Bardsey's Wildlife

Wednesday 5 February 2014

February 2nd

The stormy conditions continued, although a brighter day made for pleasant birding conditions. The highlight of the day came in the form of a lovely adult Glaucous Gull, which flew south past Solfach in the late afternoon. This is the second record of the year, and only the second record of an adult since 2006. In other news, a Great Northern Diver landed to the south of Carreg Yr Honwy, 600 Guillemots past the coast, and a Whimbrel joined the usual Curlews at high tide.

The rather slender adult Glaucous Gull, in comparison to a juvenile Herring Gull (bottom right)

Some more shots of the adult Glaucous Gull. There were no records of Glaucous Gull on the island last year, although at least three in 2012

February 3rd

Gale force winds from the south east once again churned the sea into a boiling turmoil of white water, huge rolling waves and foam. A large gathering of gulls took place at high tide, with birds feeding on the seaweed and other debris that had been thrown up onto the side of Henllwyn. A total of 215 Herring Gulls were noted, along with five Common Gulls, seven Great Black-backed Gulls and four Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Waders were sheltering behind banks and gorse bushes on The Narrows, with counts including 90 Oystercatchers and 11 Turnstones.

Huge waves rolled in from the Irish sea, some of which were spectacular to watch!

The lack of any rocky shore at high tide forced many waders to the grassy fields of The Narrows. These Oystercatchers chose to shelter behind a small clump of gorse bushes

February 4th

Yet another stormy day was brightened up by the finding of a very smart Lapland Bunting on The Narrows. The bird was feeding amongst a small foraging flock of 31 Rock Pipits, which were present along the top bank of Henllwyn. 2013 was a very poor year for this species, and so it is nice to already have had one in 2014. In other news, 57 Kittiwakes were seen feeding off The Narrows and 11 Common Scoters flew South.

The very handsome Lapland Bunting was getting blown around by the strong wind

Some more images of the Lapland Bunting, as it fed amongst the seaweed and pebbles above Henllwyn. This bird is the earliest record for at least five years.

February 5th

A day of gale-force south-east winds and consequently monstrous seas saw a smaller selection of avian wildlife about the island. However, a count of 140 Oystercatchers at high tide is the highest for at least two years, and a small selection of other waders amounted to: 11 Purple Sandpipers, 18 Redshanks and 25 Turnstones. Singles of Redwing and Song Thrush were seen in the wetlands.

1 comment:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure5 February 2014 at 16:52
HI Ben What great shots and good to see a Glaucous Gull. Boy those seas are something else and you got a wonderful shot of that large wave. Love the Lapwing Bunting shots
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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.