Tuesday 28th August

Today I helped Bob, one of our regular visitors with a guided walk. We tried to cover all aspects of the island: the flowers, insects, and birds, as well as some of the history. There weren't huge numbers of birds around but I think everyone enjoyed it. Maybe this is something I would like to do more of in the future.

Monday 27th August

Autumn is almost here and the whole island is covered in fruit. In the past week we have been picking blackberries, damsons and apples. We have been using these in jams, pies, and for flavouring spirits. Other natural foods are also around in abundance. With the fruit, mushrooms, fish, and the vegetables from the patch we are almost self-sufficient!

Saturday 25th August

This time of year - at the start of the Autumn migration, can be good for birds. But this year the birds have not arrived, or they have just flown over the island. Migration patterns are always affected by the weather. We believe we may be seeing a gradual change in the numbers and types of birds arriving.

Thursday 23rd August

Every morning I do a 'round' of the south end of the island. This is one of my favourite parts of the job as I get to see the island at dawn before the crowds arrive. Sometimes there are lots of birds on the ground and flying over, but most often it is quiet at this time of year.

Monday 20th August

Today I discovered a new fishing spot at the south end of the island. Here two currents merge and the waters are pretty rough. It's pretty deep too and there seem to be lots of fish there. I caught a bag full of mackerel in about half an hour. It seems to have lots of potential given calm weather conditions, but it's perhaps not the place to go in a south-westerly.

Saturday 18th August

Today was a momentous day in the history of my new vegetable patch. I managed to harvest my first carrots. The first few that I pulled were stunted and split, but soon there were a few that were actually carrot-shaped. It was great to have some fruits from all that labour. I cooked them up and they actually seemed to taste better than 'shop' carrots but maybe that was just wishful thinking!

Thursday 16th August

This evening we spent an interesting hour recycling used drink cartons. Well we were actually making cardboard wallets out of them! We were given expert instruction by one of our visitors in folding the tetrapak cartons. It soon became apparent that some of our female visitors were choosing cartons to match their wardrobes! Watch out for people using them in the shops very soon.

Tuesday 14th August

This evening we watched the sun go down from the Observatory. We can see Ireland from here and it was a very clear night. As the sun disappeared behind the Wicklow hills we saw the famous "green flash" in the final few seconds as the sun went down. Well it was more of a spectacular turquoise blue colour. It only lasted a few seconds but was a rare sight.

Friday 10th August

People are always asking me if I get bored on the island and how I fill my spare time. Well I listen to the radio when I can and try to keep up with the latest 'pop hits'. Westwood on Radio 1, Radio Cymru, Phantom FM from Dublin. It keeps me in touch with outside world a bit. I doubt that the lighthouse cottage has echoed to the sounds of hip-hop much in the past!

Wednesday 7th August

Today we began the major task of installing the new generator, kindly donated to us. It had to be dragged up a very steep slope using a winch and rollers. It was a slow process but one that had to be done safely. Thanks are due to our able volunteers the two Bevans and Ian. It was hot and dirty work but by the end of the day the huge engine was at the top of the slope. I thought it was amazing what could be achieved with ropes, planks, rollers and a few crowbars.

Sunday 5th August

Today I returned to the island after a week off. Another rather rough boat trip! I am beginning to get the nickname 'Jonah'. My sea legs were tested again but I made it to the island unscathed. It was good to be back and see familiar faces on the quay. I then had to unload 3 months food supply. The foghorn sounded to greet my return.

Saturday 28th July

I left the island today for a weeks holiday. I'm glad to say the weather was much better than my last trip off the island, and I arrived at Porth Meudwy in one piece. However, when I arrived in the farm to pick up my car, it appeared my exhaust was not in the same state! I managed to tie it on with some string and cable ties. As we managed to move the car, it appeared some wayward chicken had laid three eggs under my car, obviously believing it to be a permanent fixture. A rather fraught journey followed this but I made it back to Ynys Mon. Thanks to everyone for their help, especially the good samaritan from Rhoshirwaun.

