Bardsey's Wildlife

Saturday, 28 March 2026

Another day of brisk offshore Westerlies today creating a slightly rougher sea than yesterday, with a sea state of 4. There was no rain today and temperatures reached 10 degrees celsius, making it feel really warm when out of the wind.

Today the focused shifted towards getting the shop ready, Ezra and Joel started by shifting the picnic benches to outside the front of the Observatory which allowed Ezra to sweep down the ceiling in the shop of all the cobwebs which built throughout the Winter. Joel finished up painting and deep cleaning the outhouses and then getting started on the Common Room. Steve spent some of the morning helping Gareth with the pipework and installation of the washing machine at Tŷ Pellaf, then he joined Emma to put the finishing touches together on the North Side bedrooms in the afternoon and then embark on the South side, which is still in an awful mess!

Cleaning and dressing the north quad bedroom © Steven Stansfield

beds made © Steven Stansfield

and finished... Emma just needs to do her final touches now! © Steven Stansfield

the south quad © Steven Stansfield

south landing scarped and ready to be painted © Steven Stansfield

Getting the longe ready © Steven Stansfield

Today let's introduce you to Ezra's flatmates; these two free-loaders aren’t paying any board but demand Ezra keeps the place nice and warm! Alas, these two critters may be much smaller than you were imagining and it is these two cheeky Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies who have taken up residence in the LSA hut and are continuing to hibernate until conditions improve. Interestingly, a Peacock was seen flying around the garden at Cristin so some butterflies have decided Winter is firmly up and are braving the brisk winds.

Despite the Westerlies, few seabirds were noted today with only two Manx Shearwaters being seen off the Narrows, three Gannets throughout the day and 22 Kittiwakes moving South. Five Guillemots were the only auks seen today. Two pairs of Shelduck were seen today, one each off the main beaches. The Gadwall pair remain, moving from Pwll Cain in the morning over to Tŷ Pellaf Pond.

Only the Immature male Sparrowhawk was seen today, on multiple occasions around Cristin and the Wetlands. The large Immature female Peregrine remained around the South End and the resident male was seen above Nant.

A single Curlew was heard moving north over the island after dark, otherwise 95 Oystercatchers were the only other Waders noted today.

Two Swallows flew North, one through Nant and the other past Cristin in the afternoon, not the first this year but after a week without any hirundines, they definitely brightened our day.

Eight Rock Pipits were recorded by Ezra between the South End and Henllwyn whilst between us we only recorded 43 Meadow Pipits. Two 'alba' wagtails were heard flying over too.

Six Wheatears were recorded in the Southern half of the island but no Stonechat were recorded anywhere on the island today. Only one Robin, one Blackbird and four Dunnocks were seen elsewhere.

Even fewer warbler numbers were recorded today, a Blackcap at Cristin along with a Chiffchaff and Goldcrest. Elsewhere another Goldcrest and three more Chiffchaff swere seen.

A definitely increase in finches with three Chaffinches including a pair at Nant. There were also nine Goldfinches and 39 Linnets, including 34 moving North past Cristin in two flocks.

Almost a sunset © Steven Stansfield

No comments:

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

Pages

Saturday, 28 March 2026

No comments:

Post a Comment

Pages