Here come the girls

Meet the girls; our constant companions and source of much fun. I don’t know their names, maybe they don’t have any, but they live in the pigsty in Cristin yard and emerge mid morning to wait by the gate to come up into the garden. Once there they spend the rest of the day scrounging as much food as possible. They know Jim is a good source if he is filling up the wild bird feeders and follow him around ever hopeful. They also recognise the kitchen door and appear, as if by magic, to see if any goodies have been left for them on the lawn. On windier days they stay in the yard and sunbathe in a cosy corner. At the end of the day they wait, by the gate, to be let back into the yard to mull over the day’s highlights and dream of what tomorrow may bring.

Elaine

Christmas island

(c) Self-timer

Well what a day and it ain’t over yet. We awoke to one of the calmest days of our 10 week stay, so far, on the island. The keen, fresh weather on the mainland had brought in more Redwing, Fieldfare and Linnet (Ben, no doubt, will give the fuller bird picture on http://bbfo.blogspot.com/ in due course). Meanwhile Jim did some ringing in the Cristin garden for an hour or so. Only nine birds, but at least he ringed some new birds on Xmas day on the island (2 Chaffinch & a Song Thrush).

Amidst all this we had a full Cristin cooked breakfast and opened our pressies. We were over-whelmed by the kindness of friends and family, and really appreciate all the survival kit, like socks, coffee, & chocolate.

We then travelled north to Nant to make phone calls to our nearest & dearest. Contact with those you care about becomes more special at this time and in this place.

We had a splendid lunch made by Elaine (I peeled the sprouts!) of beef Wellington and roast veg, washed down with an elderly Rioja & French desert wine aka 1982. Food suppliers, in no order of importance, were: Makro, Morrisons, Ty Pellaf kitchen garden, Guto (Rhiw), Laithwaites and Spar (Aberdaron); makes you think about food miles? I have to say, without exception, well barring the alcohol, the best food was the food from the Llyn.

All our family and friends are in our thoughts at what for us is a very special Christmas. However, we’d just like to send out these messages:

• Jenny, Mike &Ewan – Missing you terribly, but glad you’re having a great time in Aberdeen.
• Blackburn family – You’re in our thoughts all the time.
• Pete & Andy Leonard – Congrats on Penelope, we’re sure she’ll cope with you very well.
• Barrie. Lou, Charlie & Hannah – Wow!
• Jill – You’re a star!
• Staceys – Get yourselves over here next week!

As we’ve been writing this the weather has changed and the fog horn, at the light, is blowing.

Love to everyone.

Jim & Elaine

Westward Ho!

Today brought exceptional views of the land of my fathers. The snow capped peaks of the Wicklow mountains were clearly visible and the Porters, at the farm, commented that it was the best views of Ireland they'd had since they came to Bardsey two years ago. Similarly, there were good views of the Welsh mainland.

Jim

Chough update

On a previous post, I explained that we had caught two ringed Chough on the beach at Solvach. Today, we had the exciting news of their life histories from BTO ringer, Adrienne Stratford, who coordinates the colour ringing of Chough in north Wales.

She said: “The birds you caught are a seasoned breeding pair from the nearest bit of the mainland. He was ringed as a chick in 1996 at a nest on the north Lleyn coast, near Tudweiliog. Apart from a brief visit into the mountains in his first autumn - sightings at Llanberis + Aber Valley, he's been an Aberdaron resident ever since, first breeding at the current site in 1999. His last recorded holiday on Bardsey was in 2003, but they probably make occasional winter visits most years. She was ringed as a chick in 1997 at a nest near Aberdaron. She was also recorded in the Aber Valley area in her first winter, but since then has been an Aberdaron resident, first breeding at the current site in 2001 with the current male - after a couple of previous transient relationships.”

According to the BTO, the oldest ringed Chough in Britain & Ireland, at 16 yrs, 8 months & 26 days was from Bardsey. Hopefully, this successful pair of birds might surpass this record.

Jim

No snow here . . .

Well only a smattering of dusty snow today, but the puddles have a skin of ice on them and the birds are busy on the feeders in the Cristin garden. While still enjoying the daily presence of birds like Chough & Raven, it's odd to be excited that two Great Tits have taken up residence in the garden together with a Firecrest that Ben Porter spotted. They have probably moved down from Nant at the north of the island with the onset of colder weather.

The sunsets are like buses here, they all seem to come at once and we've had some stunning ones over the last few days.

