Bardsey's Wildlife: The Sparrowhawk saga

Thursday, 6 March 2014

The Sparrowhawk saga

March 4th

Another day of clear skies and calm winds saw temperatures rising into double figures, and a south-westerly wind certainly provoked the feeling of spring. A census of the east side revealed that over 200 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 600 Herring Gulls were present on the slopes, whilst two Peregrines and four Ravens were seen overhead. The largest count of Meadow Pipits so far this year saw 64 scattered around.

Fulmars have been prospecting for their season's nest sites on the cliffs

Shags are also beginning to pair up on the rocky slopes of the east side

March 5th

Another sunny day saw the continuation of the light southerly winds, which will hopefully begin producing some migrants in coming days! A Red-throated Diver and a Gannet were seen off the west side in the morning, whilst two Ringed Plovers and 21 Curlews were present on The Narrows. The Hooded Crow continued to associate with some 21 Carrion Crows, and a passage of Ravens included 12 birds over the mountain.

In other news, the female Sparrowhawk managed to catch an unfortunate Magpie off-guard, and in an epic 40-minute struggle, gradually devoured the bird. It was an amazing spectacle to watch, especially considering that Magpies are usually the ones chasing and harrying the Sparrowhawks! Even when the Magpie was still alive, the Sparrowhawk set about ripping chunks of flesh from the bird's underside. This sequence of images is just part of the battle that went on, but I believe they convey something of the predator-prey interaction!

Towards the end of the struggle

A rather satisfied Sparrowhawk!

March 6th

The first Jack Snipe for over a month was flushed from the Ty-Pellaf wetlands in the morning, and a Redwing was also a new arrival onto the island. Elsewhere, four Shelducks had arrived to join the usual pair on The Narrows.

6 comments:

Douglas Mcfarlane6 March 2014 at 20:29
Those images are stunning and dramatic Ben, nature at it's rawest.
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Margaret Birding For Pleasure6 March 2014 at 22:01
HI Wonderful series of shots of the Sparrowhawk and Magpie, also I love the photos of the Fulmar.
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Gweinyddwr7 March 2014 at 10:04
A fabulous set of photos of the sparrowhawk.
Where were you during all of this? How far away etc.?
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Ben Porter7 March 2014 at 18:14
Thanks Doug, it was an incredible experience!! Thanks Margaret.
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West County Hawkwatch Raptor Research Group11 March 2014 at 18:22
wow, very nice work, incredible action.
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Ben Porter13 March 2014 at 18:30
Thanks for the comments everyone. I was hiding behind a large water tank throughout this episode, although the Sparrowhawk could clearly see me at intervals. She seemed more interested in securing her self a meal, rather than flying off like they usually do at that range.
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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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