Long time no post

Apologies for the lack of blog posts in the last few weeks, hopefully this mega post can make up the the silence. The past few weeks have see us getting the observatory up and running and ready for when the first guests arrive. A lot of painting to freshen up the place, net ride clearance and nets to go up and general maintenance of the buildings.

Quiet on the bird front, not on the painting front!

Some major floor paint scraping getting it ready for a nice new coat

I couldn't cover up the builders bum going on there (sorry Steve) anyway concentrate on the new coat of paint going down

 A floor clean enough to eat off

Water rails have been heard through the withy's in recent weeks so it was time to give it ago at trying to catch these elusive birds. Using a couple of cage traps and some old smelly fish as bait we're hoping we  can lure the rails into the back of the trap where they will trip a mechanism which in turn closes a door behind them, trapping them inside.

Traps and bait ready to be put out

Traps set, fingers crossed, all we can do now is wait patiently and check the traps every 2-3 hours

In other news, more jack snipes have been sighted around the island so it was time to try and catch another one! We have successfully caught 4 so far this season, all of them being new birds and no re-traps, makes you wonder just how many there are on the island when you assume your flushing the same birds. The record number caught and ringed so far in one season on Bardsey is 5, only a couple more to go!!!

Jack snipe number 4 being ringed by Peter

Stunning plumage, this picture does not do it justice

The usual "photo op" after ringing

Many thanks too volunteers Liz, Ian and Sian we've had so far this year, thanks for all the hard work, it really makes a difference.