A group of A Rocha friends were supposed to visit Bardsey (Ynys Enlli) from Sept 3rd to 10th. I had travelled over on Friday in order to meet the others at Ty Newydd in Aberdaron for our evening meal. It was good to meet old friends unexpectedly and welcome new ones as well. We were told that there was only a 60% chance of our getting to the island on Saturday morning but we would know more at 10.00am. I camped just outside the village and soon got to sleep. Waking at 0600 I was glad to find there had not been any rain that night so I dropped the tent whilst it was still dry. Making my way down to the village by 10.00 we found there was another delay. Some of us decided to walk the cliff path to Port Meudwy where we usually catch the boat. Along this path we heard the unmistakeable call of chough. Returning by 2.00pm we were dissapointed to eventually learn that our crossing would not be until 0700 Sunday morning.
Up bright and early to a clear sky and a quiet sea we all left on time on one of the smoothest crossings I have experienced ( Thanks Colin). After unloading all our gear and supplies it was time to prepare a packed lunch and head off to the northern part of the island noticing several gannets out to sea. We had a quick look at the Nant plantation and enjoyed spotted flycatcher and a few other small birds. One of our first and important part of the programme was to have our Sunday service together which included communion. As always on Bardsey this is multi-lingual with often a hymn by Charles Wesley to a wonderful Welsh tune.
This was followed by a walk up the Lord's path to the top of the mountain. A peregrine, several chough and a young shearwater were seen on the summit. The shearwater was a juvenile almost ready to leave. Whilst enjoying our packed lunch three or four Red Admiral butterflies were attracted by the sunshine. Suitably refreshed ( some of us had a quick doze) we descended towards Nant again and returned to our respective residences. Some stayed at Cristin, the observatory and others at one of the Bardsey Island Trust cottages Carreg. Steve our host had arranged to take some of us out later to see if there were any more Manxies around. One of the birds obviously could not wait for us and found its way to the gents (composting) loo
A delightful end to our first day
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