Bardsey's Wildlife

Sunday, 2 August 2026

A notable gathering of 15 Mediteranean Gulls gulls and good numbers of cetacean sightings provided the day's main highlights. This included a very young juvenile Mediterranean Gull and 18 Black-headed Gulls briefly roosting on Carreg yr Honwy.

Ringing efforts at the Observatory capitalized on a calm, clear day, peaking at 18°C with light northerly winds creating ideal conditions for opening nets. Eight Willow Warblers and two Wrens were trapped and ringed as part of the day's ringing effort. Overall island counts for Willow Warbler reached 35, distributed across several locations including 14 at Nant, seven in Withies, eight around the Observatory, two in the Wetlands, two at Tŷ Pellaf, one in the Lowlands, and one at the Narrows. Wren numbers totaled 37 across various sectors, led by 14 at Nant and nine at Tŷ Pellaf. Other warblers logged included eight Chiffchaffs, split between four in Withies, three at Nant, and one in the Lowlands, alongside a single Sedge Warbler along Green Lane.

Small landbirds on census included 14 Meadow Pipits, with ten in the Lowlands and four at the Narrows, 14 Linnets at the Narrows including adults actively feeding young, six Pied Wagtails at Solfach including a fresh juvenile, two Stonechats in the Lowlands, and single records of Robin and Blackbird at the Observatory. Hirundines comprised 21 Swallows, with 16 in Withies, three in the Wetlands, and two in the Lowlands, alongside two House Martins in the Wetlands.

Freshly fledged Pied Wagtail on Solfach (c) Steven Stansfield

Juvenile Pied Wagtail being fed on Solfach (c) Steven Stansfield

Juvenile Linnet begging for food on the Narrows (c) Steven Stansfield

Despite a slight sea state of two and a few passing light showers, marine and coastal watching produced 85 Razorbills off the West Coast, which contained a high proportion of first calendar-year birds. Counts also yielded 35 Gannets off the West Coast, 22 Shags at Carreg yr Honwy, nine Cormorants, and two Grey Herons on the Narrows. Shoreline waders included seven Curlews, split as six at Henllwyn and one at Carreg yr Honwy, five Turnstones at Carreg yr Honwy, three Redshanks at Solfach, a Common Sandpiper at Solfach, and a Whimbrel at Henllwyn.

Marine life off the West Coast provided fantastic views of cetaceans, led by 70 Common Dolphins, which included 35 adults and five calves close inshore alongside a second pod of around 30 individuals further out. Ten adult Risso's Dolphins was also observed off the West Coast, while five Harbour Porpoises were noted, comprising four off the North End and one off the West Coast. Grey Seal counts reached 74 adults, with 54 at Henllwyn, 16 at Carreg yr Honwy, and four at Solfach.

Lepidoptera activity was modest, highlighted by 24 Meadow Browns, with 22 around Tŷ Pellaf and two at the Observatory, three Red Admirals, two Common Blues in the Wetlands, two Peacocks at the Observatory, and a single Grayling at the Observatory.

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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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Sunday, 2 August 2026

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