Bardsey's Wildlife

Monday 30 March 2020

This blog post is in honour of Philip Ridsdale, a friend of mine from Sheffield who tragically passed away recently, long before his time. He visited Bardsey last summer and wrote an article about his time here.

A link below will take you to his post on the Sorby Breck website. Even if you don’t know him, if you are into birds in Britain, it’s highly likely that you know someone who does. Hopefully, friends of Phil, as well as regulars to BBFO will enjoy reading his article.

Phil's Bardsey write-up here.

29/03/2020

The news came in so fast that many of us hardly had time to even begin to process what was happening. Phil was announced missing just yesterday (28/03/20), soon after the announcement, a huge number of people and organisations spread their love and support all over social media platforms in an attempt to have him found. It was only hours later that a statement by South Yorkshire Police was released, stating that a body had been found that they believed to be that of Philip Ridsdale.

The news was seriously heart-shattering. Many of us, I’m sure, just stared in shock at our devices thinking that surely it was just a horrible dream, surely this can’t actually be happening… Phil was as kind as a person gets and I have spent the last 24 hours feeling hollow, confused and just so, so sad. He was sweet and giggly and supportive and knowledgeable and humble.

He was interested in all areas of natural history, be it fish, wildflowers, insects or birds. He loved his blackbirds as much as he loved his bluethroats, and he always took the time to answer any of my wildlife questions, despite the fact that he was likely to be getting questions from dozens of other people too. He liked birding in many areas in and around Sheffield, but it’s no secret that Phil had a love of Spurn Bird Observatory, by the sound of it for the people as much as the birds! Unfortunately, my plans to visit SBO with him last winter never panned out for one reason or another, as it would have been nice to see him in his element there.

He was in charge of a Facebook group called ‘European Bird Identification’, an inclusive group that’s main aim was to answer identification questions with friendly, helpful advice.

In Phil’s own words on the group’s guidelines: “Please be civil and considerate when commenting on people’s posts, some people are very new to birding and might not know some of the more common species which others will feel are very easily identified. We are all learning and have different levels of knowledge so try to be as helpful and explanatory as possible when responding.”

He was incredibly knowledgeable, on identification as well as the habits and movements of birds, but he was also as modest as they come. Since the news of his passing there has been an outpouring of love and adoration for him that has brought tears to my eyes all day. It’s amazing to see the number of lives he has touched, but when you’re as big-hearted as he was, it’s hardly that amazing, I suppose. It’s my hope that his family knows just how loved their Phil was by all who knew him.

You’re going to be missed, Phil. So, so much.

Sam Prettyman 29/03/2020

Phil (middle) with (from left to right) Emma Hughes, Steve Samworth,

Dean Rea and Amy Donnison. Making their way to Bardsey in July 2019

1 comment:

Dianne30 March 2020 at 20:18
What a moving tribute! I am so sorry to hear of Phil's untimely death.
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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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Monday 30 March 2020

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