Bardsey's Wildlife

The latest wildlife news from the island of 20000 saints

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Monday, 14 September 2009

A Richard’s Pipit found in the arable fields during the afternoon was easily the avian highlight of the day, although it quickly disappeared south and out of sight. In the morning not a great deal had been seen – a Redstart at Cristin was just about the highlight. The probable Reed Warbler was still lurking at Ty Capel, again managing to conceal itself most of the time and avoiding the mist nets. Other warblers on the island included a Blackcap, two Whitethroats, four Goldcrests, 13 Chiffchaffs and five Willow Warblers, while two Whinchats, a Spotted Flycatcher, 20 Wheatears, three Grey Wagtails and two White Wagtails were the best of the other passerines. 160 Black-headed Gulls and 280 Herring Gulls passed at sea, the Merlin and Water Rail were still present, and two Siskins and a flock of 33 Goldfinches spent the day on the island.

Another day of calm sea meant that the conditions were good for seeing cetaceans, and a spectacular display of 28 leaping Risso’s Dolphins was observed close in front of the North West hide.



Whinchat and Stonechat
(c) Steve Stansfield
Posted by Steve Stansfield at 12:27
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Recording migration since 1953

Bardsey Bird Observatory was founded in 1953 to record bird migration. Since then it has monitored the island’s birds and wildlife. The observatory building is based in the old farm house at Cristin, and can accommodate up to 16 staying guests from Saturday to Saturday. If you are interested in staying at the observatory, you can find out more information here.

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Blog Archive

2025 Year List

  • 120. Red-backed Shrike 03/06
  • 121. Common Rosefinch 04/06
  • 122. Blyth's Reed Warbler 05/06
  • 123. Melodious Warbler 06/06
  • 124. Storm Petrel 09/06
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Contact

Steve Stansfield - Director of Operations warden@bbfo.org.uk


Bardsey Lodge and Bird Observatory

Bardsey Island

Aberdaron

Gwynedd

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Cristin (BBFO)

Cristin (BBFO)

The South End

The South End

Click to see inside!

Click to see inside!
Edited by Mike Archer, Mark Grantham, Peter Howlett and Steve Stansfield and published by T & AD Poyser, this fabulous book describes how much has changed since the first edition of Bird Observatories in Britain and Ireland was published in 1976. There are detailed accounts of the history and work carried out at each of the 18 observatories, with personal accounts by wardens and staff of the excitement of discovering a rarity, watching thousands of migrants attracted to a lighthouse after dark, and the pleasure and experiences that working at some of the country’s most remote and beautiful locations can bring. Click the picture of the book to see inside or to buy your copy.

Bird Observatories of Britain and Ireland

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Bird Observatories Council

Bird Observatories Council

Migrants

Being sited on the main migration route of many species, Bardsey (or Ynys Enlli in Welsh) is a well-known site for migrant birds, turning up many scarcities and rarities, as well as large numbers of common migrants. The island’s list now stands on 326, after the recent addition of Citrine Wagtail in October 2012.

Although Bardsey’s reputation for rare birds may not quite match that of some observatories, it is almost certainly the best site in Wales for rarities. Among Bardsey’s rarer visitors are the first Summer Tanager (1957) and Yellow Warbler (1964) to have been recorded in Britain and Ireland, as well as American vagrants such American Bittern, Sora, Kildeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Grey-cheeked Thrush, American Robin, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-eyed Vireo, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Blackpoll Warbler. To add to this impressive list of rarities, Black-winged Stilt, Lesser Yellowlegs, Lanceolated Warbler, River Warbler, Western Orphean Warbler, Booted Warbler, Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Eyebrowed Thrush, Thrush Nightingale, Red-flanked Bluetail, Isabelline Wheatear, Black-eared Wheatear, Collared Flycatcher, Blyth’s Pipit, Pine Bunting, Rock Bunting, Yellow-breasted Bunting and White-throated Sparrow have all been recorded.

Besides the rarities, Bardsey regularly attracts large numbers of weary migrants during 'fall' conditions in Spring and Autumn, largely a consequence of the fully operational Bardsey Lighthouse. In 2011, for example, a single grounding of migrants resulted in over 1000 Willow Warblers making groundfall on the island in August. In the not-so-distant past, a single attraction of 40,000 Redwings occurred in late October at the end of the last century.

Hoopoe

Hoopoe

Woodchat Shrike

Woodchat Shrike

Breeding birds

Bardsey is home to some 26, 000 pairs of Manx Shearwaters, which can be heard on dark nights from mid-March to August. They breed in their excavated burrows, which are scattered all over the island. Chough is the most important species of conservation concern, with between four to eight pairs nesting around the coastal cliffs most years, and a wintering flock of up to 50 individuals. A pair of Peregrines breed on the island, and a 1-2 pair of Ravens also nest most years. There are several species which nest only occasionally, such as Sparrowhawk and Little Owl, along with Afro-Palearctic migrants like Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. Up to ten pairs of Stonechats can nest in the isolated gorse patches around the island, along with many Linnets and Meadow Pipits. Corncrakes were once a common breeder on the island, although since 1970 there have been no confirmed pairs nesting. In recent years the likes of Lapwing, Yellowhammer, House Sparrow and Starling have also all become extinct as breeding species. In contrast, Shelduck, Puffin, Long-eared Owl, Grasshopper Warbler and Goldcrest have been added to the breeding bird list since 1998.

Red-billed Chough

Red-billed Chough

Kittiwake

Kittiwake

Ringing

Ringing is a very important part of the observatory’s role on the island. Since 1953, the observatory has ringed over 315,00 birds of 198 species. The highest number ringed in a single year was 1988, with a total of 11, 301 birds ringed of 93 species. There have been many days in the observatory’s history when several hundred birds have been ringed in one day; these occasions have mostly involved breeding seabirds, although these numbers can also easily occur with migrant species.

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl

Black-and-white Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Lepidoptera

A total of 561 species of moths have been recorded on the island. Bardsey is not an overly good location for scarce moths, although the existence of Thrift Clearwings (Nationally scarce) has been established on the Thrift plants around the coast in recent years, after first being recorded in the years 1980 and 1996. Migrant moths arrive in small numbers every year, for example the annual arrival of Hummingbird Hawkmoths in the autumn; rarer immigrants in the past have included Death’s Head Hawkmoths, Vestals, Crimson Speckled and Red-necked Footman.

In recent years, a greater emphasis has been placed on recording and identifying the so-called ‘micro-moths’, which has resulted in the finding of 41 new species for Bardsey since 2011. In 2012, the coastal subspecies of Eana penziana (E.p.colquhounana) was re-found on the island, which was the first time that this Nationally Scarce species had been recorded on Bardsey since 1966. Apotomis semifasciana is also amongst the scarcer species of micro-moths to inhibit the island (also Nationally Scarce).

Butterflies are present on the island in small numbers, with species such as Common Blue, Small Copper and Small Tortoise-shell being the most common. A scarcer breeding species is the Grayling, which can be found in small numbers on the top of the mountain. Migrant butterflies such as Painted Lady can arrive in their hundreds, although other migrants such as Clouded Yellow and Dark-green Fritillary are quite rare.

Thrift Clearwing

Thrift Clearwing

Painted Lady

Painted Lady
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Lepidoptera

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