Bardsey's Wildlife

Tuesday, 6 October 2026

South-westerly force 3 winds brought relatively calm seas at sea State 2, although there was poor visibility and mizzle on and off throughout the day, with temperatures reaching 15°C.

Today’s highlights include a Hawfinch at Nant, while a Yellow-browed Warbler at the Observatory was seen before being trapped and ringed. A Pied Flycatcher was also found at Nant, whilst other passerines included 10 Blackcap, 15 Chiffchaff, 14 Goldcrest, two Song Thrush, three Wheatear and two Great Spotted Woodpecker, as well as the first three Starling of the autumn.

Yellow-browed Warbler (C) Ezra Sherwell

There was good passage of finches and pipits today, with 208 Linnet recorded across the island, alongside 174 Goldfinch, 96 Meadow Pipit, 23 Skylark and five Siskin.

Wader numbers included 36 Curlew, nine Ringed Plover, four Whimbrel, four Snipe, a Dunlin and a Golden Plover which was mobile around the island.

Aside from birds, other wildlife included five Humming-bird Hawk-moth, two Red Admiral, a single Rush Veneer and a Migrant Hawker at the Observatory.

Monday, 5 October 2026

The weather today set in with a persistent mizzle lingering throughout, accompanied by a moderate-to-fresh South-West wind blowing at Force 6. Visibility was poor across the island, and the sea state was recorded at a choppy 4, with temperatures hovering around a mild 17°C.

The Observatory standing out in the evening mist (c) Ezra Sherwell

Despite the murky conditions, some seabird movement was noted with 272 Razorbills recorded from the North End, alongside 27 Kittiwakes, 21 Gannets, seven Common Scoters, and 11 Guillemots. A lone Manx Shearwater was also noted at the north end. Waders counts included 25 Curlews, 16 Turnstones, 10 Ringed Plovers, two Snipes, one Whimbrel, one Golden Plover, and two Dunlins. Two Teals were also recorded on Pwll Gareth.

Passerine counts across the island featured 41 Meadow Pipits, 33 Rock Pipits, one Skylark, one Wheatear, six Swallows, 36 Robins, 10 Chiffchaffs, two Blackcaps, four Goldcrests, one Spotted Flycatcher and one Pied Flycatcher at Nant, seven Goldfinches, 1 Song Thrush, a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Invertebrate observations yielded a nice assortment of late-season lepidoptera, including 3 Red Admirals, 2 Rush Veneers, 2 Humming-bird Hawk-moths, a Square-spot Rustic, a Lunar Underwing, and a Turnip Moth.

Sunday, 4 October 2026

Poor visibility in the morning with mizzle arriving mid-morning restricted ringing and birding efforts. Temperatures were mild however, reaching 16°C despite a fresh south-westerly Force 5 wind.

Seawatching and coastal counts produced six Razorbills, two Common Scoters off the south West Coast, 39 Curlews at Carreg yr Howny, 13 Ringed Plovers, a Snipe passing North over the Observatory and Nant, and one Redshank.

Landbird counts featured 61 Meadow Pipits, 24 Skylarks, 27 Linnet counts, 20 Rock Pipit, eight Goldfinches, six Siskins between Nant and the Observatory, one Chaffinch, 24 Robins, 10 Chiffchaffs, four Blackcaps, six Goldcrests, three Song Thrushes, two Wheatears at the Narrows, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Woodpigeons, and five Alba Wagtails.

Saturday, 3 October 2026

Calm north-westerly Force 2 winds brought calm seas (Sea State 2) and good visibility with dry, mild conditions, and temperatures reaching 16°C.

Seawatching and coastal counts featured 102 Razorbills along the West Coast, 18 Kittiwakes, 25 Ringed Plovers, three Dunlins, two Golden Plovers, two Redshanks, two Curlews, a Whimbrel, one Turnstone and one Black-headed Gull at Solfach. Other waterfowl and raptor sightings included a Water Rail in the Wetlands, two Sparrowhawks, a Buzzard at the Observatory and one Peregrine.

Migrant and passage passerine counts today produced the first Yellow-browed Warbler of the year at Nant as well as two Firecrests and an early Redwing heard flying over South End overnight. Clear finch and pipit movement went on throughout the day led by 128 Linnets, 156 Meadow Pipits, 47 Skylarks, 32 Chaffinches (including eight ringed at the Observatory), 23 Goldfinches, and 21 Siskins. Additional passerines and migrants logged included 47 Robins, 20 Stonechats, 17 Swallows, two Pied Wagtails, one Grey Wagtail, 12 White Wagtails, 16 "alba" Wagtails, three Willow Warblers, two Blackcaps, 17 Chiffchaffs, 13 Goldcrests, three Spotted Flycatchers, two Pied Flycatchers, two Wheatears at South End, one Song Thrush, a House Martin in the Wetlands, and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

One of the Chaffinch ringed at Cristin

Grey Seal counts recorded 126 adults across island and 33 pups. Insects noted were nine Humming-bird Hawk-moths, seven Red Admirals, three Painted Ladies, two Small Coppers, a Peacock at the Observatory, a Rush Veneer at North End, a Silver Y.

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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.