September and October can often bring some interesting birds when migration is in full swing. Although this year (so far!) hasn't hit the highs of 2013 when western Bonelli's warber and booted warbler were logged we have had a good run in the last week. Luckily for us our garden is quite a good spot as it offers some handy cover for birds in the form of several willow trees and various bushes (there is also a small olive tree that a previous warden planted with climate change in mind!)
A barred warbler on 29th September was only a second record for Ramsey and the first since 2001. Typically elusive Lisa managed to grab a couple of photos as it poppoed out of the willows to feed on the copious amount of blackberries that are available at the moment (a bumper crop means there are far too many for just the birds this year so we have been forced to make some pies and crumbles with them!)
Barred warber Sylvia nisoria breed in eastern Europe and Asia but some turn up in the UK every year
On 4th October we found a juvenile common rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus on the track down to the harbour. I was on the quad bike at the time but luckily I had my binoculars with me. We didn't see it yesterday but what was surely the same bird popped up in the garden today. Ironically they are typically quite 'showy' birds but this one has evaded all attempts to photograph it so far! The local robins aren't helping matters as they don't exactly roll out the red carpet for newcomers! The rosefinch is a summer visitor to eastern Europe and is meant to be wintering in India but again, like the barred warbler, some are recorded annually in the UK. This is the just the second in the past 10 years to reach Ramsey.
While looking for the rosefinch today Lisa found our 3rd good garden bird of the week - a spectacular firecrest Regulus ignicapillus. These breed in the UK but are scarce out here. It is exactly two years to the day since the last one appeared on Ramsey and you would have to go back over 10 years to find the one before that
Along with the goldcrest, the firecrest is the smallest bird in the UK at just 9cm. This one was quite happy in our garden all day feasting on a plentiful supply of insects.
So who knows what the next few days will bring. After the warm and dry September (less than 10mm of rain fell) we are into autumn proper now with force 10 winds buffeting the house last night. Gusts of 65 mph were logged at Milford Haven and 35mm of rain fell in around 4 hours. Coupled with the 32mm that fell two days ago it is shaping up to be a wet month. Today was sunny at least but a huge swell rolled around the island. With 7m tides coming up this week and more gales forecast it is unlikely we will see any boats over the coming days. However if you are hoping to visit you can ring our boat operator Thousand Islands Expeditions on 01437 721721 to check.