Bardsey's Wildlife

Friday, 24 July 2026

A light (F2) north-westerly breeze and excellent visibility provided ideal conditions for coverage, and a calm sea was great for cetacean watching.

The continuation of the drought is taking its toll on the island's vegetation, what was once green and lush is ow brown and burned to a crisp! The bracken on the mountain for now at least gives a bit of colour to our beige landscape.

A little rain is forecast for the weekend, but we need a lot to turn the island green again

On the bird front, Willow Warbler was the commonest migrant, with eight logged (five of which were trapped and ringed) between Cristin and Nant, while four Chiffchaffs were scattered through the same areas. A single Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat were also traped at Cristin added to the selection, suggesting a gentle trickle of southbound passerines moving through the island. Swallows remained present with eight recorded across Obs, Nant and the mountain, accompanied by two House Martins at Pwll Gareth.

A Buzzard provided an interesting record and was the first for some weeks. First seen over the North End at 17:00 before heading south over the Lowlands, it was later watched departing northwards off the North End at 19:15, indicating a bird actively migrating through rather than lingering.

Elsewhere, a few signs of local dispersal were evident, including juvenile Stonechats above Nant and the family groups of Sparrowhawks around the Observatory.

At sea, Manx Shearwaters dominated proceedings, with around 500 rafting off the west coast. Kittiwake numbers were saw 194 recorded between the East Side and west coast, while 80 Puffins remained off the East Side. Coastal waders included two Whimbrels and three Curlews.

Marine mammals stole the show. Risso's Dolphins were encountered repeatedly around the island, with an impressive total of 23 logged. Groups were seen off the East Side, North End and west coast, including two calves among the East Side animals. Common Dolphins were also present off the west coast, where six were recorded, while five Harbour Porpoises, including two juveniles, added to an excellent day's cetacean watching to keep Phoebe happy!

Butterflies were particularly conspicuous in the warm conditions. Meadow Browns remained abundant, with around 150 counted across the island, while Graylings were concentrated on the mountain, where 17 were logged. Migrants included a single Painted Lady along the west coast, accompanied by four Red Admirals and three Small Coppers.

Day-flying moths also added interest. Seven Silver Ys were spread between the mountain, East Side and Observatory, while six Magpie moths and a Six-spot Burnet were recorded. Three Migrant Hawkers were still around the Observatory continuing what has already been a productive season for migrant insects, while a lone Emperor Dragonfly on the mountain was another welcome sighting and the first since the 16th.

In the moth trap, a tiny, but rather beautiful (in my opinion anyway!) Acleris holmiana was only the third record for the island. Two different individuals were trapped on 1st and 4 August 2022 at Cristin; these represented the first records for Bardsey.

This tiny tortrix has a modern vernacular name of White-marked Tortrix

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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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Friday, 24 July 2026

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