Bardsey's Wildlife

Tuesday 16 April 2024

The morning started much the same as yesterday with the students joining the Obs staff for morning census, practicing their newly acquired skills from Kate’s bird sounds and Steve’s bird id talks the day before. The wind had improved partially but still gusting 40mph and overcast. The students took great joy in watching a pair of Peregrines stooping meters above their heads at Nant.

A Hooded crow and three Rook were seen flying North through the wetlands with the Hooded crow doubling back, heading South over the island disappearing North behind the mountain at Pencristin. Three Starlings flew in from the North and landed in the Wetlands, remaining fairly mobile throughout the day. A decent movement of finches occurred through the morning with 107 Goldfinches, 142 Linnets, five Siskins & a Lesser Redpoll. A pair of House Martins were seen at Nant in the morning with seven Swallows elsewhere with more hirundine movement seen mid-afternoon, 39 Swallows & a Sand Martin over the South end.

Hooded Crow © Joel Tragen

Partially leucistic Chiffchaff © Joel Tragen

Across the island 20 Wheatears were seen, along with 16 Blackcaps, 16 Willow warblers, four Chiffchaffs & four Goldcrests whilst a Grasshopper Warbler was heard reeling at Nant. The Redwing was seen again at Traeth Ffynnon and a Collared Dove was seen at Cristin. A Sandwich tern was seen in Henllywn, along with 12 Purple Sandpipers, five Turnstones and a Common Sandpiper. Eight Whimbrels were seen around the coast with six seen at Traeth Ffynnon and one each at both the North & South end. Also, a pair of Ringed Plovers and Dunlin were seen on the Narrows along with a White Wagtail.

Ed, Joel and Jonathan took a group of students down to the South end to introduce them to the Manx shearwater census, allowing them to gather some experience in a systematic sampling technique. The students spent a couple of hours counting burrows and noting signs of occupation. A bit of multitasking by Ed meant a retrap young Male Stonechat was caught, it was first being ringed last season in 2023. This was the first time any of the students had seen a Stonechat in the hand, being a retrap it further exacerbated the importance of ringing.

On the walk back Jonathan and a student were lucky to get brief views of the Nightingale again in the exact same location as before, it briefly sang before skulking back into the hedge and wasn’t seen again despite efforts to resight it.

Steve then adorned the chef’s cap and apron as the Observatory hosted a BBQ for all the students, cooking up a wide array of food with everyone sitting down to eat together. With everyone full of delicious food, the students moved to the Common room for a few rounds of “Bird charades” coined by Holly.

Steve and the staff then led a guided Manx shearwater walk down to the South end, following a talk on the work the BBFO carries out with the Manxies. The students all had an incredible time, all getting stuck in and ringing their first Shearwaters. A few old recaptures were caught including a bird from 1997 and 1994! Finishing with a spot of stargazing the students retreated back to Cristin to the comfort of their beds and the late time of 02:45.

Students being shown a Stonechat © Joel Tragen

Manx Shearwater ringing © Joel Tragen

Guest blog by Joel Tragen

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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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Tuesday 16 April 2024

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