Bardsey's Wildlife

Thursday 15 May 2014

A night of calm and cloudy conditions encouraged a large movement of migrants to take place, and the settling of some low cloud and light drizzle in the early hours meant that the island was crawling with new arrivals by the break of dawn.

Spotted Flycatchers occupied virtually every stretch of fencing on the island- a scan of the surroundings from any one point would yield at least 15 perching in prominent positions, and the constant subtle movement of birds through the island meant that an estimated 284 birds were logged by the end of the day.

Aside this dominant force, there was a host of other migrants accompanying, most numerous of which were Sedge Warblers and Whitethroats, with 126 and 137 logged respectively. Updated numbers will appear later, once various counts and figures have been brought together...slightly more noteworthy species included two Cuckoos, a Redstart, five Whinchats, two Pied Flycatchers, two Garden Warblers and a Reed Warbler.

A total of 1470 Swallows moved northward over the island after 0900, although prior to this a flock of about 120 were grounded underneath a layer of thick fog; a Grey Wagtail, 11 Swifts, five Sand Martins and 175 House Martins also added to the day's visible migration, whilst a large resurgence of Wheatears saw a respectable figure of 134 amassed..

All that was lacking from a fantastic day of birding was something a little different, although it appears that the Calf of Man and Skokholm have stolen all of our Subalpine Warblers!

Spotted Flycatchers were literally everywhere on the island, from the rocky shoreline of the coast, to the gorse on the top of the mountain. Fence lines were certainly the preferred perch though! Today's estimate of 200 birds is the highest day-total of this species for over seven years- 55 was last year's highest. In fact, a total of 129 in August 2005 is the last time numbers came anywhere close to today's

Left to right: Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher and Willow Warbler

Swift

It was an excellent day for ringing: the nets around Cristin were opened at 0520, and by 10 am about 100 birds had been ringed. By the end of the day, just under 200 had been trapped and ringed, including 20 Spotted Flycatchers, a Garden Warbler and plenty of Whitethroats

Comparison between a dingy first summer Whitethroat (upper), and a male 1st summer or adult bird (lower). Note the size difference is mainly to do with the positioning of the birds! (c) Steve Stansfield

We have caught a total of three Goldcrests in the last week- all have been female birds, and each one has had a brood patch (score BP3), which indicates failed breeding attempts (c) Steve Stansfield

The first Pied Wagtail chicks have fledged at Ty Pellaf. The top image shows the fledglings yesterday evening, with the lower image taken just 20 hours later!

Oystercatchers are currently incubating on nests all around the coastline, trying to keep their locations as cryptic as possible! (C) Steve Stansfield

A couple of landscapes from today: Top, the conditions which grounded many hundred of migrants on the island in the early hours, which gave way to clearer skies in the afternoon (lower), which may well encourage a large clear out tonight

1 comment:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure16 May 2014 at 07:49
Hi Ben All great shots and a fascinating post. great to be able to see the birds so close and to have the information about them.
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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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Thursday 15 May 2014

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