Bardsey's Wildlife

Sunday, 18 April 2010

Afternoon update

A Red Kite was seen over the Obsevatory Garden in the afternoon. At least 8 Grasshopper Warblers were heard singing and a Ring Ouzel was seen above Nant. More Redpoll issues were forthcoming this morning with several birds showing features of Mealy Redpolls being trapped. Yesterday's House Sparrow was trapped and ringed in the garden (second in successive years). The new portable helgoland trap on the beach caught its first birds (Dunlin, White Wagtail and Meadow Pipit)

Red Kite (c) Steve Stansfield

I have Just Spoken to Tony Cross of the Welsh Kite Trust and copied the wording below almost verbatim from their website. "The photo above is of a tagged Red Kite which was present on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel from Mid-March for at least a week and a half. The tags clearly show that the bird is one of those sent to Co. Wicklow in 2007 as part of the Welsh Kite Trust's ongoing re-introduction project with the Golden Eagle Trust. This bird was though to be one member of a pair showing interest in breeding last year so it is a major surprise that it has turned up back on this side of the Irish sea" (http://welshkitetrust.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-04-05T09:28:00%2B01:00&max-results=7)

House Sparrow (c) Steven Stansfield

Up to 12 Dunlin were present on Solfach (c) Richard Brown

Common Sandpiper joined Turnstone, Dunlin and Ringed Plover feeding on Solfach (c) Richard Brown

A 'proper' Lesser Redpoll (c) Steven Stansfield

Common Redpoll (c) Steven Stansfield

Over the past week (and in fact last spring) we have been luring redpolls into the obs garden trapping area for ringing. Common (mealy) Redpoll is thought to be a rare bird in Wales and is consequently a species that requires a full description to be submitted to the Welsh Records Panel. So far this spring we have trapped ten or more birds looking like the one directly above (showing fairly broad pale to white wing bars, pale rump and white tramilne in to the birds' mantle, white ground colour to the flanks, a looking face and general frosty appearance). Very few of the birds we have trapped and ringed have looked like the picture of the Lesser Redpoll (above). The upper Redpoll we are very happy with as being a Lesser, with its dingy brown face, dark mantle and rump and buff wing bars (just like they are supposed to!), but we are beginning to wonder why Bardsey has this apparent spring passage of what, on the face of it, appear to be Common Redpolls. Comments on the topic are welcomed either in the comments box or directly to Steve (email warden@bbfo.org.uk).

As if birds in the hand weren't bad enough, field encounters are inevitable. This smart male undoubtedly shows characteristics of flammea. The nape and edging to the ear coverts have a very 'frosted' feel. The mantle shows distinct white tramlines and the rump had a white base colour diffused with the pink of a male and with limited streaking. The wingbar, although buff on the outer greater covert edges, is bright white on the inner greater coverts. The edges to the median coverts are also white. The buff flanks and bib typical of cabaret are lacking (c) Richard Brown

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bardsey's Wildlife

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Sunday, 18 April 2010

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