JIM

Poppy

You may have been wondering how Poppy, the Welsh Black calf born just over a fortnight ago, has been getting on. The first two weeks were quite crucial both for Poppy and her mum; the major surgery that Serin underwent during the caesarean meant that she was on antibiotics for the fortnight. Poppy, herself, had trouble suckling initially and was bottle fed some extra colostrums to ensure she was well protected.

However, both are now doing extremely well and within a day or two of Poppy’s arrival they were both out on the track enjoying the winter sunshine. At first we thought that Poppy was being kept in because we couldn’t ever see her, but Steve told us that the mother hides her calf in the gorse to keep it from harm’s way, and indeed, after the first few days Poppy was much more in evidence. The only thing that seems to get Serin anxious is when the dogs from the farm pass nearby, then she does become the protective mother and keeps Poppy close.

Elaine

Chuffed to bits!

Today was red letter day for me in that we managed to catch two Choughs on the beach with the whoosh net. This entails sitting for hours in the hide we built on Solfach waiting for some of the c30 Chough that feed on the beach every day to feed in the catching area of the whoosh net. Though they have their favoured areas on the beach where they pick and probe for insects and grubs, they are very wary of man made contraptions. Most of the Chough are colour ringed and can be identified in the field, but capturing them allows biometrics to be taken which can be used to sex them as well as unringed birds to be colour ringed. The colour ringing of the Chough is part of a long-term study in to their lives & social behaviour. The two birds we caught today were already ringed, but both metal rings were so worn that they needed replacing. Once their origins are found out I’ll post the details on the blog.

Jim

Early bird

Someone commented that there has not been much on the blog lately about birds. So here's a pic of a Water Rail I caught first thing this morning, in the heligoland, when I popped out to the loo. Interestingly, I'd heard Water Rail calling while sat on the loo a couple of weeks ago and Elaine got the chance today to see her first one in the hand while sat on the loo!

Jim

Yule log this blog

Following yesterday’s glorious sunset we woke today to the most stunning day yet on the island; warm sunshine all day, lunch outside on the terrace and Christmas to get ready for.

We are hardly missing the crowds and the piped music (haven’t heard a seasonal song yet), but some things still have to be prepared – so it was that Ben and Steve from Ty Pellaf came up to choose a Christmas tree. The conifers in Cristin garden needed a little haircut to open up the entrance into the Helgoland trap and soon both were up in the branches being directed by Jim as to what needed thinning out. Half an hour later we had a beautifully smelling pile of fresh pine to select out festive trees from.

Once we had had the obligatory mince pies (in the sunshine) the next job was to dispose of the wood not required for decoration. Jim and I spent the afternoon shredding the excess foliage, bagging it up to be used keep the loo buckets smelling sweet, and watching the next fabulous sunset.

Elaine

No freezing fog here

It makes a change to have the nicer weather. While those of you living on the east side of the UK have been experiencing freezing fog, we have had our best day for several weeks. No gales, lashing waves or hailstones hitting your hands while fencing, but rather a calm, bright clear day with a staggeringly beautiful sunset.

Jim

Clouds

Incus

Cumulus

Incus

I love looking at clouds and there really are few better places to cloud watch than Bardsey. On any given day there are so many different types of cloud to try and identify. Yesterday we set out for a walk in almost sparkling sunshine, but before too long we spotted this monster in-coming over the Irish Sea; a developing incus, Latin for anvil, which is part of a cumulonimbus cloud, and, of course, brings with it rain.

During the course of our walk several of these enormous clouds, possibly rising to heights of 45,000’, passed over us on their way to the Lleyn peninsula. We finally made the safety of the beach hide before any of them dropped their load onto the island and from there we were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow.

The birds do not always show up, but I can guarantee clouds pretty much any day. Here are some more of our beautiful fleeting aerial friends.

Elaine

Nightshift workers

I thought the new peanut feeder was being well used. But just now I found up to three Woodmice feeding on it. It seems they can jump from the tree to the suspended feeder and don't mind dropping four feet to the ground. Still, at least we ain't got squirrels.

Jim

Rubbish . . . .

As all of you who visit Bardsey are aware, anything that is brought on to the island has eventually to be taken off or burnt. For example, all food and its packaging that arrives creates a lot of potential waste. Whilst some of it can be recycled, a great deal never leaves and this then has to be disposed of here. Bardsey does not have its own recycling centre so everything that gets left behind has to be burnt. I really think that we all should be more aware of what we bring on to Bardsey, but more importantly, what we leave behind.

Jim has just spent a pungent afternoon burning lots of packaging from around the Observatory in the incinerator in the corner of Cristin yard. While he enjoyed having a tidy up, it made us both think hard about what we consume.

Elaine