Wednesday 25th July

An interesting and enjoyable night as we had a 'ceilidh' in the schoolhouse. I am not known for my dancing skills, but it got easier as the night, and a few gin and tonics, wore on. (Apologies to any of the ladies I may have trod on!) A lot of the visitors joined in the various Scottish dances, and there was even limbo dancing, and some impressions of lighthouses to see. I somehow managed to bruise my ribs after falling over. After last year's pulled shoulder in the Sports Day this is becoming a regular event.

Monday 23rd July

Today I started the rather tedious, but necessary, task of cutting the grass and 'weeding' the trees in the new plantation at the north end of the island. I was ably assisted by our very helpful volunteer, Sian, and her family. It was certainly a case of "more hands make light work", even if it did take us till Friday to finish the job. About 95% of the trees that were planted in December are still alive, so hopefully many of them will continue to prosper as a result of our work.

Friday 20th July

Today there was a large 'attraction' of over 100 Manx Shearwaters around the lighthouse. The darkness and heavy rain meant lots of birds became disorientated. I managed to collect about 75 birds which had become grounded. After ringing them, we spent the late evening releasing them back to sea, off the clifftop. Lots of people took part, and it was interesting to see the many different methods of launching birds into the air! They all left happily, none the worse for the experience.

Tuesday 17th July

I had a great time fishing tonight, when I managed to catch some bass off the west coast of the island. These were the first I had caught in two years, and they had taken on a kind of 'mythical' quality. They were feeding quite close inshore and took a metal spinner near the bottom. I also caught a few Pollack and Mackerel at the same time. We had a good meal the following evening! You can't beat really fresh fish, and Steve did a great job in the preparation.

Saturday 14th July

Today, it was a bit of a shock to the system when 10 people arrived after three quiet weeks. It was good to have some familiar faces at the observatory, and to catch up on their news.

Thursday 5th July

Spent some of the morning in the south hide on the tip of the island. I was left wondering what has happened to the summer, it was like last November. The wind was blowing gale force and the showers were coming down. Shearwaters were clipping the waves in their thousands. Kittiwakes and Fulmars were struggling into the wind, and a tiny storm petrel was lost in a wave trough. It was spectacular but I can't remember having to wear a hat and gloves in July before!

Wednesday 4th July

On a wet afternoon I discovered an interesting book about life on Enlli in the early 20th century. It was a hard life here at the time but obviously a happy one. People seemed a lot more self-sufficient too, as contact with the mainland was often sporadic. There must have been some tough men on the island as they rowed across the sound, taking a couple of hours. With the benefit of an engine this journey takes about 20 minutes today, which made me realise how much we take for granted in our modern technological world.

Friday 29th June

This week I got to learn a lot about chickens. We had a couple of experts staying here. I learnt what they like to eat, how to treat their ailments, and how to stop them going broody. We have a few chickens here and now I'll know how to keep them happy in future. Just as long as they keep giving us plenty of eggs.

Saturday 23rd June

Today Steve the warden went away on his annual 3 week holiday. So I was left in charge for that time. The island is usually prety quiet at this time in terms of visitors and bird. We start to study butterflies and moths with more interest. There have been some very interesting records of moths over the years. We put out a moth trap every night, the moths are attracted to a flourescent bulb. The variety of colours and patterns is incredible, perhaps we rarely appreciate them as they come out night?

Friday 22nd June

This week I have been mainly eating kale. I thought this was what they fed cattle but I have some in the garden. It's a bit like spinach and is very good for you. The garden is growing well. The beetroots went in this week. I am quite surprised at what I have achieved in a short space of time. Lets hope we get plenty of rain and sun over the next few weeks and things keep growing.

Monday 18th June

A group of writers were over this week, on a course. They were interested in the wildlife too, they certainly asked lots of questions about, well, everything. I picked up a few tips on writing too, I even wrote the first paragraph to a novel. Maybe I will write that erotic thriller when I leave the island?

