Bardsey's Wildlife

Thursday 2 June 2022

What. A. Day. The magic of Bardsey struck all at once, resulting in a day that none of us will be forgetting anytime soon! A snifter of south-easterlies overnight had us hoping for some good arrival, however first thing in the morning there were few signs of any migrant activity whilst carrying out the Breeding Bird census, apart from the continuing Siberian Chiffchaff at Nant. At sea, however, Gareth found a Black Guillemot that flew north whilst out going round his lobster and crab pots. After some breakfast, Ollie headed down to the Wetlands and found a singing male Red-spotted Bluethroat at Plas Withy! Then 30 seconds later a Golden Oriole flew out from the same withy, a few metres apart from the Bluethroat!

Steve then swiftly cancelled the pre-arranged trip to the Gwylans as he knew there was more in store on the Island, and Ed returned to Cristin to open the nets as the Oriole was heard singing in the garden. A few minutes later, Steve could see from the Wetlands that the bird had gone into the nets! What an incredible bird to ring!

Red-spotted Bluethroat © Ollie King

Golden Oriole © Steve Stansfield

After a quick lunch, the staff (and guests) went straight back out with Ed heading out to Nant, with Steve and John not far behind. Ed found a Turtle Dove at the Chapel and then ran to radio it to others! At Nant, Steve saw a phyllosc flick from Nant withy, and felt it was a Wood Warbler. A few minutes later it sat out in full view, showing its lemon and silvery white underside. It was radioed out and the lads came running up to get a look.

Turtle Dove © Ed Betteridge

Wood Warbler © Steve Stansfield

Already a surreal day's birding, the climax was yet to come. Steve had a grey Sylvia warbler that looked exciting, however was not seen or heard again that day. Whilst looking around for it, he heard a deep 'dook' call coming from the brambles below Nant mountain. It then began to sing and sat out in full view 20 metres away: a Nightingale species! The song was deep and succinct, with many gurgling and clicking notes in it. It had a faint malar stripe, yellow gape, breast mottling and a darkish back, however appeared somewhat rufous in bright sunlight. After scrutinising photos and sound recordings, alongside comments from other experts, the ID was nailed - it was indeed a Thrush Nightingale - the first live record for Wales!!

Thrush Nightingale © Steve Stansfield

Outside of the birding mania, it was also a decent day for non-avian species, with a male Orange Tip in the Withies, several Blue-tailed Damselflies and Diamond-backed Moths and a Thrift Clearwing.

Thrift Clearwing © Steve Stansfield

In the evening, we went to the South End and celebrated the Queens Platinum Jubilee as Trinity House had placed a special beacon to be lit - one of hundreds to be lit across the country! A great way to round off a spectacular day.

Celebrating the Platinum Jubilee at the South End! © Steve Stansfield

1 comment:

SHIRLEY ROULSTON3 June 2022 at 22:17
Congratulation on finding such rare and beautiful birds, the photos are fantastic. Excellent work you are all doing. Thank you.
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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 2 June 2022

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