Bardsey's Wildlife

Monday, 13 April 2026

Finally a light southerly wind at force four and a sea state of two prevailed through the day, allowing our remaining guests to leave and for the students to arrive. Visibility remained excellent, although a short shower passed over the island at 09:00. The temperature reached 11 °C.

The students arrived around midday and we got stuck in settling them in. They were all very grateful to receive their welcome packs and goodies provided by WildSounds.com. Once they had had lunch and unpacked they were treated to a guided walk to Nant by Steve and Joel. Of course being a University week the first night had to be an incredible chilli made and provided by Steve.

Orientation walk to Nant, photographing Willow warblers in the sun © Steven Stansfield

A massive thank you to Cameron Bespolka trust and the BTO’s YBOV fund for funding this week. Another massive thank you to Wild Sounds for providing prizes and books for the students.

Saffron, who is leading the student group, picked out two Harbour Porpoises off the West Coast from Cristin. It spurred an impromptu seawatch where a further three Common Dolphins and eight Bottle‑nosed Dolphins were picked out.

Students watching dolphins from the Obs © Steven Stansfield

After a big tidy up by the students, we headed out to do a Manx Shearwater experience with the students where they got to ring their first Manxie.

Night-time adventure ringing Manxies © Steven Stansfield

A single Green‑veined White was seen on the track outside Plas. One Red Admiral was at Nant, along with two Painted Ladies and two Peacocks. A Speckled Wood was again flittering around Heligoland at Cristin and two Silver Y moths were recorded around the island.

Fulmars totalled three, including one circling above Cristin. Five Manx Shearwaters were along the West Coast. Gannets reached 16, with 11 off the South End. Cormorants totalled six and Shags numbered five.

Four Shelducks were at the Narrows and Henllwyn. Mallards reached 11, including a female with ten chicks at Pwll Gareth. The male Gadwall was still at Pwll Cain. Moorhens totalled eight, including two adults with four chicks at the Observatory.

Raptors included one male Sparrowhawk at the Wetlands and a single Buzzard was seen heading South over Nant where it was picked up at Cristin too.

A Common Sandpiper and Purple Sandpiper were on Solfach, seen by the students straight after getting off the boat, not a bad way to get introduced to the island. Other waders included two Whimbrel, a Curlew, a Redshank, four Turnstone and a Snipe. Oystercatchers reached 102.

Five Kittiwakes were at the South End. Still few auks being seen on and around the island with nine Guillemots, five Razorbills and at least 25 Puffins being seen.

A nice mix of hirundines passed through the island. Four Sand Martins moved south over the Wetlands. Swallows totalled 17 across the island and four House Martins moved south.

Rock Pipits numbered 3 at Henllwyn and Meadow Pipits reached 31. Pied Wagtails totalled five and 12 ‘alba’ wagtails moved over.

Stonechats totalled 11, including pairs at the North End, Carreg Bach, Tŷ Pellaf, and the Wetlands. Wheatears reached 19 with most of these being on the South End.

A small arrival of warblers today with 48 being recorded across the island, up from the 14 yesterday. The breakdown of these warblers is three Goldcrests, five Blackcaps, 22 Chiffchaffs and 28 Willow Warblers.

A single Rook moved north at the South End and 11 Chough were seen across the island.

Finches included two Chaffinches and 24 Goldfinches and Linnets were numerous, reaching 121. Four Siskins, two Redpoll and two Crossbills moved over the island early in the morning.

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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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Monday, 13 April 2026

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