Bardsey's Wildlife

Monday 18 May 2020

Today was the windiest it has been for some time, winds were sustained at about 22mph all day, gusting 30mph. However, the wind was coming from the South-West, so thankfully, it wasn't as chilly as it could have been.

the late afternoon became very misty, here it is descending from the Mountain

George left the Obs early to head down to the North Hide in the hope of the winds producing some good sea passage. The distinctive shape of Gannets could be seen heading down the coast with the naked eye on the walk down, so it seemed promising! Birds were streaming through when he arrived and they continued to do so for the next few hours. The highlights were probably three Great Northern Divers which headed North, two of which were together, and the other was on its own, and another highlight being a Common Scoter, the first of the year. No Skuas or Terns showed up, surprisingly, although there was definitely enough to keep things interesting with 2778 Manx Shearwaters, 206 Gannets, 226 Kittiwakes, 154 Puffins and 31 Fulmars all passing by too. Some passerines were on the move again too, 107 House Martins and 62 Swallows were also noted, with most heading down the Coastline, but some way out at sea, all heading South. Two Risso's Dolphins were also a nice treat, and the first of the year!

one of many Manx Shearwaters that passed the North End today

three Gannets from today

Sam was busy carrying on with his Manx Shearwater Census and the area he counted today also showed an increase in burrow numbers from when the area was last counted in 2016. The total number of burrows he counted today came to 277 and when those walls were last counted, there were only 178; this is an increase of 55% across this small section, quite a staggering amount. Overall, with the holes that have been counted so far, the increase in total number of holes stands at 54% and the increase in occupancy stands at 60%, both are incredibly high.

George started his first round of Manx Shearwater Productivity Burrow checks in the late afternoon and of the fourteen burrows on the South End which are monitored, all but two of them contained an adult and an egg. With the predation of eggs seeming to be higher than usual so far this year, it was encouraging to see all off these adults still having eggs - the other two burrows without eggs appeared to not be occupied at all this year.

a picture of one of today's Manx Shearwaters from the South End with and egg (on the right) - taken with an endoscope.

Other birds of interest and full counts from the day's sea-watches were: one Sanderling, one Knot, one Turnstone, one Purple Sandpiper, four Whimbrels, two Curlews, 78 Oystercatchers, 254 Gannets, 246 Kittiwakes, 35 Fulmar, 161 Puffins, 4974 Manx Shearwaters, two Chiffchaffs, one Blackcap and four Goldfinches.

There was no ringing today due to the strong winds and no moths were caught.

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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 18 May 2020

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