Bardsey's Wildlife

Saturday, 20 June 2026

A gentle northerly wind of F2, a flat calm sea of sea state one and excellent visibility, ended up producing a very memorable two minutes for the team.

With nets just closed and the start of change over only five minutes away, Joel stood talking to Steve in the Courtyard when a Swift screamed and Joel looked over to see the belly of a Swift dip behind the ringing hut. Exclaiming “oh a Swift”. Steve took a step into the courtyard but stepped back into the doorway as his eyes adjusted to the bright light. They continued their chatter until Joel locked eyes with the white rump of a bird flying away from the courtyard, less than 50m away. Within a nanosecond it clicked that this was a Swift species. Natural reaction time caught up and all composure was lost. Joel started pointing into to air, finger trembling, shouting “Oh F### its got a white f###### rump, its a white rump swift”. Steve, whose eyes had now adjusted, took three steps outside the door, got eyes on the bird. As it came closer the long rakish wings with a long pointed tail became apparent, Steve could make out the mottling/scale patterning on the underside and exclaimed “it’s a f##### Pacific Swift”.

Mad panic ensued as we both bolted for our cameras, with Emma staying on the bird. Whilst trying to help Steve find his camera, Joel had the foresight to get Ezra on the bird and radioed. Ezra hearing the sheer panic made it out of the office before even hearing what was seen. Steve made it outside to find his battery was dead but luckily Joel, having grabbed his camera, stopped outside the office upon seeing Ezra stop on the track and look up as the bird passed again overhead. Joel managed to rattle off a few record shots as the bird bombed it north and out of sight. The team, on cloud nine, then got stuck into the change over. The bird was briefly seen again, distantly by Joel a few hours later whilst the guests were getting settled in and Ezra likely had it whizz over Cristin once more.

Pacific Swift, showing mottled underside and gleaming white rump © Joel Tragen

Once getting the guests settled in, the team rushed down to Cafn for a boat survey of the seabird ledges. Gareth took the team along the East Side, slowing down by each of the major colonies, allowing the team to get the essential data necessary. A massive thank you to Gareth for again so expertly taking us around the East Side.

Ezra and Joel counting seabirds © Steven Stansfield

Quick rest bite between activities © Steve Stansfield

A busy day for the team as they plan to go catch Storm Petrels in the early hours.

A total of 46 Common Dolphins were seen from the island, with a group of 40 seen off the West Coast.

Two Grey Herons were seen flying south along the West Coast together. A total of four Curlews were seen around the coast. A Racing Pigeon was seen sat on one of the offshore rocks in Henllwyn.

As well as the Pacific, nine Common Swifts were sighted throughout the day. A Sand Martin was seen flying in-off from the South End hide. A White Wagtail was present in Henllwyn.

A Goldfinch flew over the West Coast and a Lesser Redpoll was heard over Cristin mid-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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Saturday, 20 June 2026

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