May ended nicely with a Pectoral Sandpiper on North Pond on the 30th. June started even better with this fine Buff-breasted Sandpiper! It strolled the pond for 2 days, becoming just the fifth record for Skokholm and the first since September 2018.

One of the avian highlights of April was this male Eastern Subalpine Warbler which briefly sang from the Courtyard Sycamore on the 29th before sneaking off to the Brambles behind the Wheelhouse and then disappearing forever...! This was the sixth Eastern Subalpine Warbler for Skokholm.

It's been a busy few weeks here and the guest season and seabird season is now in full flow! Spring passage of Whimbrel is also well underway with birds bubbling into song as they cruise about over the plateau. A magical time on Dream Island!

Calmer weather had the #Wheatears out and about @skokholmisland.bsky.social. Male A33 is still single this year despite being our oldest bird at 7. Elsewhere a female is nest-building in nest box 7 (the red stones on the right ). Hoping she will complete and lay there soon. #ukbirding #BirdingWales

Despite another windy day our nest-building female is now onto white feathers @skokholmisland.bsky.social This is usually the final stage of construction so laying in the next day or so (5/6 eggs). Incubation of c12 days so feeding young around 8 May. #birds #birdingWales #ukbirding

Most Wheatears @skokholmisland.bsky.social are now paired and are starting to explore potential nest sites together. Male C39 and female H09 are roaming their territory in the general North Plain area where both have bred with different partners for the last few years. #ukbirding #BirdingWales

Moon sparkles on the sea tonight! A marine fireworks display, as Manxies soar in and shoot down their burrows to avoid being spotted by the Great Black-backed Gulls patrolling the plateau.

Female C48 & male C91 are paired at Frank’s Point @skokholmisland.bsky.social. Both four years old they returned early to the same territory where they bred in 2024 and paired again. #BirdingWales #ukbirding

Tracking Ascension Island’s seabirds across borders: Learn how our Darwin+ project will help us understand how seabirds & fisheries overlap in the High Seas 🌊 Led by Ascension Island Gov with @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social, GFW, MMO & @cefasgovuk.bsky.social www.seabirdtracking.org/tracking-asc...

There are 42 Wheatear nestboxes @skokholmisland.bsky.social. Each year they are checked and made good for the season. There are usually one or two used each year. Bespoke cameras are used if there is an active nest to monitor the nestling behaviour. #ukbirding #BirdingWales

It's been rather quiet on the moth-front so far, but a Chamomile Shark last night was a nice find in the trap. #teammoth

There's something indescribably exciting about encountering black and white male Pied Flycatchers on their spring migration. This bird was found on Sunday flycatching in the Quarry from the lichen-clad boulders normally home to thousands of Storm Petrels.

It's been a cracking spring so far on Dream Island. The 48th record of Hoopoe was found at East Bog on 23rd March and Firecrests, Black Redstarts and Ring Ouzels are to be regularly found pinging around the sheltered cliffs.

Wheatears are starting to pair up @skokholmisland.bsky.social Here male H42 and female H32 are keeping close near North Gully. On The Neck, female H92 is the first of last year’s juveniles to return from her winter quarters. #BirdingWales #ukbirding #WheatearTales

Male Wheatear F85 is establishing his territory @skokholmisland.bsky.social In the adjoining three territories there are three other males and a female who were in one of these same sites in 2024. They are incredibly site loyal. #ukbirding

There were some stunning Mammatus cloud formations over Skokholm at sunset today!

Yesterday the Puffin army returned, creeping closer and closer which allowed us to do a whole-island count. A staggering 13,174 were counted rafting, the highest number since 1934! Today, they made their first 2025 landfall, two days earlier than the 2013-2024 first birds ashore mean. Welcome home!

Hot on the heels of the first Wheatear of 2025 was this Chiffchaff, found feeding amongst the dripping lichens at North Gully yesterday morning. This, along with another bird at the Well, is six days earlier than the 2013-2024 first spring bird mean. Meanwhile, Wheatear F22 is still alone...

It has been glorious here and the first Wheatear of 2025 appeared at the Obs yesterday, matching the second earliest on record. He was wearing green ring F22 and we soon realised he was also the first back last year; he was alone here for at least a week before the next Wheatears arrived.

We are back on Dream Island and so are the Puffins! 4 were found rafting offshore yesterday, scanning the Island with their decorated beady eyes. These matched one on the 1st in 2019 as the earliest offshore loafers ever. Meanwhile a smart Merlin was hanging out near North Pond watching Rock Pipits.

Some of the big boys & girls at Hartlepool Fish Quay on Sunday with @unsociable-lapwing.bsky.social. Sadly, as well as a few dead gulls and one with a broken wing, we spotted this young GBB flying around with a fishing weight tangled on its leg. @teesbirds.bsky.social #UKBirds #BirdingNorthEast 🪶

Skokholm's latest ever Painted Lady was found resting on some M&S pants on the Obs washing line this afternoon. A lone insect was observed along Isthmian Heath yesterday too. Part of a recent influx into the south of the UK. #migrantmothuk

Our brilliant Long-term Volunteers are a huge part of what makes Skokholm so special. If seabirds, bird observatories and small islands are your thing, then click below to find out more about joining us in 2025. www.welshwildlife.org/volunteering...

An in-box kerfuffle between adult birds during the egg incubation period (which resulted in the egg not being properly incubated for a time) led to the late hatching of a Storm Petrel chick in the Petrel Station. This is now the last of our known Stormie chicks.

The grey days continue on Dream Island but they're filled with regular bursts of colour. This Firecrest was feeding on the cliffs at Howard's End on Friday and a Yellow-browed Warbler turned up in the Wheelhouse Heligoland Trap in the late afternoon (the fourth of the year).

A couple of Sibe Chiffs have passed through in the murk over the last two days. This bird spent some time in the Courtyard feeding on immobile flies on the rotting apples.

A Goosander which flew in from Broad Sound on Sunday, before briefly alighting on North Pond, was only the fourth Skokholm record. It was also seemingly the first to ever be seen ashore here. Monday brought a late Wood Sandpiper to Winter Pond, the latest ever Pembrokeshire record.

This magical White-rumped Sandpiper circled the Obs this morning before flying high towards the Lighthouse. After eyeballing Winter Pond on its loop of the Island, it dropped in to the waters edge where it is now busily feeding. A first for Skokholm and just a third for Pembrokeshire! #rarebirdsuk