Bardsey's Wildlife

Tuesday 24 March 2020

It was a bit breezier today, but the wind was still coming from the South giving warmer weather than it could have otherwise been. The sky was slightly overcast with some sunlight getting through the thin layer of cloud bringing the temperature to 9˚C. One of the first things to be heard in the morning was a singing Willow Warbler in the garden, the first of the year, with what we hope will be many more to come! After a quick look and listen around the garden, it appeared that there were three of them in total.

What was also immediately noticeable was an increase in Chiffchaffs, we had the year high count of 84 today. Seeing them feeding on the grass is a good sign that they are new arrivals, and this is exactly what we could see on the lawn at Cristin early in the morning.

Chiffchaff at Cristin, usually arboreal, but migrants often drop

onto the ground to feed when they arrive

A walk through the Wetlands didn't produce as many Common Snipes as previous days, just three were recorded, but that was made up for by the two Jack Snipes that were recorded in the same area. Other waders seen today were the year's first Whimbrels, at least two were seen on the Narrows and South End, one was colour-ringed, ringed on Bardsey as a first-year (ringing age code '3') in 2016.

Not exactly the greatest photo ever taken, but it does show the colour-ring
combination of this Whimbrel, at least.

What's more, a year high count of 15 Purple Sandpipers was had on the rocks just south of Solfach, these birds like a rocky coastline to forage on, a habitat that Bardsey has in good supply. They are a winter visitor to Britain (generally speaking, with occasional exceptions) and will be heading off to breed in more northern countries, perhaps Iceland, Greenland or Norway.

Three of the 15 Purple Sandpipers scattered amongst the rocks today

Besides Willow Warbler and Whimbrel, another addition the island year list was Common Gull, six were recorded today flying south along West Coast. An expected addition, but an addition to the list none-the-less.

Common Gull from today

Last year on Bardsey, Rock Pipits were ringed and had darvic rings put on their legs too. This is so they can be identified as individuals without the need to recapture them. Several have since been resighted and so far, at least five of the juveniles ringed in late summer 2019 have survived their first winter. Hopefully, they'll keep getting re-sighted for quite a few years to come. Some Rock Pipits have been known to live to almost a decade thanks to colour-ringing schemes.

Some of the re-sighted Rock Pipits from around Bardsey so far this year

Perhaps the highlight(s) of the day came in the afternoon when two Firecrests were caught, one at Nant and one in the garden at Cristin. These were both young birds born last year, but are still a cracker when viewed up close, the bronzy colour on the shoulder area is an example of what can be fully appreciated when in the hand. Three Firecrests have now been ringed on Bardsey this year, not bad considering we only arrived last Wednesday! Unlike Goldcrests, both males and females have orange in their crowns, females just have less of it, but it can sometimes be tricky to judge the sex even with this knowledge. In these examples, the top photo is a female and the bottom photo is a male.

Female Firecrest caught at Nant

Male Firecrest caught at Cristin

Whilst George was ringing at Nant, he had the year's first Swallow feeding for a minute over the plantation before flying south. An early record for the species, hopefully there will be over 20 pairs breeding on the island this summer.

Finally, to bring a great day to a close was a Black Redstart that flew past George just as he had nipped outside. Another addition to the year list and always a great bird to see.

Black Redstart in the dying daylight

Steve and George viewing it in slippers and sliders

Other Sightings today include: one Gannet, one Buzzard, one Merlin, 103 Oystercatchers, one Woodcock (01:00), seven Curlews, 23 Turnstones, six Redshanks, 194 Meadow Pipits, two Robins, 11 Stonechats, 11 Redwings (including three early AM), one Blackcap (first of the year), 84 Chiffchaffs, 15 Choughs, 11 Goldfinches and one Linnet.

Ringing totals today: Chiffchaff 15, Firecrest 2, Blackcap 1, Goldcrest 2, Chaffinch (1)

No moth trapping took place today

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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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Tuesday 24 March 2020

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