Bardsey's Wildlife

Wednesday, 8 April 2026

A flat calm, hot day and following a night of Easterlies, the first notable day of Spring arrivals. A light south‑westerly wind at force two with good visibility during the morning and evening, although moderate sea mist covered the island between 13:00 and 15:00. No rain was recorded, and the temperature reached 15 °C.

The first guided walk of the year was led by Joel and Steve, setting the bar high with 17 guests attending. Despite the sea mist, plenty wildlife could be enjoyed and several migrant moths and butterflies were seen.

Once the fog cleared it was a nice afternoon, very warm!

Guided walk members after seeing the Lichen assemblage and Golden-hair Lichen

Looking north along the East Side from Pen Cristin © Steven Stansfield

Good numbers of Lepidoptera were recorded for such an early Spring day. A Large White was at Tŷ Pellaf. Elsewhere four Red Admirals, five Small Tortoiseshells and a Painted Lady were seen. Peacocks reached ten across the island and a Speckled Wood was in Cristin Garden. Sixteen Rush Veneers were seen and two Silver Ys, fresh in from further South. Four Diamond‑back Moths were at Pen Cristin during the guided walk. Sadly today Ezra had to say goodbye to the two Small Tortoiseshells hibernating in the LSA which he had become quite fond of, we wish them well on their adventure.

Gannets totalled eight along the West Coast, with seven moving south and one north. Six Shelducks were seen between the two beaches. 11 Mallards were recorded today and the two Gadwalls were again on Pwll Cain.

Raptors included one female Sparrowhawk at the Observatory, a Merlin at the South End, and a Peregrine at Nant.

Only 17 Oystercatchers were noted today. Other waders included, two Whimbrels were at the Narrows, and a Curlew on the West Coast.

Kittiwakes totalled 41, with 40 off the East Side and a single Sandwich Tern was seen off the West Coast from Cristin.

A single Collared Dove was at Tŷ Pellaf.

Another day of early Spring hirundine movement. Three Sand Martins flew North over the Narrows. 14 Swallows were seen moving through today, the majority of the birds flew north but four headed south over the Narrows. Five House Martins were seen including a pair hanging around the Lighthouse.

40 Meadow Pipits and three Rock Pipits were recorded. Pied Wagtails totalled three and White Wagtails two. 12 'alba' wagtails flew over, mostly heading North.

12 Dunnocks and eight Robins were present. 14 Stonechats and 12 Wheatears were recorded across the island. Ten Blackbirds were detected, a big change from two weeks ago when we could only detect ones or twos.

The first Grasshopper Warblers of the Spring arrived on the island with five different reeling birds, three in the Wetlands and two on the Mountain.

An all round great day for warblers with a massive increase across the whole island. Four Goldcrests, 21 Blackcaps, 53 Chiffchaffs and 74 Willow Warblers giving a grand total of 157 warblers across the island. Of these 65 birds were trapped and ringed, including 33 Willow Warblers, 20 Chiffchaff and 11 Blackcaps.

Modest finch numbers today with five Chaffinches, 12 Goldfinches and 47 Linnet recorded. 14 Siskins and a Lesser Redpoll moved around the island throughout the morning with birds occasionally dropping in briefly.

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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, 8 April 2026

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