Bardsey's Wildlife

Tuesday, 29 September 2026

A mild day reaching highs of 19°C, with overall good visibility and only a small amount of rain in the evening. The sea was at sea state 3 and there were force 5 south-easterly winds throughout the day.

Plenty of gulls were found around the island or moving through, with a total of five Mediterranean Gull comprised of four juveniles from the north end, and an adult going north along the west coast. Seven Great Black-backed Gull, 15 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 13 Black-headed Gull, 11 Common Gull, and 19 Kittiwake were also seen.

Other birds over the sea were six Gannet, six Cormorant, 12 Shag, two Common Scoter, two Razorbill along the west coast, and a single Guillemot from the north end.

There was a good variety of waders today, with one Golden Plover at the south end of note, 17 Ringed Plover, one Dunlin, three Whimbrel, 32 Curlew, seven Redshank, and 16 Turnstone in total.

Golden Plover (C) Ezra Sherwell

The highlight on land was a juvenile Hobby heading north from Solfach, whilst a Peregrine at Nant added to today’s raptors. Passerine numbers were high for some species, with 91 Meadow Pipit, 19 Skylark, 34 Rock Pipit, four Grey Wagtails, 16 Alba Wagtails, three Wheatear, two Chiffchaff, and four Goldcrest. A decent day for finches as well with 55 Linnet, three Chaffinch, and a single Siskin on the narrows.

It was sparse for other wildlife, with two Painted Lady the only recorded butterflies, whilst five Humming-bird Hawk-moth were seen in total.

Monday, 28 September 2026

Gentle southerly Force 2 winds brought calm conditions (Sea State 2) and very good visibility with no precipitation and mild temperatures reaching 16°C.

Evening view over the South End and Narrows from Pen Cristin (c) Ezra SHerwell

Coastal and seawatching counts featured seven Kittiwakes, four Gannets and two Razorbills along the West Coast, a Teal at Solfach, 39 Curlews at the Narrows, 19 Purple Sandpipers at the Narrows, 16 Turnstones, seven Whimbrels, seven Redshanks moving from the Narrows to Solfach, three Ringed Plovers, and two Golden Plovers. Gull records featured 54 Herring Gulls, one Lesser Black-backed Gull at Solfach four Great Black-backed Gulls, four Mediterranean Gulls, a Black-headed Gull and a Common Gull. One secretive Water Rail was also recorded at Nant.

Landbird sightings delivered some new arrivals on the island, highlighted by two Great Spotted Woodpeckers caught and ringed at Nant and a Crossbill over the Observatory. Other passage counts included 55 Skylarks, 42 Meadow Pipits, 15 Alba Wagtails, seven Grey Wagtails, nine Siskins, seven Goldfinches, 22 Chaffinches and 23 Linnets. Passerine counts around the island featured 29 Robins, seven Chiffchaffs, two Blackcaps, seven Goldcrests, three Spotted Flycatchers, two Swallows, two Woodpigeons, and a Wheatear along the West Coast.

Grey Seal counts totaled 124 adults across island haul-out, along with 29 pups spread around the coast.

Sunday, 27 September 2026

Strong southerly Force 6 winds accompanied by rain passing through in bands until midday kept the bird activity fairly quiet, especially in the morning, with little movement and most landbirds strictly keeping to sheltered areas and thick undergrowth. As the weather improved into the afternoon with less wind, reachign a maximum of 17°C a few birds started appearing including a Whinchat in the Wetlands and a Lesser Whitethroat at Ty Pellaf. Other passerines observed included 18 Chiffchaffs mostly at Nant, one Blackcap, seven Goldcrests, two Spotted Flycatchers, 40 Robins, 15 Linnets, two Goldfinches, nine Meadow Pipits, five Rock Pipits, and three Swallows.

Lesser Whitethroat at Ty Pellaf (c) Ezra Sherwell

Seawatching and coastal counts featured a steady mix of seabirds, waterfowl, waders, and gulls.This included 12 Gannets, 17 Razorbills, three Kittiwakes, four Black-headed Gulls and two Common Gulls on Solfach, 45 Curlews over the Narrows, 14 Turnstones at Solfach, two Ringed Plovers a Dunlin on Solfach, one Snipe, and a Whimbrel along the West Coast.

Insect activity yielded seven Humming-bird Hawk-moths, 15 Red Admirals, three Painted Ladies, a Clouded Yellow at North Observatory, a Comma at the Observatory and four Bedstraw Hawkmoth caterpillars on the fuchsia at the Observatory.

Saturday, 26 September 2026

The highlight of the day came from a Red-breasted Flycatcher found down in Cristin Withy mid-morning. The rest of the island was fairly quiet throughout the day, however, some small numbers of passage migrants were evident. This included four Blackcaps, eight Chiffchaffs, eight Goldcrests, seven Skylarks, three Grey Wagtails, three Alba Wagtails, one Siskin and two Goldfinches over the wetlands, 28 Linnets, 26 Robins, 26 Rock Pipits, 23 Meadow Pipits, 30 Swallows, and a Song Thrush.

Red-breasted Flycatcher in the Withies (c) Joel Tragen

Offshore and coastal sightings included 222 Kittiwakes, 126 Razorbills, seven Guillemots, 20 Gannets, three Manx Shearwaters, 35 Curlews, two Whimbrels on Solfach, 16 Turnstones at Solfach, four Purple Sandpipers at the Narrows, three Ringed Plovers at Henllwyn, a Dunlin, a Redshank, one Common Sandpiper and a single Teal at Pwll Gareth.

Despite fairly strong southwesterly Force 5 winds which created moderate sea state 3, the visibility was excellent and the temperatures mild, peaking at 17°C enabling some insect records to be collected. This included 19 Red Admirals (largely at Nant), a Small Copper in the Wetlands, a Common Blue near the Observatory and two Humming-bird Hawk-moths at the Observatory.

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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.