Bardsey's Wildlife

Friday 7 October 2016

The winds again blew from the east winds but dropped slightly in strength bringing some new arrivals to the island and some real signs of Autumn. Numbers of thrushes were the most obvious increase, three Ring Ouzels scattered amongst the mountainside and gardens, giving away their locations with their hard "tok tok tok" calls before darting from cover in a flash of silvery wings. Similar in behaviour were the Song Thrushes, 12 seen today, which can be surprisingly secretive until flushed from cover emitting their high frequency "sip" flight call. The first small arrival of Redwings buzzed around the island in small flocks amounting to 47 by the end of the day and Blackbirds numbered 13. Yellow-browed Warblers reached four individuals today and although very elusive at times this stunning Asiatic warbler did provide some great views. A Little Egret passing down the West Coast was a nice surprise, as was a late Reed Warbler trapped in the Observatory garden, the bird was swiftly checked over to make sure it wasn't one of the rarer Acrocephalus Warblers that can occur at this time. Other warblers included 14 Blackcaps, nine Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler 20 Goldcrests and rather dapper male Firecrest which sang in one of the gardens around Nant. Stonechats had arrived in small numbers which totalled 35 and could be seen peppering the fence lines, banks and vegetation around the island, Robins were also recorded in great numbers, 49 today. Throughout the day passerines and even some of the corvids were harassed by a variety of raptors which included three Sparrowhawks, a Common Buzzard, two Kestrels, a Merlin and a pair of Peregrines. A Short-eared Owl was seen on the mountainside which quickly went to ground amongst the gorse and bracken, four Little Owls were also recorded. Overhead a couple of Skylarks passed as did small clusters of hirundines, 44 Swallows and six House Martins. Whilst below a Water Rail, 194 Meadow Pipits, 20 Rock Pipits, a Wheatear, 40 Starlings, 17 Chaffinches, a single Siskin, four Goldfinches and 30 Linnets were also recorded.

Another good day of Wildfowl with the 26th record of Shoveller for the island, following one this earlier is spring. This individual was a female and spent a while just off shore with seven Wigeons. Common Scoters passed by further out and totalled 31 by the end of the day with three Teals and 38 Mallards also spotted.

Wader numbers and variety have slowly decreased over the passed week, however good numbers and a couple of interesting sightings kept it ticking over on the wader front. Lapwings were a frequent breeder on the island many years ago, although never in massive numbers, but the odd pairs used to nest through the centre of the island where habitat was suitable. Unfortunately they are no longer a breeding bird here but we get them on passage with two individuals were seen flying over the mountains ridge today. A few Common Snipes were flushed from low lying fields, a Bar-tailed Godwit pitched down on Solfach and a single Whimbrel, 46 Curlews, two Redshanks, 19 Turnstones and 28 Oystercatchers were also noted.

A flurry of Red Admirals passed through and individuals could be seen slowly fluttering through and feeding on slowly diminishing crops of flowers in the gardens throughout the island. Green-veined Whites which numbered five and 14 Silver Y's were the only other additions of Lepidoptera.

A Red-throated Diver powering down the West Coast was probably the highlight of a very slow passage out at sea although there was a variety of species seen. An Arctic Skua and a reasonable number of Gulls were recorded however, including four Mediterranean Gulls, 78 Black-headed Gulls, 32 Common Gulls, 34 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 53 Herring Gulls, six Greater Black-backed Gulls and 603 Kittiwakes. A "Comic" Tern also passed, along with ten Gannets and 84 Razorbills.

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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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Friday 7 October 2016

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