Bardsey's Wildlife

Sunday, 3 May 2020

We are back to the usual calm and sunny weather that has spoiled us for too long now. First thing in the morning, George had leapt out of bed and had the nets open in the garden. But even before that, the day had started with some rather exciting news regarding the mystery controlled Sedge Warbler from yesterday. World Travelling Birds ring birds in wetlands in Senegal and Mauritania to find out more about wetland bird species there. Over on their Facebook page, they had announced the following:

Screenshot from 'World Travelling Birds' Facebook page (used with permission from WTBirds)

Diawling National Park is in Mauritania, West Africa, very close to the Senegal border. Ringing is really amazing for recoveries like this. Even though it is known that Sedge Warblers migrate this far, or even further, to hold a bird in your hand that was ringed by someone all those miles away really makes it more tangible.

George ended up catching a Grasshopper Warbler, the sixth of the year, and a Meadow Pipit which was ringed last year. Amongst those were the usual species, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. A 'flava' Wagtail and a Hooded Crow were recorded from the Obs during the ringing session too.

Grasshopper Warbler

Meadow Pipit, they look a bit worse for wear at this time of year.

While George was ringing, Sam headed North and around the West Coast. Nant was loud with the sound of birds singing and calling, with Linnets, Dunnocks, Meadow Pipits and Stonechats from the mountainside, Chaffinches from the Plantation and Abbey ruins and a Chiffchaff from Ty Capel Withy. Of course, one of the loudest of all, the Wrens were filling the backing vocals. The Plantation was not exactly heaving with birds though, just one Blackcap was recorded with a couple of Willow Warblers making up the migrant numbers.

A vocal Chiffchaff from Ty Capel this morning

Towards the bottom of Nant Valley the female Peregrine Falcon was flushed from a fence post and flew over the sea and right around the North End, causing 18 Oystercatchers to burst out from the rocks into a frenzy of alarm calls. At the North End gull colony, the Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were present as ever, squabbling amongst themselves as they fight for their individual place.

The Vast majority of Greenland breeding Wheatears have passed through Bardsey now, leaving us with our own breeding birds. Today, a modest total of 18 was had around the island. But one migrant that is arriving in larger numbers now is the previously mentioned Sedge Warbler, 17 were recorded today, very vocal birds with one of the most chaotic songs. A mixture or croaks, whistles and squeaks, jumbled together with very little rhythm involved.

After Sam returned from his census and George had closed the nets at Cristin, they headed off to find more Manx Shearwater Burrows. It's a fairly relaxed way to spend an afternoon, generally speaking. Today it was the mountain burrows that were being found. They were almost all present, some had to have the numbers re-written on them, but it was once again a fairly straight forward procedure. Plus, on the way up to the mountain top, they had the year's first two Small Copper butterflies.

One of the Mountain South study burrows

Small Copper on the Mountain

Some great views of House Martins, Sand Martins and Swallows were also had from the top of the mountain, too. The advantage of being high up the mountain is that the birds were seen from above. Bringing a new view to what are usually silhouetted species that we see flying overhead.

Bardsey after sunset

Other sightings today include: 14 Gannets, two Cormorants, four Shags, three Turnstones, nine Whimbrels, one Little Owl, 31 Sand Martins, eight House Martins, 52 Swallows, 35 Wheatears, one Whitethroat, two Goldcrests, eight Choughs, four Ravens, eight Chaffinches, 32 Linnets.

Ringing totals: Chiffchaff 3, Blackcap 6, Grasshopper Warbler 1, Sedge Warbler 1, Chaffinch 1, Meadow Pipit (1)

6 species, 12 new, 1 re-trap

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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, 3 May 2020

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