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.