Bardsey's Wildlife

Saturday 25 September 2010

The 2010 Bardsey Autumn Birding Tournament

Week 8: Competition Review and Results

Regulars Richard Brown, Richard Else, Ben Porter and Steve Stansfield had stiff competition in week eight from two visitors with excellent rarity-finding track records: former assistant warden David Wright; and Steve ‘icky’ Hinde – so-named for his notorious propensity for finding Icterine Warblers, despite somehow never managing to see the closely-related, and somewhat commoner, Melodious Warbler.

In disappointing contrast with the previous two weeks, the competition began at a pace akin to that of a shell-bearing gastropod, with not a single point scored on the Saturday; or the Sunday; or the Monday morning. Thankfully a breakthrough eventually came on Monday afternoon, when Porter finally opened the scoring with two points for a Lapland Bunting on the summit of the mountain.

The next day brought an influx of further Lapland Buntings and, with just four more points available for that species, the race was on to find the first four birds. Wright was quick to get his name on the score sheet for finding the first one on the west coast (1 point), and Else soon followed with one flying over the obs (1 point). Hinde took the initiative of heading up the mountain first and scored his point for a group of three birds, before Brown also climbed the hill and discovered an extra bird with the earlier three to snatch the final Lapland Bunting point. Brown scored another point for a Redstart, and Hinde was awarded his second point of the day for a Whinchat. The bird of the day was still to come though, and it was the persevering David Wright who, on checking the South End gorse bushes for the umpteenth time that day, happened upon a hitherto-overlooked Quail to score three points and leap into the lead.

The 22nd was a quiet day, but Wright managed to extend his lead with a Mediterranean Gull (1 point) and a flock of Wigeons (1 point). The next morning seemed equally quiet until Else spotted a flock of Black Terns (2 points) flying past the west coast. He and Stansfield were soon on their way to the north end armed with telescopes, and within minutes had found more, and more, and more Black Terns feeding offshore; the result of which was another two points for Else and four points for Stansfield. The warden then gained a further point for some Crossbills, while Brown found a Reed Warbler (1 point) and Wright belatedly joined the Black Tern bandwagon with a single straggling bird (2 points).

Steve Hinde had now been on the island for a full five days and, remarkably, was yet to produce an Icterine Warbler. When he finally radioed in the afternoon to report, inevitably, a yellow Hippolais warbler skulking in Cristin garden, it was considered a foregone conclusion as to which of the two species it would be; but when it was eventually caught in the Heligoland trap and identified as a Melodious Warbler, ‘Icky Steve’ was delighted to have finally caught up with his bogey bird and, in the process, scored five competition points and had his epithet updated to the alliterative ‘Hippo Hinde’.

The final day of the week’s event was a cold and windy one, but Richard Brown managed to score two points early in the morning for a Hobby on the South End. Wright, Brown and Hinde then all happened to find some Greylag Geese independently of each other and, despite a clear case of copying each other’s Ansers, were awarded a point each to finish off the week.

All in all then, it was a low-scoring affair by comparison with the previous weeks, but it was a productive one for the visitors: David Wright got it right to emerge victorious on nine points, with Hippo Hinde close behind on eight. Richard Brown narrowly beat the other observatory staff to take third place with six points.

This has all had little effect on the overall standings of the regular competitors: Steve Stansfield is still well in the lead, followed by Else in second place. Brown has closed the gap on Porter, and they are now tying for third position.

Linnet (c) Steve Stansfield

Grey Heron (c) Steve Stansfield

Robin (c) Steve Stansfield

Stonechat (c) Steve Stansfield

Goldfinch (c) Ben Porter

Reed Warbler (c) Ben Porter

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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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Saturday 25 September 2010

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