Bardsey's Wildlife

Saturday 26 April 2014

Today was a sad day, (at least, not for the birds!) as the rotating light and prism of the Bardsey Lighthouse were switched off. The old beam will be replaced by a set of red LED lights later in the spring, and the prism will be dismantled. The actual building of Bardsey Lighthouse was erected by Trinity House in 1821; it was run on paraffin lanterns up until 1965, and was automated in 1987. In that time it has been giving a guide to vessels passing through St. George's Channel and the Irish Sea. Although a characteristic symbol of the island, the lighthouse has also killed many tens of thousands of birds during its time.

Top: the beam of the lighthouse casts out across Henllwyn and the South End- a mere memory now! Bottom: the original prism which magnifies the central light to create the beam- this will be dismantled (all two tonnes of it!)

Bird News

A strong south easterly wind whipping up overnight meant that a switch of attention from land to sea was in order. Despite the increased seawatching efforts, there was not a great deal on offer: 67 Manx Shearwaters, 24 Gannets and 16 Fulmars were recorded off the South Tip, and two each of Black-headed Gull and two Sandwich Terns were amongst a flock of 182 Herring Gulls in Solfach. Waders put in a good appearance, with the first Grey Plover of the year appearing in the late afternoon; other numbers amounted to: two Ringed Plovers, two Purple Sandpipers, four Dunlins, 39 Whimbrels and one Curlew.

A total of 32 Whimbrels were recorded around the coast today- the highest count of the year so far. Many birds were seen feeding in Solfach at high tide, along with Dunlins and Oystercatchers

With a new moon approaching in the next day or two, the height of the tides has been increasing- this has encouraged a large flock of Herring Gulls to amass in Solfach to feed on the churned up nutrients

There are still many pairs of Shelducks around the island, although single male birds dotted around are also an indication that a few females are perhaps incubating. Of all the breeding birds on the island, Shellduck chicks are renowned for disappearing at the fastest rate- it is not uncommon for a brood of 13 or so to dwindle to just one within five days of them emerging. This is mostly to due with aerial predation, from gulls and crows, but also from beneath- Grey Seals (in lower image)

3 comments:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure26 April 2014 at 21:01
Hi All the Whimbrel photographs are great and that Shelduck that is coming straight to the camera is brilliant. Have a great weekend.
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david wright27 April 2014 at 09:48
What! The island will not be the same without the rotating beams! I guess thats 'progress'. But I also guess it means those huge diesel generators will be turned off? Hope to visit later in the year to see the replacements.
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Ben Porter27 April 2014 at 10:41
Thanks for the compliments Margaret! David- yeah, it certainly won't be the same! Still, I guess the huge reduction in causalities will be of benefit to the birds! The generators will indeed be turned off, and the red LEDs will in fact be run by a load of solar panels in the compound!
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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 26 April 2014

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