Colonies on Dinas Island

Dinas Island isn't really an island, just a big headland, but the land that joins it to the mainland is low-lying and it might have been an island one once and it might become one again.  On the summit there was sheep pasture with Skylarks singing and we saw and heard Linnets, Goldfinches, Wrens, Rock Pipits and Dunnocks all the way round.  On the east side we saw Wheatears and got quite close to them.  At home we saw some on passage, a while back, but they do not breed in any numbers and we would not expect to see them again until August/September.  Here they are likely to be breeding.  There were several Stonechats and we saw adults with fledglings near the path.  The air was very still and humid, even on the top of the cliffs and there were flying insects everywhere and lots of swallows and house martins wheeling to and fro, feeding on them.

Razorbills and Guillemots on Dinas Island

There were few seabirds to be seen on the exposed west side, just a couple of cormorants and some Oystercatchers, but on the more sheltered west side on Careg John Evan there was a sizeable colony of nesting razorbills, with a few guillemots.  They were noisy and active with a lot of mating activity, but, sadly I counted five dead ones.  This has not been a good year for coastal seabirds.

Lackey moth caterpillar colony

There were several Lackey Moth caterpillar colonies on Hawthorn trees like this one.  They were very active and they seemed to be moulting, leaving empty skins hanging about.