Bardsey's Wildlife: A Mega Year - January to June round up

Saturday 28 December 2013

A Mega Year - January to June round up

Well its that time of year for a photographic round up of 2013, the highlights and fondest memories from the year's blog.

Enjoy and lets look forward to 2014.....

January

An overwintering Firecrest is always a good way to start the year

A cold spell in mid-January brings wintery scenes, with thrushes...

and Lapwings all over the island

Strong winds later in the month push some seabirds close inshore

and waders up to rocks

Up to three Whimbrels spent the winter on the island.

with Rock Pipits in good numbers on the beaches

Buzards take their toll on the local Moorhens as these become the staple food!

Whilst two Grey Plovers graced Solfach

February

A few Goldgrests are brave enough to stay on the island over winter

Keeping this little guy company

Mid-month some seabirds are returning to the cliffs - Shags

and Fulmars have been away since August

Most Pied Wagtails leave the island, but this pair over-wintered

A drake Teal spent some time on the island

Dodging the Peregrine most of the time

But you only get one strike in this game, then you are out.....

Late February sees and arrival of Jack Snipe

March

The year's only Stock Dove is a good start to March

with an escape, close-ringed Bullfinch spending time at Nant

Singing Stonechats herald the start of spring

with the first Chiffchaffs arriving to wintry rains

A couple of Black Redstarts including this stunner arrived

And when Obs staff arrived, the ringing season began, with three Jack Snipe being the first birds to be trapped, and the firsst since 2011

The first Wheatear of the year arrived on the 6th

and Ben's Firecrest picture wins BirdGuides Photo of the Week .. well done Ben

A Hooded Crow puts in an appearnace in Mid-March and stays on the island for most of the year

and Ravens now have young

More Jack Snipe arrive and are trapped

as Sandwich Terns screech round the bays

More common migrants like Chiffchaffs are arriving

and Meadow Pipits begin to move in good numbers

the first White Wagtails dont get to the island until the final day of March

April

Early April sees the arrival of the first Blackcaps

and Greenland Wheatears

A Woodcock is found walking in the obs Trap

whilst a Red Kite manages to be seen by everyone except the Warden!

Good numbers of finches start to arrive mid-month

The first Willow Warblers start to arrive

and a Kestrel takes up residence at the farm

And finally, SOME MOTHS!!! After what has seemed like months of cold, windy weather, two days of milder temperatures encouraged a few species to take to the wing. Last night's catch in the Nant Heath Trap amounted to: one Common Quaker, three Hebrew Characters, one Clouded Drab, a Mottled Grey, a Double-striped Pug. Hebrew Character (top), Common Quaker (middle) and Clouded Drab (lower) Early Thorn. (Bottom)

Finches continue to arrive and in good numbers

and Jack Snipe continue to pass through

A rather fine Hawfinch was found on the 12th

and this smart Ring Ouzel the next day

Choughs start nest building

As migrant warble numbers build...

...gale-force southerly winds obviously prevented much feeding from taking place, with very few insects on offer. Several Blackcaps in the Lighthouse compound were seen huddled together for warmth, presumably exhausted after their journey.

The first Redstarts appear

along with some stunning Greenland Wheatears

and a Yellow Wagtail adds a splash of colour

Common Sandpipers begin to move

and Grasshopper Warblers begin their reeling songs

Finch passage is building with more Redpolls

and Siskins.

The first Cuckoo is seen

as 150 each of Blackcap and Willow Warbler are trapped with 226 Blackaps and over 440 Willow Warblers present in total.

and this smart male Corncrake that is found on the south end

with a support cast including this Tree Pipit

Wader numbers build with up to 30 Dunlin on Solfach

and the first of three Parisian-ringed Sedge Warblers is trapped

Willow Warblers continue to move in good numbers

as do Siskins and Redpolls

Coal Tits are uncommon is Spring, so this was a bonus

Whimbrel Numbers began to increase

and some were trapped and colour-ringed

A smart Blue-headed Wagtail brightened up the day

whilst a 'channel' wagtail created some passing interest

An Arctic Skua took up residence on the South End...home-from-home!

A Large dark Redpoll was possibly from a north-western population

May

The first Lesser Whitethroats appear

with some smart looking Sanderlings on the beach

and at long last a scarce bird...but just another Subalpine Warbler!

Sedge Warblers start to move in number

with Spotted Flycatchers adding to the migrant mix

Several drake Eiders stop off in Solfach for a week!

and Tree Pipits continue to move in small numbers

A Blackcap with an ITALIAN Ring was trapped

this only the SECOND EVER Italian-ringed Blackcap to have been trapped in the UK!

Take a look at the Blackcap ringing fact sheet by the BTO here

and a rather nice Whinchat is spoiled by the barbed wire!

Mid-May saw Sedge Warblers arrive 'en-masse' with 150 trapped on 17th alone

along with a Blue-headed Wagtail

another (barbless) Whinchat

a Honey Buzzard

and a Hen Harrier

Over the next week migrants continued with this nice 'hepatic' Cuckoo

and good numbers of Spotted Flycatchers

A common Rosefinch on the last day of May was the start of a good run of birds

June
Three Black-tailed Godwits from Iceland

and four distant Killer Whales started off the month
View image on Twitter

another Grey Plover, this time looking smart

and a Turtle Dove

Wales's fourth and Bardsey's third Paddyfield Warbler

and Thrift Clearwings begin to bring spring to an end
View image on Twitter

BREEDING BIRDS
Shelducks had ups and downs, but some young survived

Peregrines did well

and Puffin numbers are ever increasing

with shearwaters doing well too

Baby mini Manxy!! ADOPT ME...Click here

good numbers of Razors

Shags

and wags

and lots of Choughs

and ending as we began, with a mid-summer Firecrest showing anything can happen at any time of year!

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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.

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Saturday 28 December 2013

A Mega Year - January to June round up

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