Saturday 16th June

Today I was greeted by the news of a Death's-Head Hawk Moth at the Observatory. It had flown into one of the barns attracted by the light. It was huge, being the largest British moth at around 5 inches in length. Ancient folklore tells that it's arrival is a warning of impending death. You can see why with the skull pattern on it's body. An amazing creature!

Image post

David sent me a number of images on disc recently, here is a selection. John (Blog administrator).

Wednesday 13th June

Today I saw two Little Egrets in Henllwyn. It was good to see these exotic looking herons on the island. They are pretty regular on the mainland now, but still a pretty unusual sight here, fishing in the rock pools.

Tuesday 12th June

Over the last few weeks the Shelducks on the island have been bringing their ducklings to the island beaches. Numbers in each brood would typically start at 8 - 10, but were decreasing slowly as they fell victim to the predatory gulls or crows. Each day myself or the visitors would go down and count them with baited breath. After a few precarious days the numbers begun to stabilise, and as we often see, the fit and strong survive. The chick count now stands at 12 and has been for a week, so we are hoping that they will survive and fly off.

Sunday 10th June

Today a high ranking delegation from Trinity House came to inspect the lighthouse. They arrived on their boat the 'Patricia'. This reminded me of photos from the 50s when the visiting 'dignitaries' were welcomed ashore by the keepers in their best uniforms. The flags (now redundant) were raised and the lighthouse cleaned up in preparation for the top brass. Now that the lighthouse is automated and unmanned, this is less ceremonial, but hopefully they found all was well and in good order.

Friday 8th June

There are lots of rare and unusual birds seen on the island. These all have to be described to be put on the official record. Today saw the first submission to the Bardsey Unusual Record Panel (or BURP). Both Steve the warden and I decided that the record of a Long Eared Owl at Nant was actually a squeaky gate!

3ydd Mehefin - 7fed Mehefin

(This is the second of an occasional entry in Welsh. Apologies for any grammatical errors).

Mi oedd yn braf cael mynd adra' am ychydig o ddiwrnodau. Wrth gwrs fe cymrodd amser i ddod i arfer a'r ffyrdd a'r siopau brysur unwaith eto. Nes i weld un neu ddau hen ffrind o gwmpas. Mi oedd yn rhyfedd gallu troi'r plwg ymlaen a cael trydan trwy'r dydd. Sylwais nid wyf yn methu'r teledu o gwbwl, a dweud y gwir mae o'n ymddangos bod o wedi gwaethygu ers i mi adael.

Saturday 2nd June

I left the island today for a few days holiday and some supplies. The wind was pretty stiff and when Ernest and Colin the boatmen came in it looked very rough. When Ernest asked whether I was leaving I replied in the affirmative, and he said 'oh' in a rather concerned and worrying tone. We set off and the seas were pretty lumpy. I began to feel, and look, a bit green. As we moored in Porth Meudwy I thought I would recover but the dinghy trip to the beach was the last straw. As we arrived on dry land I was 'feeding the fish'. For the people on the beach this was hardly the best advert for travel to Enlli and pretty embarrassing for me (the trip back was much better though).

Thursday 31st May

This evening I helped rescue a ewe. Well one of our visitors Steve did most of the rescuing, I held the rope. It was stuck down a gully on the west coast. It was in a pretty shocked state but we managed to carry it into a field. We left it to recover and there was no sign of it the next day. I like to think it made a full recovery.

Tuesday 29th May

Today I did a tour of the island surveying Oystercatcher nests. Quite a pleasant task you would think but this is not the case! Oystercatchers are one of the most wary, loud, aggressive waders. When you are around their nests I think one word sums them up: hysterical. Two or three hours of their constant noise could drive even the most patient person mad. I got the survey done as quickly as possible and found about 30 nests.

