Bardsey's Wildlife

Saturday, 25 July 2026

Changeover days rarely produce much coverage and this was no exception. With Joel heading off for a well-earned holiday, Ezra not returning to the island until late afternoon and Ida remaining on Bardsey in a voluntary capacity, there was limited time available for fieldwork. After a prolonged dry spell, the island also finally received some much-needed rain, although it amounted to little more than a brief 20-minute shower during the afternoon, followed by another passing shower overnight.

Given the circumstances, it was a relatively quiet day, but there was still enough wildlife interest to reward those who managed to get into the field.

Migrant bird activity remained fairly subdued. Around Cristin, a single Willow Warbler, two Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap and a Robin provided evidence that autumn passage was continuing at a low level. A Sedge Warbler in the Wetlands was another likely migrant, while nine Woodpigeons spread between Cristin, the Wetlands and Tŷ Pellaf suggested some ongoing movement.

The island's breeding birds remained more conspicuous. Swallows were particularly evident, with 18 recorded between Cristin and Tŷ Pellaf, while two House Martins were seen at Pwll Gareth. Three Sparrowhawks and two Peregrines around Cristin ensured there was no shortage of aerial predators.

Two Whimbrels at the Narrows added to the passage wader interest, while a juvenile and adult Black-headed Gull were in Henllwyn .

Offshore, seabirds included 30 Manx Shearwaters, 80 Kittiwakes and 33 Puffins were logged, while four Razorbills and two Guillemots were noted around Pen Cristin and Henllwyn. Carreg yr Honwy held seven Shags and four Cormorants.

Butterflies remained active whenever the weather allowed. Meadow Browns were again the dominant species, with 31 recorded, mostly in the Lowlands. Red Admirals were particularly noticeable around Cristin, where four were seen, along with Green-veined White, Small Copper, Painted Lady and Peacock. Among the moths, Magpie Moth, Northern Eggar, White-shouldered House Moth and Eudonia mercurella were all noted inside Cristin during changeover and were carefully evicted! The latter species a recent colonist the the first records in 2021 on 23 August at Cristin and 6 September at Nant. in the trap overnight a Pebble Prominent was caught along with another Small Mottled Willow - a migrant from the south.

Pebble Prominent (c) Steven Stansfield

The first record for the island was an individual which was taken from a moth trap near the Plantation on 1 June 2011. This was followed by three in 2014, 2022 and 2023 and singles in 2019 and 2021. The caterpillars feed on various sallows, which are plentiful on the island.

Small mottled Willow (c) Steven Stansfield

Up to this year a total of nine moths have been recorded on the Island; the first was caught at Cristin in 2000 and was followed by further singles at Cristin on 6 May 2008 and in Cristin Withy on 2 August 2009. The next record was one at Nant on 12 June 2015, with two then caught at Cristin in September 2017. Amazingly, three of these moths were recorded in one night on 8 September 2024. This year has proved the best year so far with numerous records in spring and three so far in the summerThis species has a very large global range and is a pest in some areas, but usually only occurs as an immigrant in Britain, with most records coming from the south coasts.

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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, 25 July 2026

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