Bardsey's Wildlife

Wednesday, 6 May 2020

With light winds blowing from the South-East and a warm sunny day throughout, today felt good right from the start.

George and Sam both headed out early today as the wind direction held promise that there could be more birds around than in recent days. As usual, George headed north and Sam headed south – as George was leaving the Obs, he had two Bullfinches fly over him as he was passing the end of the Green Lane, these are the first record of this large finch species for over a month. As he continued towards Nant, he had several warbler species singing from the mountainside. A Grasshopper Warbler was reeling not far from the Obs compound and a few Sedge Warblers were singing too, while they fed in the bracken. The Common Whitethroat was still song-flighting near Carreg Bach as it has been for the past few days, it will be interesting to see if he manages to find a female and breed this year!

a female Bullfinch at Nant

Over at Ty Pellaf, Sam had also had two Sedge Warblers, with a further three in Ty Pellaf Reedbed, he had also had the first fledgling passerine of the year - a Dunnock, which was quite clearly not long out of the nest and was still being fed by its parents. Over on the narrows, waders had built up considerably from yesterday; around 70 Dunlin were feeding on Solfach along with ten Ringed Plovers, these are by far the highest counts of both of these wader species this year. Three White Wagtails were also feeding amongst the kelp on the beach with a few Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails joining them, too. A little further along from Solfach, the rocks held host to a high-tide roost of 32 Purple Sandpipers and also two Turnstones.

the fledgling Dunnock at Ty Pellaf

one of 70 Dunlins present on Solfach today

Nant was busier with birds than it had been for quite some time, and another Bullfinch there was probably the best bird of note. However, a whole caravan of other birds were present with many Willow Warblers, Blackcaps, Sedge Warblers and Whitethroats fly-catching around the edge of the withies and the plantation itself, along with four Spotted Flycatchers, too. The second Lesser Whitethroat of the year was also present here and two singing Goldcrests brought hope that this species may breed again this year. A large group of Hirundines formed over the plantation, made up mostly of House Martins with 22 being counted amongst both Swallows and Sand Martins. The two Canada Geese which have been present for the last few weeks on Pwll Cain had been joined by a Greylag Goose today, this is the first record of the year and only the 65th record of this scarce Bardsey species.

a Willow Warbler at Nant, the variation in the coloration of these birds is amazing, with some being almost monochrome

a Spotted Flycatcher at Nant

Other birds of note today were: 11 Whimbrels, one Collared Dove, one Little Owl, two Swifts, 17 Sand Martins, 37 Swallows, 24 House Martins, two Robins, 15 Stonechats, two Grasshopper Warblers, 27 Sedge Warblers, nine Whitethroats, 21 Blackcaps, two Chiffchaffs, 20 Willow Warblers, four Goldcrests, four Great Tits and 22 Linnets.

No ringing today as it was too breezy.

The moth trap held the first Broom Moth of the year and a single Spectacle.

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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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Wednesday, 6 May 2020

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