Friday 25th May

A good and varied day for birds. Two Gargeney were only the fifth ever sightings on the island, and the first since 1974. The Subalpine Warbler was still around from yesterday, and a Curlew Sandpiper was found on the beach. Stangest of all though - a Black Swan was seen flying over the island, a very long way from it's Australian home.

Wednesday 23rd May

Today a Christian conservation group were holding an impromptu outdoor service in the abbey ruins. I was looking for birds nearby. Suddenly one of the group stood up in the middle of a hymn and started waving his arms up and down. I of course thought it was part of the prayer ritual. He then started looking through his telescope but not for a Godly vision - he had actually seen a Marsh Harrier flying over my head. I missed it. I may have to join in the prayers in future.

Tuesday 22nd May

I don't want this journal to turn into 'David's Gardening Corner', but all my vegetables have started to grow! The only cloud on the horizon are the local moorhens which have taken a shine to the freshly dug soil.

Saturday 19th May

Today was a very windy day, up to force 8 south westerly. I went out and photographed some of the rough seas. There aren't many birds around in this weather but I love the wind and power of the seas. The foam blows around the south end in huge lumps. The gannets and shearwaters fly close inshore and gulls feed on the huge piles of kelp washed in by the storm. The noise of the sea can be heard all over the island.

Tuesday 15th May

As we live on a fairly quiet island it often seems that relatively small 'dramas' become talking points. Today there was a loud clanking noise coming from the lighthouse. As I got nearer I could pinpoint the noise to the light-room itself. A ladder had dropped from the roof and was catching on the rotating lenses every 30 seconds. Through the day everyone was asking me about it! The problem was reported and fixed the next day by Colin and Ernest and we could all sleep easily again.

Saturday 12th May

Today Emma and Connor found an abandoned turkey egg on the farm. The rest of the brood had hatched but this one had been left behind. It was put on a tray on the Rayburn and duly began to hatch. It emerged as a rather dumpy, fluffy, squeaky chick. However this story does not have a happy ending - the chick did not thrive without its mother, and died after 3 days. The rest of the brood is still fit and healthy. Survival of the fittest!

Thursday 10th May

After an afternoon inputting ringing data I fancied a spot of fresh air. As I walked on the short turf south of the lighthouse I discovered 3 Dotterel feeding on the grass. They are pretty colourful at this time of year, and unusually it is the females which are the brighter of the sexes. I managed to get some shaky pictures before they suddenly decided to fly. They landed again but unfortunately did not stay around for the rest of the island visitors to enjoy them.

Tuesday 8th May

Today was a momentous day as I started work on my vegetable plot. It is a long way into the season but I am hopeful of some late crops. I have started to dig over an area of the terraced gardens at the front of the Observatory. This has been the traditional Assistant Warden's garden in the past. I had not realised that digging is actually quite easy with a good fork! People stood around and said it was good to see the island gardens being worked again.

Saturday 5th May

There was quite a change at the Observatory today - 12 new visitors arrived and it all became very hectic. Lots of day visitors also came over too and the island was 'absolutely jammers' as Henry Blofeld might say. Anyone would think it was a Bank Holiday or something...oh it is! Sunbathers, barbecues, dogs and boats. Enlli has become very unfamiliar.

Wednesday 2nd May

Today I went litter picking with Richard, a volunteer who is staying with us for a month. We decided to clear all the fields and fence lines of rubbish that had blown off the beaches in the winter. We managed to fill 15 bags and hopefully the island looks a lot tidier as a result. It really shocks you to see how much plastic and polystyrene we throw into the sea, and the impact it can have.

Tuesday 1st May

Today I decided to go fishing on the west coast. The fish were not plentiful but I managed to catch two pretty large pollack. They fought very well and should do nicely for tea tomorrow. It was great to be out on the rocks fishing on a nice calm sea, and topping up my tan in the process. What could be better?

