre of the island often pulling out the goods); and The South End (at the southern end of the island, often receiving large numbers of migrants attracted by Bardsey Lighthouse, and also the first stop-off point for North-bound migrants).

The non-avian life is fantastic too, with over 400 species of moth on the island list, plus cetaceans such as Risso's Dolphins and the shore is peppered with almost 200 Grey Seals for most of the year.