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.