It was of course a bizarre season, the first Dream Island year without guests since 1945, but our monitoring work went on. Many of the seabirds had a cracking year. There were more Guillemot and Razorbill on the cliffs than ever before, whilst the Puffin count was the highest since 1953.
Rare and Scarce included the first Citrine Wagtail and
Western Subalpine Warbler for Skokholm, the second Upland Sandpiper and ten
species seen on fewer than ten occasions. Two Pectoral Sandpiper, Greenish and
Eastern Subalpine Warbler, two Melodious Warbler, Rose-coloured
Starling, Bluethroat and Little Bunting were all
logged.
It wasn’t just about the birds. There were ten additions to the Island moth list, a record number of Vestal, breeding Lunar Hornet and the second Lesser Emperor. It was a good year for dolphin sightings and Nathusius’ Pipistrelle again arrived.
It was also an excellent year in the
ringing hut, with surprises such as Great Skua, Chough and Cetti’s Warbler, 38
controls of birds ringed elsewhere, plenty of scarcities and some big fall
days.