Sunday 29th April

Today I saw a lark on the south end of the island. It was very small and pale, probably a short-toed lark but I did not see it well enough to be sure. We had a good search for it, but it eluded us. Later in the day Steve came up to the lighthouse and set about mending the washing machine. We replaced the pair of tights (which were acting as a drive belt) with an elastic band! It seemed to do the trick.

Friday 27th April

Today was very hectic. Firstly we had to transport eight bottles of gas and a load of food for the Observatory shop. Having driven this up to the Observatory from the boat, and unloaded and unpacked the lot, we had to then dash back down to the slipway to unload 400 litres of heating oil before a thunderstorm broke. This was very exhausting but at least we'll be fed and warm for a few months!

Dydd Iau Ebrill 26fed

(This is the first of an occasional entry in welsh)
Mi oedd o braidd yn ddigalon bore 'ma gorfod dweud 'farwel' i'n gwestion neis ofnadwy. Mae pobol yn dwad a mynd yma a mae'n cymryd amser dod i arfer a hwn. Ti'n dod i'w nabod pobol am ychydig o ddiwrnodau a wedyn mae nhw'n mynd. Dweud hynny, does neb yn aros bant o Enlli am rhy hir - mae 'na wastad pethau newydd i'w darganfod yma!

Monday 23rd April

Today the weather turned windier and wetter. The fog-horn has been sounding for about 24 hours. It is about 40 metres from my bedroom window so sleep is difficult. The sound even penetrates through my earplugs! This is the downside to lighthouse residence. I get up early and walk over to the Observatory for some respite.

Saturday 21st April

Today our new batch of guests and volunteers arrived at the Observatory. Time really seems to be flying by. It is hard to remember the day of the week here. The concept of a working week followed by a weekend does not apply. Every day is dictated by the arrival of boats with visitors or supplies. Weather and tides govern the working day.

Friday 20th April

Today there are 203 oystercatchers on the island. Oh joy, what a lovely peaceful summer I am going to have!

Wednesday 18th April

A quiet day on the bird front. As often happens the winds are in the wrong direction. I spend some of the day trying to explore my new digital camera. I discover that I can get some pretty good shots combining my optical zoom and my binoculars. This gives me 24x magnification! Maybe Steve will have a rival in the island photography stakes?

Monday 16th April

Today Iolo Williams and a BBC Wales film crew arrive to film an episode of 'Iolo's Welsh Safari' on Enlli. They are a bit of a crazy bunch, but a good laugh. A helicopter zooms around the island for much of the day. They are staying overnight and find the Observatory much more comfortable than they expect. We are out until midnight filming Manx Shearwaters on the mountain. Most of them proved very co-operative and the shots were soon 'in the can'.

Tuesday April 10th

550 Willow Warblers arrive on the island overnight - there are loads around the lighthouse garden. I am awoken by one singing on the cottage guttering - a long way from any willow. Each bush is populated with a few small flitting birds, restlessly feeding up after their long journeys from France or Spain.
The first Manx Shearwater had found it's way to the bottom of the lighthouse. He looks very cute as I pick him up, but he immediately unleashes his beak on my fingertips. We ring him and release him at dusk.

Friday April 6th

I have a smooth crossing by boat to the island, an enjoyable 20 minute journey. The boat lands and I help to unload. Everywhere seems very familiar, it is as if I have never been away.
The Observatory has had a new kitchen installed in the past week - hard efforts were put in by Steve (the Warden) and our trusty volunteers the 2 Bevans and Neil.
Funny how you forget how to start a lawnmower after just a few months away, and how small everything looks when you get back!

Introduction

Hello, my name is David Wright. I am Assistant Warden at the Bird & Field Observatory on Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island). This is my second year in the job and I thought you might like to hear about it. I am in the enviable position of living in the most south westerly house in Gwynedd - namely the lighthouse cottage on the southern tip of the island. Over the next 7 to 8 months I shall be helping with the work of the Observatory - for more information have a look at the Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory website. We house up to 12 visitors and also monitor all of the wildlife of the island, which is a national nature reserve.