A few more random shots from this week.

Ian Fisher borrowed the moth trap and caught this Lime-spec Pug. What a stunner! He also took the photo.

Arctic Terns continue to hatch young and even still laying eggs. New nests were found on Wednesday.

This Razorbill jumped just hours after Carrie captured it with my camera!

 Many Kittiewakes are fledging this week.

Last weeks rescued Shag looks no worse for wear after the ordeal it has been through.

We were double figures at the weekend. Like the birds on the cliffs, we are all jumping too. We were down to 6 on Thursday.

Puffling in the moth trap

I should not have been surprised really but when I went to the mothtrap on the 30th I got the almost jumped out of my skin when a fledged puffin (puffling) jumped out from behind the mothtrap. Birds are attracted to light or sound after they emerge out of their burrows. We pick up to 4 a day this year so far with the first one being last Wednesday. This bird was ringed and released safely from the west cliffs at dusk.

The mothtrap is put out every night. This year the mothing has been very poor. Day after day there have been very few entries in log. Hopefully our moth catching will improve and we'll post more pictures soon. We can catch over 300 in some nights. We've caught our first Dark Arches of the season which is easily our most numerous moth.

The entry on the 30th

Here is the puffling. It was a very lively bird in good condition. It was not at all happy being caught after being dazzled by the traps light.

This moth is a Bright line Brown Eye. A regular visitor to our trap.

 Can you see this Netted Pug on the wall of where we put the mothtrap?



Mark later turned up with a Guillemot he'd found in one of the Heligoland traps

Also not too happy about being caught! See the lovely yellow throat and  it's not cause he's squeezing it!

A dip in the harbour.

Well it is all change here. Today was the warmest day for a long time out on the island illustrated by the fact that most island residents were in shorts for at least part of the day. Only a few days ago we still had fires lit, were wearing thermals and hats and had to resort to a medicinal whisky each night to prevent hypothermia. Suddenly warm weather has arrived and so have the visitors.
                                       
 Being on the east coast this means a bit of fog in the mornings when the top of the mainlight kept appearing and dissappearing but once it had burnt off then things turned hot.

 The effect has been immediate as last night we had 11 moths in the moth trap compared to the 3 moths for the previous 6 weeks.

 The cliff nesting birds incubating eggs on the cliffs had to put up with the baking until their partner gave them a break. It was great to see they relieved of their duties and drop down onto the sea from their ledge and wash clean their plummage and cool down.This guillemot was panting with the heat while the razorbill below it was suffering from having a nesting ledge lower down the cliffs (raining guano).

It has also changed the researchers behaviour, phone calls can be made outside, we have even eaten tea out-side twice and ...

....tonight a (very quick) swim in the harbour.

 Anything the Farnes can do we can do as well.
It is peak seabird season with so much to see and with this weather set to hold a bit longer, its a great time to visit the island.

Beautiful moths.

An angle shades moth with its delicately rolled wings looking just like a dead leaf. Butterflies are hugely popular wildlife with the public but moths have a bit of a hard time. People usually firstly think of holes in theri woolens or coming out of wallets and the fact that most fly at night doesn't help their cause. But many of the moths found in the Uk are absolutely stunning. We run a moth trap most nights on the island. It consists of a bright light that attracts the moths in, a wooden box under the light with a slot that mothdrop into and can't get out and lots of eggs boxes. Before you ask these go in the box and the moths hide under them until we release them in the morning. Below are pictures of a selection of some of the species that we have caught so far in the seaosn. Enjoy.

A burnished brass

A yellowshell

An antler moth - it gets its name from the white antler patterns on its wing.

A garden tiger (next 3 pictures), many peoples favourites moth.

A dark arches - the commonest moth on the island, it is possible to catch 200 in one night.

A brimstone moth

A square spot dart, a notable species as it is rare in the UK, recorded for the first time on the Isle of May this year.

A rosy rustic, not always rosy but always beautifully put together.

A hedge rustic.