Last night, while walking up to turn off the generator, I had the good luck to hear my first Manx Shearwater of the year as it flew along the mountain. It'll be a while before they come down to their burrows on the island, but here's an old pic to keep you going.
They're a special bird for me as it was the first species of bird I ever ringed and that was on Bardsey. Also, I caught the 50 year old Manxie on the island a couple of years ago.
We are Elaine and Jim Lennon, and we have been visiting Bardsey for a week or so every year since the 1980s. However, for a long time now we’ve wanted to over winter on the island and experience the place at a different time of year when they are less people and boats, in order to experience the highs and lows of island life for longer than our usual stay. Through a combination of quitting our jobs and early retirement we are now lucky enough to do this.
Friends and family are keen to hear about our exploits, and with this blog we plan to share our experiences. These are likely to be a mix of our volunteer work on conservation tasks on the island and winter jobs at the Bardsey Bird & Field Observatory where we are staying in Cristin, bird news and our everyday exploits and challenges.
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Cue for manxie,lighthouse & foghorn impressions. Tell them I'm thinking of them and will be back soon. xx
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