Bardsey's Wildlife

Sunday 19 May 2019

Today started like any other day, low cloud in the morning giving a misty start but this was soon burnt off as the sun came up and it turned into a lovely day with a light NW breeze, little did we know that possibly the avian highlight of the year would be found.

The nets were opened at the observatory around 07:30 and left open until 12:00. After little numbers were caught the net round at 11:00 produced a something unfathomable, a large warbler was hanging in the net, it had a grey-brown mantle, a white throat and belly with dusky flanks, a dark face-mask and notably dark head especially around the forehead, and, on closer inspection, a clear white iris and dark pupil giving it a mean menacing look! An Orphean Warbler was hanging in the net next to a re-trap Dunnock. An Orphean Warbler. Both the assistant wardens were pinching themselves in disbelief, but this was happening! The undertail covers were very wet so we couldn’t be certain straight away weather it was an Eastern or a Western Orphean Warbler but there was no sign of any chevrons from what we could see so it was presumed a Western until we could get back to the ringing hut and check the book. After getting back to the ringing hut and dealing with all the other birds caught, a Goldfinch, the re-trap Dunnock and a Chiffchaff, we had the bird in the hand and the Demongin book open, the outer tail feathers were the best identification feature between the two recently split species and our bird showed a large amount of white in the outer most tail feather proving it was a Western Orphean Warbler. WOW. The bird was soon released and not seen again, the same as it was not seen all morning before being found in a net. This is an incredibly rare vagrant to Britain with only five known previous records, it is the second record for Wales after one in Pembrokeshire and it is a first for Bardsey Island. The species winter in sub-Saharan Africa and summer in southern Europe where they are a fairly abundant species but seeing it this far north is an incredible record.

Western Orphean Warbler showing the dark head and mask along with the distinctive eye

The outer tail feather, although worn, shows a large amount of white suggesting Western Orphean Warbler

The other sighting around today took a bit of a back seat but a Firecrest was seen in the observatory garden, Spotted Flycatchers were now down to 12, there were also 12 Blackcaps, one Lesser Whitethroat, five Common Whitethroats and two Swifts.

Wader numbers again steadily increased, a summer plumage Knot was seen on the beach, our first of the year, along with 31 Dunlins, two Sanderlings, four Ringed Plovers and five Whimbrels.

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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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Sunday 19 May 2019

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