Bardsey's Wildlife

Tuesday 14 September 2021

Lots of rain overnight saw the rain tanks recovering from their recent drought! Soon we will be able to have a shower again...

As the rain eased and dawn broke the island appeared very quiet. Kevin Headed to the Narrows on his final walk before saying goodbye to the island for another year. Steve did census of the withies, lowlands and Ty Pellaf, before heading back to the Obs to lead a guided walk. Highlight of the census was a lone Tree Pipit over Ty Pellaf.

A jolly bunch of 17 arrived for the walk which took on a different feel.

a very jolly group on the guided walk

watching waders, gulls, Cormorants and Shags on the Narrows

Rather than the usual route via Pen Cristin, we headed down the Green Lane and along the back of the withies. A Migrant Hawker was seen over one of the ponds and a Sparrowhawk circled the West Coast.

We then headed to the west side of the withies where both Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers were seen and an identification masterclass was given, explaining the subtle differences in calls and plumage of this species pair. A Great Spotted Woodpecker gave a flyby after sitting atop one of the bamboo net poles! A Grey Wagtail flew north calling, but no-one could manage to see it!

Crossing the Narrows Wheatear biology and migration strategies were also discussed as a fine richly coloured and upright Greenland Whetear graced the banks in front of the group.

Onto Solfach where Dunlin, Sanderling, White and Pied Wagtails were scrutinised along with identification pointers on Rock and Meadow Pipits. Then across to the wader roost rocks where Turnstones and Redshanks were seen, and the long staying Grey Plover showed well along with a Grey Heron. Out on Carreg Yr Honwy were Herring and Greater Black backed Gulls, as well as a Sandwich Tern, 19 Black-headed and five Mediterranean Gulls. A small bunch of Purple Sandpipers were amongst the Turnstones and the identification of Cormorants and Shags was discussed.

Then onto look for Autumn Lady's-tresses; a few were found, but most had lost their delicate little white flowers.

We then headed up to the Sunflower field where we saw lots of bees feeding, a good flock of Linnets, and some Small Coper butterflies.

They brighten up even the dullest of mornings, but today’s sun is making them glow!!

Small Copper and Sunflower

A number of Silver Y moths were seen in the grass along with a couple of Nomophila noctuela (Rush Veneer) moths. These are immigrants from the Mediterranean and North Africa! The walk ended, some three hours later with everyone ready for lunch and a cuppa!

In the afternoon Stuart and Megan arrived back after being off the island for the weekend.

Steve went to Nant and saw a few Chiffchaffs and Swallows, one of the latter thinking itself big enough to take on one of the Ravens and relentlessly mobbed it for about five minutes! A group of 24 Goldfinches and the only spotted Flycatcher of the day were in the Plantation. A Kestrel was hunting over the mountain upon return to the Obs and ended a nice day.

beautiful Goldfinch

A plucky little Swallow harassing the Raven

Spotted Flycatcher

Immature female Kestrel

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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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Tuesday 14 September 2021

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