Bardsey's Wildlife

Sunday, 19 August 2012

A brilliant day of passage saw an excellent array of species passing through, although the obvious highlight of the day was two juvenile Dotterels which were found on the mountain top in the morning. Overhead passage in the morning included four Golden Plovers, a Snipe, two Black-tailed Godwits, a Greenshank, two Green Sandpipers, four Common Sandpipers, a Tree Pipit, two Grey Wagtails and 23 Sand Martins. Out to sea, 22 Little Gulls, eight Sandwich Terns and four Common Terns passed by, whilst 63 Willow Warblers were in the island’s gardens and withies along with two Spotted and Pied Flycatchers. The first Water Rail for some time was also seen in Ty-Pellaf Withy.

Juvenile Dotterels- the first since May 2008, and the 24th record for Bardsey

A Double Kidney (top) was trapped at the North end, which is the first record of this species for the island. Migrant moths were in evidence today too, with six Rush Veneers (bottom) and a Pearly Underwing seen

Saturday, 18 August 2012

The wind finally abated overnight, and saw the highest number of Pied Flycatchers on the island for some years. The total reached 16 individuals today, and Willow Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher numbers were up to 60 and four respectively. Elsewhere, the first Ruff of the year was seen flying over the South end in the morning, two Black-tailed Godwits were present on the Narrows and commoner waders passing through included 20 Dunlins, six Whimbrels and six Snipe.

Pied Flycatchers

A flock of around 90 Starlings have been feeding around the coast

Three Sanderlings have been present in Solfach for the last few days

Several Silver Ys were seen during the day today

Friday, 17 August 2012

An utterly miserable day saw the small invasion of Pied Flycatchers continuing, with 11 seen in the gardens, along with 32 Willow Warblers.

Pied Flycatchers and Willow Warbler (top)

Thursday, 16 August 2012

Another very windy day did, however, see the continued arrival of migrants on the island. The most notable of these arrivals was 13 Pied Flycatchers scattered around, with two Spotted Flycatchers and 30 Willow Warblers also on the island. Out to sea, the first Balearic Shearwater of the year flew past along with many Manx Shearwaters and Gannets, whilst a Petrel sp. was seen briefly in Solfach in the afternoon, before two Great Black-backed Gulls ate it.

On the non-avian front, two Risso's Dolphins were seen out at sea.

Gannets flew past in the high seas

Along with the usual Curlew flock (above) of around 60 birds, a couple of Knots, three Sanderlings and three Whimbrels were seen at high tide

Pied Flycatcher

Juvenile Sparrowhawk

Wednesday, 15 August 2012

Despite the very strong and gusty easterly winds and rain, there were still some migrants scattered around. A Tree Pipit, 32 Willow Warblers, a Spotted Flycatcher and five Pied Flycatchers were seen in the gardens and withies, whilst nine Swifts arrived from the sea. Two Knots, three Sanderlings, a Snipe, and 15 Ringed Plovers were present in Solfach at high tide, whilst a Great Skua and a Common Tern were seen out at sea and two Golden Plovers flew over.

Juvenile Dunlin (top) and Ringed Plover (bottom)

The Kittiwake flock has reached 370 in some days recently, and they preside mostly on the rocks near Solfach and on Carreg Yr Honwy

This lovely Marbled Green, a Marbled Beauty and the first Copper Underwing for the island were trapped at Nant

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

On one of the best day's of autumn passage so far, a few scarcities made their way to the island. A Hobby was seen hawking on insects over Nant in the early afternoon, and was soon followed by a Wood Warbler which was seen briefly in Cristin garden, before it presumably moved on with the flocks of Willow Warblers. Last but not least, a Wryneck was seen briefly twice near Carreg Bach, although as is typical behaviour of this species, it did not show itself again. More common migrants were in real evidence on the island throughout the day, with flocks of 20 or more Willow Warblers seen moving along the mountainside; the total of this species amounted to at least 180, whilst a Sedge Warbler and Spotted Flycacther were also amongst them.

The ratio of adult to juvenile Willow Warblers on the island today was around half half

The third Dark Spectacle for the island was trapped at Nant

Monday, 13 August 2012

There was not much at all to report on a fairly drizzly and windy day. At high tide, two Purple Sandpipers, two Dunlins, a Whimbrel, seven Redshanks and 17 Turnstones were gathered on the rocks near Solfach, whilst eight Common Scoters flew past at sea. Inland, the only new arrival was a Grasshopper Warbler and 15 Willow Warblers.

Whimbrel

Turnstones (and Purple Sandpiper-top) and Ringed Plovers were feeding in Solfach at high tide

Two out of four species of micro moths added to the island's lepidoptera list today: Cydia splendana (top) and Acrobasis advenella (bottom)

Sunday, 12 August 2012

A generally quieter day saw fewer birds around, although the first Reed Warbler of the Autumn was seen on the South end in the afternoon; two Spotted Flycatchers were in the gardens and withies, whilst a Buzzard was seen at the North end and two Purple Sandpipers were around the Narrows.

Wheatear

Reed Warbler

A new brood of Stonechats have just fledged near Ty Pellaf, which makes it the pair's third

A Dun-bar (around 7th for the island-above), Dark Spectacle (2nd for Bardsey) and Phyciter roborella (new to Bardsey-bottom) were the highlights of the night's moth catch. The mountain trap caught 622 True Lover's Knots, although little else

Saturday, 11 August 2012

The first Pied Flycatcher of the autumn was trapped at Cristin in the afternoon, and was amongst a small arrival of other migrants, including 49 Willow Warblers, a Goldcrest and three Spotted Flycatchers. Non-passerine wise, a Snipe, a Common Sandpiper, an Arctic Skua and three Sandwich Terns were the most notable sightings.

Two Sparrowhawks have been present around the island at the moment

Friday, 10 August 2012

Another glorious day saw a few more migrants on the island, although nothing particularly scarce. A Garden Warbler and a Spotted Flycatcher were amongst a scattering of 104 Willow Warblers, whilst 13 Swifts and five Sand Martins flew overhead. Raptors seen during the day included a Sparrowhawk, two Kestrels and a Buzzard; two Common Terns and a Sandwich Tern flew past at sea.

Some Willow Warblers arrived in places such as Cafn, and were perched on the lobster pots and boats

There are still many young Swallows begging for food on fence lines around the island

Linnet

Buzzard

The highlights of the night's catch moth-wise were two Annulets (top) on the mountain top, and a Chinese Character (lower) at Cristin- the latter bears a striking resemblance to bird droppings

Thursday, 9 August 2012

Despite easterly winds and clear skies, the only arrivals of the day passerine-wise were 45 Willow Warblers. Overhead passage comprised of two Kestrels, two Sparrowhawks, three Swifts and four Sand Martins. An Arctic Skua , 58 Common Scoters and two Sandwich Terns passed by at sea.

On the non-avian front, four Common Dolphins were seen amongst a feeding party of 175 Gannets off the west side.

Wednesday, 8 August 2012

A day of thick mist, interrupted by periods of glorious sunshine, was extremely quiet on the bird front. 15 Willow Warblers were scattered thinly throughout the vegetated areas; a Kestrel circled over the mountain briefly; and the Ringed Plover count increased to 10 in Solfach.

A new brood of Whitethroats have just fledged from near the chapel

Willow Warbler

Lesser Redpoll

Grayling butterflies are present on the mountain in reasonable numbers at the moment

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.