Bardsey's Wildlife

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

March 17th

On the last calm and sunny day forecast for at least a week, a small movement of migrants was noted on the island. A total of seven Goldcrests and seven Chiffchaffs was an increase on recent days; two Sand Martins flew over the withies midday; a Continental Stonechat had arrived in the Carreg Wetlands, and spent the afternoon bursting into song, producing amazing imitations and superb sounds. Elsewhere, the Hooded Crow was seen on The Narrows, a Jack Snipe and two Snipe were flushed from the wetlands.

A handful of Chiffchaffs spent the day feeding on insects in Plas Withy, which included a couple of birds with slight tones of grey on the neck and nape, perhaps indicating a slightly more eastern origin.

An interesting Stonechat which arrived into the Carreg Wetlands was producing some amazing tones and imitations of other species. However, there were not many external characteristics to indicate a continental rubicola. The extensive white on the inner wing coverts is, however, one good feature.

A flock of about 26 Choughs have been feeding all over The Narrows every day at the moment. This particular group are well-positioned in front of Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory

March 18th

A fresh south-westerly breeze saw wind speeds exceeding 20 mph for the first time in over a week! However, there was still a respectable selection of noteworthy species around the island: the first Manx Shearwater of the year glided past the south end of the island in the early hours; a Whimbrel was amongst the Oystercatchers in Henllwyn; and eight Purple Sandpipers were seen on Carreg Yr Honwy. In terms of passerines, a scattering of warblers amounted to four Chiffchaffs and five Goldcrests,and a possible Scandinavian Rock Pipit was seen on The Narrows. The Hooded Crow was yet again amongst the flock of Choughs near Solfach.

The most exciting discovery of the day came in the form of a re-trap Jack Snipe. The snipe was initially seen crouching amongst a clump of grass in the wetlands, its perfect camouflage giving the bird confidence to remain put, despite observers standing a couple of metres away. Within a few minutes, the drag net team launched into action, and managed to successfully capture the Jack Snipe. On extraction, it was discovered that the bird already had a ring on! And, even more impressive, it was one of ours! Closer examination of past ringing books at the Observatory led to the discovery that we had ringed this particular Jack Snipe on 12 April 2013, less than 50 metres away! This means that this bird has travelled all the way to its breeding grounds in Russia, only to return to the exact same overwintering spot here on Bardsey! According to the BTO database, there have only been about 75 recoveries of Jack Snipe in the UK (check out the fact sheet here), although it is unlikely that many of these have involved time-periods of just under a year between recoveries.

The fantastic Jack Snipe before it was caught- amazingly, this particular bird was caught using a hand net last April, which just shows how reluctant these birds are to move! The bird was caught less than 100 feet away from where it was in April 2013, and that is after travelling to its breeding grounds in Russia and back!

This is certainly a fantastic start to the Jack Snipe trapping season, and just illustrates the importance of ringing. If we hadn't ringed the bird last April, we would have no way of knowing that this is the same bird!

Can you spot the Jack Snipe?

This rather smart Rock Pipit showed many features that indicate it to be a Scandinavian Rock Pipit. For example, the large, pale supercilium, the slight peachy hue to the throat and breast, and the grey tones of the ear coverts. Opinions are welcome.

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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.