Bardsey's Wildlife

Thursday 15 October 2020

There was more East in the wind today and it was clear that many of yesterday's thrushes had moved on and fewer had arrived. Conditions allowed for more nets to be opened this morning, with George ringing in the Withies, Alex at Ty Pellaf and Sam at the Obs.

Ringing produced both decent quantity and quality, with the standout bird being a first year Marsh Warbler caught in Plas Withy. This is just the thirteenth record of this species on Bardsey and unsurprisingly the first of the year. The bird was in very good condition, carrying a large amount of fat that will help to fuel its migration to Africa. This species can be confused with other Acrocephalus warblers but its identity was confirmed by characteristics and biometrics taken in the hand (more photos at the end of the post). It could've easily gone unnoticed had it not been captured! Upon release the bird flew into nearby vegetation and was not subsequently seen.

Marsh Warbler caught and ringed in Plas Withy

Other ringing highlights were a Tree Sparrow caught at Ty Pellaf, the first to be ringed since 1997, and a House Sparrow in the Withies. Two House Sparrows were present in the Withies, but the other evaded capture.

Tree Sparrow

female House Sparrow

Bramblings also made their way onto this year's ringing list as two were caught at Ty Pellaf and one in the Withies. Twelve of these rather handsome finches were recorded today along with over a hundred Chaffinches, 12 Siskins, almost two hundred Goldfinches and 14 Lesser Redpolls.

adult male Brambling

The fifth and final species to be added to this year's ringing list was Woodpigeon. These large and surprisingly powerful birds can be difficult to catch, demonstrated by the fact that it has taken seven months for one to be caught!

Woodpigeon

Despite the reduced thrush passage compared to yesterday, 75 Blackbirds, 16 Fieldfares, 17 Song Thrushes and 55 Redwings were still present. Of these, nine Blackbirds, two Song Thrushes and 12 Redwings were trapped and ringed. After lunch, George and Alex headed to Nant for another mid-afternoon ringing session, with the highlight being two more Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Redwing

first year male Blackbird

Overhead passage produced 122 Skylarks, three Woodlarks, four Grey Wagtails.

The past few days have been notably rather warm and sunny and 12 Red Admiral butterflies were recorded, along with 18 yesterday.

Other highlights include: one Water Rail, two Coal Tits, one Reed Bunting and a Yellow-browed Warbler.

Ringing totals: one Woodpigeon, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, four Wrens, 12 Dunnocks, one Stonechat, nine Blackbirds, two Song Thrushes, 12 Redwings, one Marsh Warbler, three Blackcaps, three Chiffchaffs, seven Goldcrests, one Great Tit, one House Sparrow, one Tree Sparrow, 40 Chaffinches, three Bramblings, 15 Goldfinches, five Lesser Redpolls. 123 birds of 19 species.

Marsh Warbler

Short notch on P2

Straw-coloured legs

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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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Thursday 15 October 2020

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