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.