Bardsey's Wildlife

Thursday, 19 March 2020

The second day of the season, the first full day and what a nice day it was, a bit of a breeze from the North gusting at 18mph, but other than that, blue skies! The assistant wardens woke up early to get a triangle of nets up in the field in front of Cristin (the observatory building), a tape lure for Meadow Pipits was placed in the middle, but unfortunately, none took the bait today despite 56 recorded in the general area...

George leaving a tape lure out in the Meadow Pipit triangle

Nets were then steadily erected around the garden and were left open for the majority of the day, catching a decent variety of birds, including a Firecrest (which was vocal in the early morning and seen in the front garden before being caught) a Stonechat, as well as Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests.

A lovely Firecrest

A 2nd-year male Stonechat

Stonechats were quite territorial in the early morning, one male in the front garden was chasing away any competition it could detect. Still, it is nice to hear them sing and to hear their call too, a sound you can't escape from here on Bardsey.

Quite a territorial Stonechat

Choughs are collecting nest material now, one pair at the South End was seen around the usual nest site today and another on the West Coast with beak-fulls of sheep's wool. Raptors were recorded in decent numbers today with one Sparrowhawk, one Buzzard, one Merlin and two Peregrines making an appearance, the Peregrines were calling over the mountain, which is an 'interesting' noise to hear, almost gull-like to say it comes from such a sleek species.

The Oystercatchers are still roaming in quite large flocks for the time being and a total of 112 was counted today, this won't be the case for very long as they begin to pair up, then all anyone will hear for the next four months is the sound of aggravated Oystercatchers determinedly protecting their nests and chicks.

Other wader action today includes 15 Turnstones in Henllwyn along with 12 Redshanks and two Curlews. These numbers will hopefully build a little bit in the near future. Another species lurking in Henllwyn was Shelduck, it must be said that Bardsey does not have the best track record for its Shelduck production, but no doubt several pairs will attempt to breed yet again, often their chicks just become snacks for the gulls, but you never know, maybe this year we'll have some fledgelings. A Rock Pipit was sighted on the Narrows which was one the Bardsey ringed birds and it was sporting a darvic ring which could just about be read as 'AAK', ringed by Isaac West as a first-year bird on 22/08/19 during the NGB week, Alex Starace put the darvic ring on it.

Isaac's Rock Pipit feeding near Solfach

The Gull colony at the North End is starting to build up, 220 Herring Gulls were either perched on the rocks or flying close to the colony. As well as the Herring Gulls, the Lesser Black-backed Gulls were higher up the slope as usual, in fewer numbers which are expected, 31 were present today.

The North End gull colony

Other sightings today include: three Cormorants, five Shags, seven Mallards, six Canada Geese (two hanging out in the gull colony), two Little Owls, one Skylark, nine Rock Pipits, 12 Pied Wagtails, 11 Stonechats, five Blackbirds, three Redwings, five Chiffchaffs, 16 Goldcrests, two Jackdaws, seven Ravens, 46 Starlings, two Siskins and two Goldfinches.

Ringing totals today: Goldcrest 8, Chiffchaff 2, Stonechat 1, Firecrest 1, Chaffinch (1)

Moths today: Common Quaker 4, Hebrew Character 2, Clouded Drab 1, Small Quaker 1, Red Chestnut 1.

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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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Thursday, 19 March 2020

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